Inside Richmond’s hazardous homeless encampment

A homeless encampment near Westminster Highway and No. 5 Road in Richmond is once again drawing attention after multiple fires and growing concerns about its proximity to a jet fuel pipeline. The site has recently been deemed hazardous.

I went there to hear directly from the people living in the encampment, including Guylaine Auclair, a petite former tradeswoman who now calls the brush home alongside her cats.

Auclair showed me what’s left of multiple RVs and many of her belongings after a recent fire. Despite everything she’s lost, she doesn’t believe the homeless community living there poses a risk to the general public.

Auclair made it clear she has no intention of leaving. She says she’s already turned down an offer to move into modular housing. Others I spoke with in the encampment echoed that sentiment; one even admitted it will take official enforcement to get him and his wife to move along.

To better understand the perspective of the city residents, I also spoke with Richmond city councillor and mayoral candidate Kash Heed, the former Chief Constable of the West Vancouver Police Department.

Heed says the City of Richmond has invested significant time and resources trying to address the encampment and connect people with available supports. However, he argues the city’s efforts have been hindered by the provincial government’s failure to help within their jurisdiction. The land the encampment sits on is owned by the Province of British Columbia through the NDP government’s Ministry of Transportation and Transit.

According to Heed, the city recently issued an order requiring the province to comply and work with Richmond to address the encampment and clear the area. At the time of our interview, the city had not yet received a formal response from the province.

The debate comes as homelessness continues to rise in Richmond. According to the City’s Homelessness Strategy Guiding Framework report, the number of people experiencing homelessness has doubled since 2020, with an estimated 175 people now living without a home.