WINNIPEG -- Crews began removing a homeless encampment that had developed near the Disraeli Freeway Wednesday morning.
Rick Lees from Main Street Project said eviction notices were handed out, with people being told to leave by noon on Friday.
The orders have a list of support services available to residents of the camp who are willing to engage with them.
A letter from a city spokesperson said the city’s role on Wednesday was to keep the area safe and assist individuals in helping dispose of materials they do not wish to take from the site.
“Our role is to provide the receptacles for waste, and to use our loader to dispose of large items individuals no longer want,” an emailed statement from the city sent to CTV News Winnipeg reads. “Our goal is, and will continue to be, to treat individuals with dignity and work with our partners to ensure they are receiving the supports they need and can find alternate places to sleep."
The city said it did not dismantle any living space or confiscate any belongings.
The Manitoba Metis Federation (MMF) threatened legal action against the City of Winnipeg, saying it witnessed illegal drug use and sales, indecent exposure, and loitering at a homeless camp that had emerged near the Disraeli Freeway.
A letter to the city from the MMF went on to say its parking lot and fence had been urinated and defecated on and that staff had been threatened and harassed.
(Firefighters extinguish a fire at a homeless camp near the Disraeli Freeway Wednesday morning. It is not currently known how the fire started. CTV News Photo Touria Izri)
The city said firefighters extinguished two fires at the site quickly in the morning. Robert Russell, a homeless man living at the camp, said a fire was started by another resident of the camp.
A rally against the eviction notice took place Wednesday afternoon, organized by Aboriginal Youth Opportunities. The rally is called “No Evictions on Stolen Land,” and is protesting the displacement of people living in the camp.
Protesters could be seen rallying outside the MMF building in the afternoon, and briefly shut down traffic at Main Street and Market Avenue.
