An unidentified resident, who is opposed to the city’s decision to establish two new homeless camps, has launched an online fundraising campaign to take the City of Kelowna to court.
Launched on Tuesday, the GoFundMe page is appealing to the “Citizens of Kelowna” to raise $50,000 to organize a class-action lawsuit against the city.
“No more open drug use. No more property crime, no more needles, no more intimidation, and no more empty words from impotent and ineffective officials,” reads the GoFundMe page.
READ MORE: Knox Mountain area residents hold protest over homeless camp move
The outrage comes after the city decided to move the tent city on Leon Avenue to two parks on the north side of downtown, including a site on a baseball diamond on Recreation Avenue next to the Kelowna Curling Club and another site at the base of Knox Mountain.
Local residents, business owners and the very people living in the tents have all voiced concerns about the city’s unilateral decision.
“The unannounced and strategically planned operation by the City of Kelowna officials to transplant these people to a residential neighbourhood away from Leon Ave is the latest example of our local authority’s inability to resolve this crisis and potentially an abuse of authority,” reads the page.
The campaign hopes to use the money to pay for an independent inquiry into the actions and players involved in the decision, initiate a class-action lawsuit against the city for damages and lobby the provincial and federal governments for immediate changes to the city’s bylaws.
In addition to the proposed three-step plan, the campaign states the class action is needed because of the damages caused to the community as a result of the city’s inability to properly deal with the larger issue of drug addiction and crime.
READ MORE: Kelowna’s homeless unhappy with temporary overnight shelter situation
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