A deadline that asked some 90 homeless individuals to leave Saanich's Regina Park came and went Tuesday night without any arrests.
This development marked an anti-climatic end to a day that started with questions and speculations about how various actors including police and camp residents would live up to the terms of the court order.
Justice Ward Branch Friday issued an injunction against the camp in a B.C. Supreme Court ruling that gave camp residents until 7 p.m. on Sept. 11 to leave the park, where homeless individuals have camped since May, if not earlier, and Saanich Mayor Richard Atwell said Tuesday afternoon that police are "likely" to arrest individuals who refuse to leave the homeless camp in Regina Park for political reasons as a court-ordered deadline approaches.
"People, who are defiant and want to make a political statement are likely to be arrested," he said.
Atwell's comments echo earlier public comments during which he said that police would be in position to arrest individuals after the deadline as Saanich would not grant camp residents a "grace period."
This said, he also said that police would us all "reasonable means to achieve voluntary decampment before relying on the power of arrest" and suggested that camp residents facing difficult circumstances would receive such a grace period.
