East Hastings Encampment

By Uy Pham

On April 5, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim held a news conference regarding the encampment of homeless people on the Downtown Eastside. The East Hastings Street tent city was being dismantled. This work, Mr. Sim said, was being carried out “with respect, compassion and patience” towards the encampment's residents.

On the same day, dozens of VDP officers surrounded the encampment. Then, city staff got to work. Tents and shelters were torn down and loaded onto moving vans. Their inhabitants’ personal belongings were unceremoniously dumped into garbage bins. Thanks to the compassion displayed by City Hall, many unhoused residents found themselves evicted and without a place to stay. All the talk about “respect” and “patience” seemed almost like a cruel joke.

Sadly, this action did not come as a surprise to many. For years, this type of decampment operation has been a feature of Vancouver’s approach to the homelessness crisis. Over the last decade, there have been 10 decampments in and around the Downtown Eastside. Oppenheimer Park, Main Street, Strathcona Park – the same story has played out over and over again.

Even the justification for these evictions has remained consistent: Public safety. City officials like to frame decampment as part of the fight against crime and violence, as they once again did on the April 5 news conference. “The Downtown Eastside encampment is fraught with serious crime, violence and dangerous weapons, which have proliferated in this neighbourhood.”, said VDP Chief Constable Adam Palmer.

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