Public statement from Food Not Bombs on Tent Slashing

The members of Food Not Bombs are writing this letter to publicly address what is happening in the Mill Creek Ravine regarding tent slashings. We have heard from reliable sources that Edmonton Police Service officers are destroying tents and other property owned by homeless Edmontonians, leaving them with very little property of their own, and forcing them back onto the streets and away from their camps. 

BELIEVING that every resident of the city of Edmonton has a right to personal property and the right to exist free from threat, danger, and violence in their own homes,

RECOGNIZING that a tent is a home and tent slashing is akin to property destruction,

UNDERSTANDING the colonial history of the Edmonton Police Service and its violent relationship with the homeless and Indigenous populations,

Food Not Bombs calls for

1.     An end to tent slashing and an understanding that a tent is a home and should not be disturbed

2.     A public apology from the Mayor’s office and the Chief of Police to the homeless community

3.     Reparations to the homeless community in the form of financial compensation for those who had their property destroyed

4.     An increase in funding from the city into the budget for social services and housing