Come to the Poverty Olympics!

Poverty Olympics Torch Relay Launch Emphasizes Struggles Around the Province

On January 17, a group of advocates and activists launched a Poverty Olympics Torch Relay at the Vancouver Art Gallery which will visit 18 communities around the province, mirroring the route of the official torch relay, until it reaches Vancouver on February 7 and makes its way to the opening ceremonies of the Poverty Olympics.

At the press conference, attendees displayed signs showing the rates of low-income in participating communities around BC, which reach as high as 25.3% in 100 Mile House and 26.6% in the City of Vancouver. The mascots of the Poverty Olympics, Chewy the Rat, Itchy the Bedbug and Creepy the Cockroach also had a presence as they skated around the press conference.

During the Torch Relay, farmers will serve home-grown soup and perform skits in 100 Mile House, the Troubled Times Troubadours will play and sing their woes in Sechelt on the Sunshine Coast, and the Poverty Olympics mascots will ski down the slopes in Whistler, where homeless people are allegedly already being displaced to Squamish.

Why are British Columbians around the province coming together to be a part of this Torch Relay? Because people are struggling with poverty and homelessness throughout the province.

There are somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 homeless people in BC. 643,000 British Columbians were living in poverty in 2007, the latest data available. That was during the economic boom, before the recession hit, and the government responded by slashing funding across the board – education, the arts, libraries, health care, social services, seniors care, legal aid. Poverty rates are going to rise as a result. Through it all, the government has continued to fund the Olympics, which has now reached a cost of over 6 billion dollars.

In the build-up to Olympic Games, people often wonder whose going to go home with the most medals. Well, BC’s already ahead of the pack in Gold Medal wins. This province has the highest average wealth in Canada and more millionaires per capita than any other province. It also has the worst poverty rate in Canada, the lowest minimum wage, and the highest child poverty rate for the sixth year in a row. BC is the epitome of the phrase “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” Clearly, it’s only “The Best Place on Earth” for a few, while many more live in grinding poverty, desperately trying to get by from one day to the next.

But people aren’t just living in poverty, they’re dying in poverty. Poor people have a shorter life expectancy than those with high incomes. A homeless person dies every 12 days in BC.

This province is in a state of emergency. And we need bold actions to get us out of it. But we can get out of it; there is nothing inevitable about poverty and homelessness. Other countries and provinces are committing to the reduction of poverty and seeing results. During the Poverty Olympics Torch Relay, Torchbearers will be calling on our governments to put the same energy and public spending into ending poverty and homelessness as they have into holding the Olympics.
Media coverage from Poverty Olympics torch relay launch:
Homeless stage an Olympic torch relay to raise awareness of plight
People’s Daily Online/Xinhua News Agency, January 18
Anti-poverty activists launch Olympic-style torch relay to highlight concerns
The Canadian Press, January 17
(Featured in the Kamloops Daily News, Coast Reporter [Sunshine Coast, BC], Winnipeg Free Press, Guelph Mercury, The Moose Jaw Times Herald, Metro News Halifax, Macleans.ca, NewsTalk 1010, canadaeast.com and more!)
Housing advocates unimpressed by VANOC charity
CTV News, January 17

Call for Homes not Ads
24 Hours, January 18
Poverty Olympics torch relay begins
News 1130, January 17
Poverty Olympics Torch Relay begins
CKNW, January 18
The 2010 “Poverty Olympics” Coming
Vancouver Sun Community of Interest, January 19
2010 Poverty Olympics Torch Relay underway
canadianimmigrant.ca
For more information about the Poverty Olympics and the Torch Relay visit www.povertyolympics.ca.

Downtown Eastside Fact Sheet, Poverty Facts

DTES Fact Sheet

Poverty Facts

Displacement is Happening: City’s Historic Area Height Review

Dave Diewert, Streams of Justice

It just doesn’t make sense for anyone who wants to undertake a major renovation of their home to take off the roof, or remove the entire back wall of the structure without having an idea of what the renovated building will look like or without having clear plans in place. Not only would this be unreasonable, it may well pose significant danger to the inhabitants of the home and their neighbors.

