Beacon Hill Park Legal Support fund

The Province is proceeding with its appeal to Justice Punnett’s Supreme Court opinion, which supported the Friends of Beacon Hill Park (FBHP) position that under the terms of the 1882 Beacon Hill Park Trust, permanent sheltering that we saw through 2021 is not allowed.

What this means in practice, if the Province is successful, they or the City could do anything they want with the Park and its citizens, the real beneficiaries of the Trust, would have no recourse to the courts. The Province’s appeal has implications beyond Beacon Hill Park and would affect every park or Trust arrangement in the province.

They could completely re-zone the Park, for example; they could turn the Park into “affordable housing” or supportive shelters, as well permit permanent sheltering, as was done by a City bylaw in 2020.

In addition, the law firm for the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations have advised us and others that they “plan on advancing the argument that any interpretation of the trust should be limited so as to not preclude potential future use of the park by indigenous communities for cultural uses, including burials or the interment of remains. “

The appeal will be heard November 2022. The Province’s appeal, and the FBHP and City responses can be viewed on the FBHP website at Friends of Beacon Hill Park - BC Attorney General's Appeal (fbhp.ca) .

FBHP are the only ones who have taken the position in court that the terms of the Trust are clear and must be honoured, sheltering and other uses of the Park should not be allowed. In attempting to uphold Justice Punnett’s opinion, FBHP is now incurring additional legal costs which are beyond our current ability to pay.

Please help us to defend Beacon Hill Park by donating on our Website or through GoFundMe.

www.fbhp.ca/donate

https://www.gofundme.com/f/beacon-hill-park-legal-support-fund?utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1&utm_medium=email&utm_source=customer

Any Questions, Contact us at: [email redacted]

Joan Halvorsen, President, Friends of Beacon Hill Park

Tom Epplett, Treasurer, Friends of Beacon Hill Park