By David P. Ball

Controversy continues to rise about homeless tent cities that continue to emerge in Vancouver parks. We talk to a Simon Fraser University history student, Meera Eragoda, about how current debates over homeless uses of city parks ignore the history of how and why parks were originally created in Canadian cities — and for whom.

Eragoda is dedicated to challenging colonial narratives of history. They understand that living as a racialized immigrant on stolen xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) lands means undertaking a responsibility to continually show up in the fight for Indigenous sovereignty.

---

For more information, read Meera's piece at The Tyee:
Tent Cities and the Violent Origins of Vancouver’s Parks