Likewise, it makes no sense for the City to push forward substantial zoning changes in a predominantly low-income neighborhood without first assessing and evaluating the current and ongoing impacts of previous upscale, market developments in the area, and without having a solid, community-based vision to guide and inform any decision-making for neighborhood development. Not only does this seem irrational and theoretically ill-conceived, it poses grave dangers to the lives of the low-income residents of the DTES – in particular, the danger of displacement.

Displacement from home and community need not come as a result of the threatening violence of armed political conflict, massive social upheaval, or environmental disaster; it can also result from the dominating discourse of urban revitalization, the dull bureaucratic policies of rezoning, and the tedious procedures associated with granting development permits for gentrifying projects. As banal as these things are, the human displacement they produce is, nevertheless, a disruptive, destructive and traumatic (wounding) experience for individuals and the community as a whole.

But maybe I’m wrong; maybe there is a vision and a plan for the DTES. Perhaps the rezoning and densification proposal on the table emerges from the conceptual formulations of city planners, informed by real estate developers and corporate investors, and fueled by the media spin of Operation Phoenix. Perhaps what we are witnessing is another manifestation of the conventional strategy of urban development known as Social Mix.

Bob Ransford described the notion of social mix in his October 4, 2008 column in Westcoast Homes. He writes:

Developing a community with a good supply and range of housing types, both market and non-market, including rental and affordable condo ownership units, will help to support a more diverse community in the Downtown Eastside. Diversifying the social spectrum will mean street-level businesses will become more viable, providing more service commercial uses for the existing low-income residents of the area and new residents. An active street with viable businesses means increased community safety. With the pride of ownership comes a commitment to neighbourhood stewardship that leads to cleaner and safer streets. This is all part of making the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood a more real neighbourhood.

What Mr. Ransford fails to appreciate, and what the community visioning work of CCAP has made abundantly clear, is that the DTES is already a real neighborhood; it is a real community full of really creative, courageous, compassionate people, who really care about their neighborhood, are really passionate for justice, really give to one another through connections of friendship or voluntary service, and who are really afraid of being displaced from their community through imposed strategies of gentrification.

Martine August, in an article on social mix in the Canadian Journal of Urban Research, argues that:

Despite the popularity of the social mix approach …, there is little evidence suggesting that it is merited by socially beneficial outcomes. Particularly nebulous are the benefits of social mix policies for low income populations, upon whom mix is often imposed when wealthier people move into their neighbourhoods.

The concept of social mix, historically infused with notions of social harmony and equality, is now employed as the rhetorical façade for powerful economic interests which, while seeking to improve the image of Vancouver as a livable city, use the social mix discourse as a means of promoting social exclusion. The social mix being sought is one that ensures profitability, and those who appear as an impediment to that goal (i.e., low-income people) are displaced.

Nick Blomley (Unsettling the city: Urban land and the politics of property [New York: Routledge, 2004]) has made the observation that in attempting to bring middle-class residents into the DTES under the guise of social mix, “property-owners have deployed a language of balance in the service of exclusion” (p. 99). Given the considerable power differential between the new condo owners moving into the neighborhood and the low-income population that has been rooted there for many years, the language of social mix serves to justify giving the right to space and property to those with wealth, and taking it away from those who are poor. Social mix, then, is a strategy used to expand hierarchical structures and mask asymmetrical power, and as such it undermines the possibility of genuine social solidarity while rhetorically appearing to promote it. It is the wolf in sheep’s clothing.

In my view, the inevitable result of this policy, embodied in the recommendations today, will be further gentrification, displacement, homelessness, and increased human suffering. So I urge you to stop this process, listen to the majority low-income people of the community, and support their vision for the neighborhood, a vision that puts new, secure, adequate social housing, not more market housing, as top priority.

