If and when the Moccasin Flats encampment is shut down, and long-term occupation at that and other campsites around the city becomes illegal, more unhoused people will be forced to congregate in downtown Prince George and residential areas, predicts a longtime advocate.
Alan Huggett, a former youth social worker, said the city must come up with a better solution than only allowing overnight camping, from 7 p.m. to 9 a.m., at designated sites.
“Forcing people to pack up their belongings each morning is not going to solve the homeless problem,” said Huggett. “I don’t know what the city is trying to solve, because you’ll just have more people wandering the streets. And if you camp out somewhere, bylaw (officers) will move you along.”
The city, working with BC Housing, has added capacity in supportive housing projects. But for a variety of reasons, many people living at Moccasin Flats and other camps do not see that as a viable option. Supportive units have limited storage, pets are not allowed, and there are restrictions on visitors — among other rules some residents find unacceptable.
“The housing doesn’t suit everybody,” said Huggett. “We’ve been talking to people with lifelong mental illness and behaviour problems because of it, and they can’t get into that housing. The staff are doing a good job in those places, for the most part, but a lot of them aren’t trained to deal with complex cases. And the ones who are trained and doing a good job are few and far between.
“They’re mixing together people who are in recovery with people who are actively using (substances), or you get people who are higher functioning mixed with people who have severe mental illness, banging on the door. It’s not a one-size-fits-all.”
As of Wednesday, June 11, there were 18 shelter sites occupied at Moccasin Flats.
The residents are legally allowed to remain until the city obtains a BC Supreme Court ruling confirming it has met its obligation to provide sufficient overnight housing, along with accessible daytime facilities for residents. Until that ruling is issued, Moccasin Flats will remain a designated extended-use campsite.
The hearing is scheduled for July 2 to 4 at the Prince George courthouse.
“There’s a bunch of declarations they’re seeking from the court,” said Huggett. “They’re saying they’ve done all this work building housing — and they are building more — but people have been waiting months, if not longer, to get a place.”
Huggett spent 30 years working at the Camp Trapping wilderness facility south of Prince George. It offered mandatory outdoor activities as an alternative to jail time for young offenders. He was also a founding director of Building a Healthy Community — The Voices Project, a non-profit society advocating for unhoused people, started by former Moccasin Flats resident Hank Hayden.
Hayden died in December of an overdose, and the group has since lost much of its momentum. Nine members remain, most from social service agencies. They’ve been interviewed by Casey St. Germain, the Vancouver lawyer representing the Moccasin Flats residents in court.
“The society was all about building relationships, getting to know people, coming up with solutions, and having voices heard,” said Huggett.
“I don’t know what our chances are of keeping Moccasin Flats open — or even if that’s what we want to do. But if the city gets the declarations, it will have the right to just keep people moving around. And that’s not a solution.”
BC Housing has added considerable supportive housing capacity to downtown Prince George in recent years, including a 43-unit transitional trailer complex — the Homeless Encampment Action Response Temporary Housing (HEARTH) project — which opened in December 2024 next to Moccasin Flats at Ottawa Street and Third Avenue.
Construction continues on the First Avenue Supportive Housing project at 150 Ontario St. That building will double the capacity of the adjacent 50-unit structure operated by Connective Support Society, which includes 10 complex care units. The new facility will also house a 9,000-square-foot health clinic operated by Northern Health.
Connective also runs the Victoria Street Supportive Housing complex at the former North Star Inn & Suites (1550 Victoria St.). The larger 60-unit building is occupied while renovations continue on the smaller 36-unit section.
BC Housing also manages Quebec Street House, a four-storey building at 605 Quebec St., offering subsidized rental housing for low- and moderate-income residents. It includes four studio units, six one-bedroom units and 26 two-bedroom units.
In 2023, the city purchased the former Knights Inn on Dominion Street from BC Housing. It now serves as a 47-unit supportive housing complex operated by the Prince George Native Friendship Centre and leased by BC Housing. The centre is not replacing tenants as units become vacant, due to the building's poor condition. It is slated for eventual demolition as part of the Civic Core Plan redevelopment.
Huggett continues to volunteer at Moccasin Flats, helping residents clean up the encampment. A recent cleanup effort was disrupted when one of the large bins was removed and not returned. After several attempts to coordinate with city parks and bylaw staff, a bobcat operator and dump truck were eventually dispatched to remove debris from unoccupied shelter sites.
Since Hayden’s death, Huggett said communication between city staff and Moccasin Flats residents has broken down.
“There’s nobody from the city connecting with the people down there,” he said. “They’re leaving it to BC Housing or the agencies. Nobody from the city is getting a good understanding of what’s happening.”
Huggett said it's easy for society to turn its back on the unhoused community — to distance itself from “those people” and expect them to fend for themselves while struggling with poverty, addiction, mental illness and prejudice. But ignoring them, he warned, will only worsen the problem.
He recently purchased The People of the Abyss, a 1903 non-fiction book by novelist Jack London, which documents the author’s time living incognito in London, England’s East End slums.
“It’s exactly the same issues we have here now,” said Huggett. “(British doctor) Joseph Townsend wrote in 1786 in his Dissertation on the Poor Laws about how we shouldn’t help poor people because it would only encourage them. That the productivity of the nation would suffer, and we shouldn’t even feed them because the best thing for society is poor people with empty stomachs.
“It’s exactly the same stuff we’re dealing with — with a little bit of niceness on the side. What I’d like to see is a totally different approach, and start by talking to people. But that’s not happening, because they’re afraid if we’re too nice, more people will come.”
