|
‘STANDING FOR HOMES – Fasting for
Justice’ was the theme October 14 – 18, as Streams of Justice
(SOJ) held a Homeless Action Week Vigil at Vancouver’s City Hall.
“We the citizens call to the city of Vancouver to
immediately open units of housing that are currently vacant in the Downtown
Eastside . . . and implement a safe and secure emergency shelter
plan,” SOJ spokesperson Dave Diewert told The
Vancouver Sun.
The issue was given greater momentum October 14, when
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Carol Ross ruled that people would be permitted
to set up tents in Victoria parks. She cited Canada’s Charter of
Rights and Freedoms as justification.
The decision was greeted with some derision. In the Province, Michael Smyth suggested
to Ross: “Why not let the homeless just bunk down in your
courtroom every night? After all, it’s a public space . . . and they
wouldn’t have to urinate on the flower beds, either.”
The Vancouver Sun’s Ian Mulgrew opined: “In what can at best be
described as a gadfly judgment taking a shot at the political failure to
deal with burgeoning homelessness, Justice Ross has provided a make-work
project for government lawyers.”
Advocates for the homeless, however, are urging city
officials to follow the judge’s lead, and overturn a City of
Vancouver bylaw prohibiting shelters on public property. Pivot Legal
Society lawyer Laura Track is instigating a court case to prove the Charter
argument applies to Vancouver.
“People are at risk of hypothermia and other
life-threatening conditions when they have to sleep outside with no
shelter,” she told Metro Vancouver.
“People seem like they can be pretty comfortable
with 1,500 homeless people in Vancouver, as long as they’re not
visible,” observed Diewert, adding: “Once you start to see
tents popping up all over the place . . . it becomes a rupture of the
status quo – and it says we’ve got to really deal with this.
“
Continue article >>
|
Homelessness is increasingly becoming a mainstream
issue:
• In early October, Vancouver mayoralty candidates
Peter Ladner and Gregor Robertson debated the topic and, according to the Sun, “held virtually the
same positions” – both maintaining that eradicating
homelessness was a priority.
• The Salvation Army’s Gateway of Hope facility
in Langley, costing some $14 million, has attracted strong support from
both government and the private sector.
• The B.C. government recently contributed $25,000 to
the Poverty and Homelessness Action Team – Central Okanagan. The
initiative, which has strong Christian support, involves a 10-year plan to
end homelessness in the region.
• In Victoria, Habitat for Humanity will be enlisting
world class chefs November 27, to create ‘Celebrity Gingerbread
Houses’ for auction. Proceeds will go toward Habitat’s
affordable housing projects.
– David F. Dawes
November 2008
|
