No eviction Monday, homeless encampment told

Residents of amakeshift homeless camp in woods just north of the Bayview LRT station say they've been given areprieve from eviction, but it's not clear how long it will last.

On Friday, the City of Ottawa and the National Capital Commission (NCC) issued a verbal trespassnotice to the approximately 10 people still living in the camp, wherea fire broke out on Nov. 22.

• Some tent city residents plan to ignore trespass notice
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On Monday morning, around the time of the anticipated eviction, dozens of people turned up to show their support for the camp's residents.Among those attending the rally wereLeilani Farha, the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to housing, Alex Neve, secretary-general for Amnesty International Canada, and Ottawa city councillors Catherine McKenney and Jeff Leiper.

The rally ended with a small piece of good news for the camp's occupants.

"There's no eviction set for today," announcedJustin Bolger, who saidsomeone from the Salvation Army told him there'd be no attempt to evict the residents Monday.

"[That] doesn't mean tomorrow it [won't]change, [but] they're not planning on evicting us today."

Bolgersaid he's upset he and the other residents haven't been included in the conversations between the city, the NCCand other organizations about the encampment.

"It's unfair. They're talking about us, sowhy can't they talk to us?" he asked.

Plan to move tent city residents to another community 'set up to fail,' resident says

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Resident Todd Kelly and executive director of the Somerset West Community Health Centre Naini Cloutier say residents don't want to move to another community, citing social ties and access to support systems.

Meanwhile, conditions in the camp haven't improved for residents.

"It's rough," said Todd Kelly, who's been living there for a couple months without toilets or running water. "Youeven have better amenities when you're camping."

Kelly said he's worried about the impending snow and frigid temperatures, but stilldoesn't want to leave the community for a hotel room in Vanier.

Tents moved

For months, the tents straddled City of Ottawa and NCC-owned land, but over the last day, the two remaining tents on city land were moved north to NCC property.

Bolgersaid he hopes that will allow residents to avoid dealingwith city officials or Ottawa police, who he said have been visiting thesite every day for the past week and a half.

"They don't have a reason to be here," Bolger said. "I could see if they were getting phone calls for drug overdoses or they were getting phone calls for fights or they were getting phone calls for other stuff, but without any of those phone calls, they have no reason to be here."

He said a number of organizations including the Salvation Army and Overdose Prevention Ottawa already check on residents multiple times a day.

On Monday afternoon, the NCC said it's still working with the city and other partners to find suitable accommodations for the residents of the campbecause of "ongoing health and safety risks,including those due to the onset of colder weather."