Joyce Rock,Executive Director of the DTES Neighbourhood House

I’m Joyce Rock, the Executive Director of the DTES Neighbourhood House, Vancouver’s newest NH in 20 years. I am present here today to communicate to Mayor and Council the DTES NH’s position on the proposed Height Study, a position intimately informed by more than 8,000 of our DTES neighbours who annually enter the door of our modest storefront. I would like to affirm our respect for the City Planners who sculpted this Report and who so often generously lend us their talents as we manoeuvre the learning curves of an emerging NH.

The DTES NH asserts that the Height Study is illogically timed in relation to the pressing need for a meaningful DTES Land Use and Planning Process which must be initiated in order that the future design and content of the DTES landscape includes and reflects the voice and the vision of the longstanding low-income community.

We propose that this last can only be accomplished by tabling the Height Report for the moment and that in its stead, the City commit to undertake a Socio-Economic Impact Study to determine the effects of the Woodward’s Redevelopment and the other new buildings on the fabric of our community. Ironically, the City – in tandem with the Woodward’s developer – has on two fronts played a principal role over the past few years in creating the need for such an Impact Study. The first front being the City and the developer’s failure to include the once promised amenities within Woodward’s. The second front is the consummate silence from both the City and the developer to the DTES community regarding the opening of Woodward’s: there has been no semblance of greeting or welcome to our neighbours. A city with a soul is an amalgam of people of all ancestries, incomes and ages living in productive complicity. If the communications disaster of Woodward’s is truly your template, then you are positioning the DTES to become a series of bereft, parallel enclaves.

Since January 2008 we have asked: “Who and what is going to humanize Woodward’s to the pre-existing DTES community?”

As Woodward’s has revealed itself to be an example of how not to proceed, let Mayor and Council now – in partnership with DTES residents – make wiser choices, better communicated and acknowledging of residents. Logic dictates that a Socio-Economic Impact Study be completed before the Height Study’s recommendations be considered and/or approved, for the Impact Study will inform height and density needs, as well as community capacity, from a solid community footing.

In recent years, a fervent embrace from a variety of sources, has wrapped itself around the DTES.
Once the preoccupation of few, we are abruptly the favoured of all, and all certain that they know what is best for us. The 1000s of residents who constitute the DTES low-income community and who wish to continue to live here, are complex, talented, hard working, ambitious individuals – material poverty, substance dependency and compromised physical/mental health status notwithstanding. The DTES NH asks Mayor and Council to establish a Land Use and Planning Process which is steered by low-income representation proportionate to the current population.

The modern tongue is fond of the term ‘inclusive’ – the DTES NH is not, for at multiple turns it is increasingly used as an instrument of manipulation. We sometimes hear that our allegiance to 1000s of low-income people is exclusionary of others. As I myself am a white, middle class, over-educated woman, I know as a lived fact that those with privilege inevitably find our way to exercising that privilege as well as our inherent sense of entitlement. The DTES NH considers it simply neighbourly to include the majority of the DTES population in our deliberations and invite you to do the same, in concert with others of like mind.

Thank you.

The DTES NH acknowledges and honours the fact that our community lies within the Traditional Territory of the Coast Salish people.

