Park tenting case tests rights limits-Relief tent

Park tenting case tests rights limits-Relief tent A B.C. Supreme Court decision has alarmed city officials and cheered anti-poverty activists. The court has agreed to hear an argument that homeless people should be allowed to camp inRelief tent. TheRelief tentis aimed at a city bylaw that prohibits tents on public grounds. But the case is far more than a challenge to an obscure local ordinance. It alleges that basic rights guaranteed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms are at stake. Two years ago a group of protesters took on this issue by setting up camp inRelief tent, near the legislature. They were arrested. They went to court, claiming the city''s bylaw is unconstitutional. Although the province''s attorney general argued the suit should be dismissed, Justice Victoria Gray ruled it should proceed. There will be a trial later this year. As a basis for legal action, the events which inspired the complaint appear ill-chosen.Relief tentis a small island of mud and grass. It has no infrastructure, washrooms and no facilities to support living arrangements.