The tent city campers who were staying in Goldstream Park have now moved out. And where they went is a bit of a surprise to the property owner.
The man who lives there is a renter -- Saanich Mayoral Candidate, David Shebib. He invited up 2 dozen campers to stay on the property at 5090 West Saanich Road.
Shebib says he is doing what other candidates won't -- trying to help the homeless:
" I saw that they had nowhere else to go, and I felt that was wrong. And so I felt obligated to offer my place, and I'm happy to do that".
Shebib has told campers they can stay to October 20th, election day.
But there's a problem. The property does not belong to Shebib -- he's a renter. Landlord Sam Seera is not happy:
" And right away I came down here. It was true. And I tried stopping them and they kept on coming. Called the police, police came down, couldn't do anything about it. My understanding, I thought, is, you know, someone is trespassing on your property you call the police and they taken 'em away".
He says inviting the tent city to set up is a violation of the rental agreement -- which is in Shebib's son's name.
Seera says he is starting eviction proceedings immediately -- but that will be a long drawn out, expensive process.
The campers who accepted Shebib's invitation did not want to go to government arranged shelter space as it did not accommodate couples, or people with pets.