Blog

March 05, 2010 01:45 +0000  |  Activism Homelessness Olympics Vancouver 0

Ask anyone in this town and most of them will tell you that the primary problems in Vancouver are homelessness, and the high cost of living. It's so bad that over the Olympics, the Pivot, an activist group based in the Lower East Side, held a sit-in protest in the form of a field of red tents surrounded by placards and signs with slogans like "homes not games" and "homes for everyone". (Flickr, Now Public) There were staged protests downtown and even a riot -- all for good reason: here in Vancouver, the disparity between the rich and poor is out of control.

So what do we do about this? Obviously the current tactics aren't working. The world came to Vancouver and no one cared to really do anything about our most desperate citizens. For the most part, that whole area was ignored and tourists were advised not to go there. What good is a protest if no one cares about what you're saying? A riot? That only fuels the opposition. No, what's needed is to move counter to the gentrifying forces in this city.

The problem is the location. Everyone in Vancouver knows that the poorest people live in the Lower East Side. We also know that that neighbourhood is something we want to avoid if we don't fancy the stench of human urine, or the sight of public drunkenness and dirty needles. The richest, most powerful people in Vancouver never go there. They don't even drive through Hastings if they can help it. What good is a protest if the only people who see it, are affected by it, are those who already support you? No, if you want action to be taken, you need to inconvenience people, you need to make people see what's going on and remind them that just because they've managed to ignore the problem, the problem hasn't solved itself.

The red tent protest was held near Abbot & Cordova in an empty lot opposite an Army & Navy frequented only by people who live in the neighbourhood. Given that fixing the homelessness problem will require action by a considerable number of people outside of this demographic, this is not a good choice for action. Instead, I think that the homeless population needs to get the held somewhere, anywhere that isn't the Lower East Side. Hold tent-city protests in David Lam Park (Yaletown has one of the highest per-capita incomes in Vancouver) or in any open (public) spaces south of 16th... you know, where all the rich folks who own most of this city live?

Sleeping in the street is an accepted norm at Hastings and Main, but about Granville and Broadway? Generally speaking, cities (especially Vancouver) like to corral their poorest citizens and then gradually push them from neighbourhood to neighbourhood through gentrification, never solving the problem. Therefore, the answer to newer, more expensive buildings moving into the Lower East Side shouldn't be to move East (as the powers that be are hoping), but instead to relocate to Kits and Point Grey so those responsible for the gentrification can experience the fruit of their labours.

The problem in Vancouver isn't homelessness and the high cost of living, it's not even that nobody cares about these issues, because thousands of people do. No, the problem in Vancouver is that the right people don't care about these issues because they don't have to. Fix that, and I'm sure something useful will be done.

March 27, 2008 03:21 +0000  |  Homelessness Moments In Time Vancouver 6

I met a friendly young woman today while waiting for the #4 bus at the corner of Gore and Pender. Standing there, music blasting in my ears, I could barely make out the voice of a girl behind me yelling "HELLO!", but once I realised what was going on, I tugged the buds out of my ears and put on my cordial face: "Hello".

"Those are some really trippy glasses" she said, moving in a little closer than I'd like.

I smiled, "Thanks, my Dad made them for me. He owns an optical store up in Kelowna."

"Really?" she gasped, "I grew up in Kelowna! Had a nice job there too, worked in the bush." She then went on to list the names of a number of suburbs, none of which I recognised and I just stared blankly back at her.

"Sorry," I said, "I just go up there every couple of months to see the parents. The town is too white bread for me to want to get to know it in such detail".

"That's funny! I grew up there and ate rye" she laughed. It took me a minute to get it, but while the smile was delayed, it seemed to be appreciated.

"It's welfare day!" she bubbled again. "But you're not on welfare are you?"

"No," I motioned behind her, "I work just over there."

"Really? What do you do?"

"I'm a software developer."

Now she was the one with the blank stare.

"I write code for websites" I said, making a typing motion with my fingers. "It's not that hard, anyone can do it. You should try."

She smiled uncomfortably, and went on to talk about how she wanted a laptop. We talked about my job a bit more, how easy it was to get wireless in this city etc. She seemed interested, and I was just waiting for the bus, so I just kept talking. At one point though she interjected:

"I do crystal meth!" She pointed to the building behind her. Apparently her friends were upstairs securing her some in celebration of her new found Wednesday wealth.

I grimaced, "Ew, that stuff'll kill you you know".

"Yeah, but just a little bit" her tone was no different from one anyone else might take when chatting about the weather.

"Well, I don't know, I kinda like my life" I said and she smiled, shrugged it off. Just then, a voice comes from the door and her friend hands over a little bag. She bounces over, picks up a little bag and returns to me: "Wanna see it?"

I agree, and she extends her hands toward me, but not letting go of the clear plastic. The crystals are a translucent yellow, As if someone had crystallised urine and sugar into 3mm cubes. "Humph, how much was that?" I ask.

"Twenty bucks" she smiles at me again. I search my head for a suggestion for something else she might have spent that money on, but my mind blanks and she turns to leave. "Goodbye stranger!" she squeals and she teeters down the street. She's in a great mood, and my bus is minutes away.

January 23, 2008 18:37 +0000  |  Homelessness Nifty Links 0

I know I haven't blogged publically for a while, so here's a couple things worth reading if you have some time:

In an effort to end the lies, NoMoreLOL.com has been created. Standing on the front lines between honest communication and disingenuous emoting, NoMoreLOL is fighting back with a new acronym: LOI. I think I'm gonna buy a tshirt.

On a more serious note however, knitnut has been nominated for best blog post in the Canadian Blog Awards. Frankly, I'd not heard of the site before the awards, but the post is both relevent and factual, covering something most people reading blogs really don't understand: homelessness.

March 31, 2007 16:48 +0000  |  Activism Homelessness 1

This was a bloody-brilliant idea and they're popping up all over the city.

If anyone has any ideas as to who's behind them, lemme know eh?

March 29, 2007 03:16 +0000  |  Homelessness Toronto 2

On our way out of Metro Hall tonight after a long TEV meeting, Melanie and I stopped in on a rather large town hall-style gathering in the rotunda. Apparently, the city wants to build a homeless shelter in the Entertainment District and they were getting an earfull from the residence and business owners of the area.

It was maddening to listen to these people try to mask their prejudices with claims of property value decreases and (a favourite) "hooliganism" from the homeless. Some people even tried to claim that there were no homeless there, and that this centre would "draw them in". I got so mad that I shouted out at one idiot: "Why don't we just put 'em all in a truck and ship them up to North Bay?", only to have one woman respond: "Why not?"

Seriously, these are the kinds of people who would prefer to build a wall and moat around their neighbourhoods if they could.

But despite all of the chaos and stupidity, Adam Vaughn was up there, fielding questions on top of accusations and slander... and he took it. Not only did he stand there and take it, but he responded with eloquence, civility and a solid understanding of the situation along with what needed to be done. He was amazing.

He may be a fan of CCTV, but even despite that, I'd still vote for him if I lived in his ward.