Right to be Homeless - With Shelter - Established in B.C.

"[T]he [provincial] courts this week established the right to be homeless - with shelter. Overnight, [Victoria, British Columbia's] parks blossomed with tents. City Hall's phone lines lit up with angry citizens. And municipal leaders across the country turned a wary eye to the west to see if tent cities are heading their way.

[The judge in the case] concluded that the city cannot deny its homeless population the right to create sleeping shelters when there are not enough formal shelter beds available.

Even before the court ruling, conflicts between the homeless and the housed in Victoria have been increasing. The small urban core serves a much broader population of surrounding municipalities. But the homeless tend to congregate downtown because that's where the services are.

The case will send ripples across B.C. and likely the rest of the country, said University of Victoria law professor Benjamin Berger. 'It's an important decision. And it's good for us to be thinking how well we've done providing for the marginalized and disenfranchised in society. Its legal effect is limited to British Columbia, but it would be foolish to imagine that this is not an issue in other metropolitan areas.'"