The Frances Street Squats were a set of six squatted houses, including one women-only building, that existed between February and November 1990 in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, Canada. They were occupied by SAVE (Squatters Alliance of Vancouver East) and took a stand against development which was generally supported by local people. The

Vancouver Police Department The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) (french: Service de police de Vancouver) is the police force for the City of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several police departments within the Metro Vancouver Area and is the second ...

evicted the buildings.

Occupation

In 1989, property developer Ning Yee purchased six houses on Frances Street in

, Canada, and evicted the tenants. In February 1990, four of the six houses were

squatted Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

after they had been scheduled for demolition. The other two houses were then also occupied, with one being women-only. The squatters set up a communal garden and a

free shop Give-away shops, freeshops, free stores or swap shops are stores where all goods are free. They are similar to charity shops, with mostly second-hand items—only everything is available at no cost. Whether it is a book, a piece of furniture, ...

. Two more buildings were occupied on McLean street and quickly evicted. Thirty six people were housed in the Frances Street squats, which were named the Big House, Didley Squat, the Eco Squat, the Stein House, the Token Squat and Bush Wimmins. In August, Ning Yee asked the squatters to leave and in response they barricaded two of the houses in expectation of eviction. The neighbours were generally supportive of the six squatted houses in a row and community organizations such as the

Downtown Eastside Residents Association The Downtown Eastside Residents Association (DERA) was a non-profit society in the Downtown Eastside area of Vancouver, operating from 1973 until 2010. The association was founded by Bruce Eriksen, Libby Davies, Jean Swanson, University of Victoria ...

and the Grandview-Woodland Area Council supported them. The squatters formed a group called SAVE (Squatters Alliance of Vancouver East). Spokesperson Penny Singh said "We will not be bullied out by uniforms, black boots and badges". A SAVE press release stated "Habitable houses should not be left unoccupied". They used the solidarity of their group to address the Vancouver city council about the housing crisis in the city.

Eviction

The Frances Street squats were evicted on November 27, 1990, when the

(VPD) deployed over 80 officers. 12 were charged with mischief and obstructing a police officer. Twenty five officers were from the

Emergency Response Team An incident response team (IRT) or emergency response team (ERT) is a group of people who prepare for and respond to an emergency, such as a natural disaster or an interruption of business operations. Incident response teams are common in public s ...

and the city also engaged a helicopter, a bomb squad, police vans, fire engines, dumpster trucks and ambulances. Constable Bob Cooper stated that the VPD had "very reliable information that radical elements have taken control of the issue" and that squatters were in possession of "three shotguns, two handguns, molotov-cocktails, and other homemade weapons". After searching the site for two days, the police found no weapons.

Legacy

No criminal charges were made. Following the eviction, the squatters occupied the offices of the Mayor

Gordon Campbell Gordon Muir Campbell, (born January 12, 1948) is a retired Canadian diplomat and politician who was the 35th mayor of Vancouver from 1986 to 1993 and the 34th premier of British Columbia from 2001 to 2011. He was the leader of the British Co ...

. Representatives of the Committee of Progressive Electors condemned the police for acting in a "inappropriate and vulgar" way at the eviction and requested a public inquiry, comparing the events to the

Oka Crisis The Oka Crisis (french: links=no, Crise d'Oka), also known as the Kanehsatà:ke Resistance (), was a land rights, land dispute between a group of Mohawk people and the town of Oka, Quebec, Canada, which began on July 11, 1990, and lasted 78 day ...

. Mayor Campbell defended the actions of the police and the ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'' confirmed no weapons had been found. By April 1991, the site had been demolished. Ning Yee had sold the properties on and the former squatters were renting. A documentary film, ''The Beat of Frances Street'', was created by Eleven Foot Productions in December 1990.

References

External links

''The Beat of Frances Street: Squatting in East Vancouver''
– in five sections on YouTube {{coord, 49.2794, N, 123.0681, W, display=title Evicted squats Demolished buildings and structures in British Columbia Squatting in Canada 1990 in Canada

Occupation

Eviction

Legacy

See also

References

External links