Police arrest dozens of people for refusing to leave camp near CRAB Park

Tent city moves from parking lot to soccer pitch Dismantled, but not gone: A tent city that was on Port of Vancouver property is now at Strathcona Park.

Vancouver — Police said they arrested dozens of people for refusing to abandon a homeless camp near CRAB Park on Tuesday.

Authorities went to the encampment at around 6 a.m. to enforce a B.C. Supreme Court injunction ordering the campers to vacate land owned by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.

Officers "worked all day to help campers leave," according to a statement from media relations officer Sgt. Aaron Roed, but 46 people sat on the ground and refused to move.

Officers eventually arrested everyone who remained for civil contempt of court, authorities said.

The campers had already moved twice in recent days. They relocated into the gravel lot over the weekend as a deadline approached for the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority's injunction.

A spokesperson for the campers said they believed they were complying with the injunction when they relocated. Police said the gravel lot had been locked and secured before campers arrived, and described their presence as the result of a "break-in."

A number of the campers left the empty gravel lot on Tuesday and moved into busy Strathcona Park instead, with help from a group of volunteers who rented moving vans to transport their belongings.