A Nanaimo city councillor says he'd pitch a tent in front of the B.C. legislature to make a statement on the province's ongoing struggle with homelessness.

Gord Fuller and his fellow Nanaimo city councillors are being pressured by local activists to act on the city's homelessness issue.

A tent city has been erected in a vacant lot in Nanaimo as both a form of protest and a space for some of the city's homeless to camp.

Activists have been drawn from across the Lower Mainland, many unhappy after the city failed to secure provincial funding in February for a modular housing project because it couldn't identify a suitable site.

Fuller says he and several other councillors were in favour of the development, and the city will eventually find space for the units.

Rather than targeting the city, he suggests activists direct their protests at provincial and federal governments.

"I would love to see a tent city up on the legislature lawn down in Victoria," he said. "I'd go down, I'd put a tent up, I'd be out there with them doing that."

A previous tent city on the lawn of Nanaimo city hall was dismantled earlier this year. The current camp has been up for just over a week. (Liz McArthur)

Tempers flare at tent city

Tempers have flared between activists and the city in regards to the ongoing tent city. Earlier this week, city workers removed a gate from the fence surrounding the encampment.

Fuller says it posed a safety concern.

"There was no easy access for emergency services vehicles," he said. "There was a chain across the fence. [Removing it] just gives easy access if there's a fire, like there have been in these encampments in the past."

In December, a fire erupted in a Maple Ridge tent city, prompting safety concerns. A previous camp in Victoria was deemed a public safety hazard.

"It's unfortunate that these things end up happening and I really think there's some extremely well meaning young people involved in this," said Fuller.

"But [solving homelessness] is not an instant process. We can't even house people with rent subsidies right now because the rental vacancy rate is so small — and that's one of the easiest ways to get people housing," he added.

Activists from Nanaimo, Maple Ridge and Victoria have called for Nanaimo city council to provide homes for the homeless. (Liz McArthur)

Tent city organizer Mercedes Courtielle says the encampment is a safe and viable space for people to live until issues regarding social housing are resolved.

"It's very organized, it's very clean . . . conflicts are being mediated," she said.

"Generally in the camp, there's a feeling of relief that they can sleep, relief that they can have somewhere to put their things [without them getting] seized or stolen, relief that they're not going to be arrested for just trying to sleep," Courtielle said.

The city will discuss the next steps for the Nanaimo tent city on Friday.

With files from CBC's All Points West