Victoria’s Pandora Avenue has seen a rumbling of change this summer, as VicPD enforced a Safety Plan after a paramedic was physically assaulted while attending to a patient on the 900-block. While some service providers in the area believe what happened this summer has finally spurred much needed action for the housing, health, and addiction needs of Victoria’s unhoused population, other frontline workers have been facing frustrations and challenges.
According to a series of press releases provided by the Victoria Police Department in mid-July, as paramedics were responding to an emergency on the 900-block of Pandora the individual being helped assaulted one of the attendants, “striking and kicking them in the face.”
As the paramedic fled to a Victoria Fire truck, they were pursued by the individual, the statement reads. A Conductive Emergency Weapon, otherwise known as a taser, was deployed after the individual failed to respond to instruction from VicPD.
With a crowd of 60 people surrounding first responders, bystanders grew increasingly hostile after the individual was arrested, the statement continued.
The series of press releases highlighted an incident occurring roughly a month earlier, where several people surrounded and threw rocks at officers on the 500-block of Ellice Street.
“Since then, officers have experienced even more escalated aggression and violence throughout the city,” a statement from VicPD Chief Del Manak reads.
“I recognize the 900-block of Pandora Avenue is made up of many individuals with different needs, backgrounds and circumstances that have brought them to this place. Some have more complex needs than others; however, regardless of the circumstances or need, those who are there to save lives should not feel concerned about their own safety,” Manak wrote in the statement.
VicPD has orchestrated a safety plan for Pandora Avenue and Ellice Street which, in stages, aims to completely remove Pandora’s 900-block encampment.
Karen Mills, co-founder and lead coordinator of Peer2Peer Indigenous Society, shared that there is about half the number of tents than she recalls there being a month ago.
“There’s lots of people there; there’s just half the tents,” she shared.
For Mills, her organization is now seeing people moving further down Pandora, towards Douglas Street, Quadra, and North Park.
“There's literally nowhere for anybody to go,” said Mills. “They just kind of wander around during the day with their carts and tents, and then put their tents back up when they're allowed to, some are just erected all day long, taking those chances, and dispersing into other neighborhoods.”
When asked how the unhoused population has been responding, she shared with Ha-Shilth-Sa that “they’re not happy.”
“Pandora has always been full of people, because that's where all the resources are,” she said. “That's their community as well.”
Mills shared that for her and her organization, the situation has been frustrating since they work on Pandora four days a week.
“We've been down here for quite a while, and we've built a huge rapport with our clients,” she said.
Mills notes that as bylaws are being enforced, she has difficulty locating her clients. It is particularly concerning for her when she can’t find clients who are going into detox that day, or have a housing opportunity.
Mills also shared with Ha-Shilth-Sa that when she can’t locate a client she fears overdose occurred.
“We spend the next few hours trying to find our client,” said Mills. “Especially for detox, you're on a time limit. If you don't show up that day, you're back [at] the end of the line.”
Our Place Society, is among the organizations serving people on Pandora Avenue. It has been meeting with the City of Victoria Bylaw each week, and participates in weekly meetings with VicPD, Island Health, BC Housing, the Ministry of Housing, Ministry of Health and other service providers to push forward action.
“What's been happening has been leading to something positive in my mind,” said Our Place CEO Julian Daly. “Most of the people who are unhoused right now will have a shelter space by winter.”
In an Aug. 22 statement the Ministry of Housing announced the addition of 72 shelter beds to existing facilities in Victoria, with 40 allocated to Our Place Society and 32 to the Salvation Army.
The additional beds are a part of an MOU signed between the province and the City of Victoria in late February to “coordinate rapid supports for people experiencing homelessness in the community.”
This announcement included the re-opening of the 30-unit Caledonia Place, providing interim housing for those who have been staying in shelters long term. The MOU has also orchestrated the conversion of 30 extreme-weather response beds into year-round spots at St. John Divine Church.
This makes a total of 132 additional shelter spaces in Victoria since the MOU was signed, reads Aug. 22 the Ministry of statement.
“There's been a lot of changes and movement and events on Pandora this summer,” said Daly. “A whole lot of things happened that basically have led to the provincial and municipal government stepping up and providing a lot of shelter beds for people who are unhoused.”
Daly clarifies that the recent addition of 72 beds in Victoria is only the first step of more to come.
“There is an ongoing process to identify more shelter beds and enough - I hope and I believe - to house or at least provide shelter in the first instance, for all the people who are absolutely unhoused,” said Daly. “And also to get them the health services - especially mental health and addiction services - that they need in order to be sheltered and to maintain their shelter and ultimately their housing.”
In the 2023 Greater Victoria Point-In-Time Count identified 242 individuals who were unsheltered in a public space, park, tent, or vehicle, while 282 stayed in emergency shelters.
According to Daly, there is currently a coordinated outreach process to identify the current number of absolutely unhoused or unsheltered folks on Pandora, Ellice Street, Rock Bay Landing, and in Victoria’s parks. It’s an effort to identify shelter spaces for all the people who are absolutely unhoused.
According to the Point-in-Time Count, the total number of people experiencing homelessness in Victoria in 2023 was at least 1,665. This number includes those who were unsheltered and in emergency shelters, those who were couch surfing, staying in public systems such as treatment centers, hospitals, or correctional half-way houses, and transitional housing.
The Point-in-Time Count indicated that 32.9 per cent of respondents identified as Indigenous, despite only making up five per cent of Greater Victoria’s population. A total of 23 respondents were Nuu-chah-nulth.
“There’s a lot of Indigenous people down there, and I’ve always thought, because I’m Métis… that they should not be displaced on their own lands,” said Mills. “That’s a huge thing for me and as well as for the Indigenous people that are living unhoused as well; this is their territory.”
