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Posts Tagged ‘Housing’

John Robertson of PIVOT Legal Society (photo from The Tyee)

While it will be easy enough to find red (and white) in Vancouver this February, PIVOT Legal Society is hoping that you notice the colour for a different reason, as they kick off a new campaign aimed at highlighting homelessness in the city. I have frequently said that there is much more value in co-opting the Olympic platform to attempt to shine a spotlight on any given issue than directly protesting against the Games. PIVOT’s latest strategy seems be following in that line of thought exactly.

In 2008, a BC Court ruling struck down a Victoria city bylaw that prevented the homeless from erecting tents in city parks for shelter. The court ruling found that if adequate shelter from the elements could not be found (ie. in shelter spaces) then homeless citizens have the right to provide themselves some shelter with tents. In December of 2009 the BC Court of Appeals upheld this ruling. With that right affirmed, PIVOT will be distributing up to 500 red tents amongst members of Vancouver’s homeless population. Not only will they afford some basic protection, erecting the tents will be a very visible case of exercising the rights affirmed by last December’s appeal court ruling. It is no mistake that PIVOT’s latest endeavour coincides with the Olympic games. The city will be flooded with media from around the world. As Canadians we should be ashamed at the idea of removing these people from sight during a big international celebration. Vancouver is an amazing place that I feel is most deserving of all the attention it garners as a livable city. That should not obscure the fact that the city has a significant homeless population. In fact, it calls for a reaction that is completely opposite; one that says not only do we recognize there is a problem, but we are going to work to improve the situation. At the very least, this latest campaign forces the city (and world) to be cognizant of the problem.

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I strongly believe that judgement on the success of the upcoming Winter Games should be on based upon the actual execution of them, not based upon issues that have arisen at past games. Prior incidents, ie. the removal of homeless people to the suburbs that took place during the ’96 Atlanta Summer Games, should inform and educate the approaches to making the Vancouver games a success, but not be the basis for applying any number of labels to these games.

Two areas of concern (including those who are for, against or on the fence about the games) are how housing bylaws are enforced and the treatment of the homeless. The front page of today’s Metro Vancouver featured two articles side by side about this very issue.

In potential good news, Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu announced on Monday how the department plans to move forward with enforcement of the Assitance to Shelter Act. Chu indicated that the farthest officers will go to bring a homeless citizen to a shelter would be to use “minimal non-forceful touching.”  This would only come if an office believed someone on the streets was at risk of imminent serious injury or death. Should one refuse assitance to a shelter, Chu says “we will withdraw the contact immediately [and] explore other tactics to ensure the person survives the extreme weather.” Should this enforcement scenario actually hold out I believe it may be sufficient until the Assistance to Shelter Act can be challenged in court. If this truly is all that the police will enforce it seems that there is no need for the additional legislation whatsoever. At the risk of appearing very naive, I will take the VPD at their word, for now. I can only hope that we don’t soon hear of  ”circumstances changing” and the need to “re-evaluate” their enforcement strategy.

Contrasting this is a story that is unambiguously disappointing.

The eight tenants of the home on East 11th Ave. and St. Catherines St. received notices two weeks ago that their tenancy was being terminated so the landlord’s family could use the house.

But Sue Brown, a Simon Fraser University student who rents a room for $580 a month, said the house is being advertised for rent during the Games at sporteventsrentmyhouse.com.

In the summer, the provincial minister of housing argued that no new legislation was needed to protect renters as the province did not want to impede on opportunities for owners to charge obscene rent to tourists during the games. I am someone who makes pro-Olympic arguments about the economic benefits that the city will experience, but I did not find the minister’s reasoning very compelling. To often renters are overlooked; despite not owning their residency, it is their home. After the province opted to not provide any protection to renters, the City stepped in with a bylaw that “forbids landlords from renting properties during the Games if they’ve had tenants living there since June 1, 2009.” When presented with the scenario that Ms. Brown is faced with, Celine Mauboules, a housing policy planner with the City had this to say:  ”Technically, (this landlord) wouldn’t be allowed a licence [...] If the tenants came to us and said, ‘Here’s the ad (online),’ we could seek an injunction or potentially fine the owner.” That ‘technically’ that she opened with does not engender much confidence. More importantly, the City is now aware of this, even it was not brought to their attention by the tenant. Is the city seeking an injunction? Will this landlord be denied a permit to rent their home during the games? Will there be follow up to see that they are not renting without a permit? These are questions that must be asked. One hopes the answers will be more encouraging than I fear they will be.

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