Ned Jacobs

Once upon a time there was a beautiful old department store named Woodwards situated in a lively if somewhat scruffy part of town. But something went wrong and Woodwards fell into a deep sleep. For years it lay senseless, a blight upon the neighbourhood, which lost commerce, got a lot scruffier and became an embarrassment to the entire kingdom. People agonized and debated about what to do, and finally they convinced the king and his court that through strategic investment and community planning the still-lovely form of Woodwards could be awakened and transformed into a palace where everyone from plump merchants to skinny street waifs would mingle in peace and harmony.
History sometimes reads like a fairy tale, but I would caution would-be storytellers that it is premature to end this one by saying that the reborn Woodwards and the scruffy neighbourhood got married and lived happily ever after. Like all marriages, this one is an experiment, and even as the whole town rejoices at the wedding feast, there are signs of trouble.
The messenger of ill-tidings is a grass-roots social research and development group named the Carnegie Centre Action Project (CCAP) after the restored and revitalized Carnegie Library, which has succeeded in developing a loving and constructive bond with the neighbourhood. CCAP’s research shows that displacement of residents is accelerating, outpacing efforts to renovate or build new homes in the neighbourhood for rents they can afford. Furthermore, they have identified the geographic epicentre, if not the actual displacement point, as Woodwards.
Meanwhile, a City of Vancouver “height study” has identified sites where, according to various criteria, new highrise buildings, perhaps based on the Woodwards model, could be built. But CCAP’s resourceful and extensive community mapping and visioning initiative, based on the premise that recognizing existing cultural and physical assets (as well as needs) is the foundation from which to plan constructive change, shows that this height study is not only top-down, it is premature and possibly flawed. The low-income community of the Downtown Eastside is asking for our respect and assistance—but not our directions—in completing their vision for the Downtown Eastside as a place where planning and change is anchored in local knowledge and consensus.
Some of this work will necessarily involve study and analysis of Woodwards, focussing on how it is affecting the neighbourhood and especially the low income residents, who are quite capable of distinguishing what is working well and should be emulated from what needs to be fixed or mitigated—but not repeated.
“Gentrification” can mean different things depending on who is doing the gentrifying, and why. Developers are eyeing the Woodwards area for “starter condos,” geared to singles and couples who have their sights fixed on Coal Harbour, Southeast False Creek, or even a heritage house in Strathcona, but don’t yet have the wherewithal.
These are the folks that real estate promoters say will serve as “role models” for their less fortunate neighbours. But unlike some middle-income residents who truly are drawn to the area and can relate to their neighbours, warts and all, these upwardly mobile types are apt to view it as a “launching pad” for someplace better. Generally speaking, this population is more transient than the low-income residents and less engaged with neighbours, whatever their socio-economic status or personal habits. Those who don’t make it to Yaletown in three or four years will feel trapped and resent their surroundings, which admittedly can be a challenge for mainstream sensibilities. In short, these would-be new residents are not necessarily part of a recipe for success.
“Neighbourliness” is a quality the Downtown Eastside has in spades, and perhaps its greatest asset. For all we know, apartment towers may not actually be the best building form for supporting community in this neighbourhood. In any case, this is not the place to be densifying on the basis of city-wide or regional objectives. Protecting this neighbourhood’s assets and serving its needs—as determined by its residents—is what matters. Don’t top-down them with this height study. Allow them the planning process that they—like every other Vancouver neighbourhood—are asking for and deserve .

Wendy Pedersen

Hello, my name is Wendy Pedersen, I’m a resident of the DTES, parent with a child at Strathcona Elementary and a researcher for the Carnegie Community Action Project.

We are handing out some recommendations to you now that we hope you will incorporate.

We have 3 points to make.

Our first point.

More new condos wouldn’t be a problem if the tenure and assets of the existing Aboriginal and low-income community were secure. That tenure is not secure.

Consider these facts.

1. Hotels like the Colonial and the Argyle near Woodwards have emptied out and not renting rooms to low-income people.

2. CCAP’s hotel survey showed the number the number of SRO hotels charging rent above $425 a month has increased by 44 per cent between 2008 and 2009. This is a significant loss and the city is not counting these rent increases as losses.

3. Hotels near Woodwards have the highest rents. When the Columbia, Golden Crown, Burns Block, Hilden, Lotus and other hotels near Woodwards charge or intend to charge $500-$800 a month for a room with no bathroom and kitchen, that is not affordable by our definition and we count it as a loss. The planning term for this is SOFT CONVERSION and it is gentrification.

Not counting these losses is a big problem and it is a big gaping hole in your homeless strategy, Mr Mayor.

Our Second Point:

The retired head of the housing center, Cameron Gray told council clearly on May 1st , 2008 that:
- condos are absolutely driving land prices up;
- condos are being built at twice the rate that the housing plan projected;
- the housing plan did not address increasing rents or student housing
- the housing plan says that the rate of change in the DTES may need to be controlled;
- that council could work with the community on developing a vision to address rents and rate of change;
- He also said, that if council slowed condo development, land owners and developers might go to Victoria to try to get more social housing. That’s where we got the idea for the “pause” in order to get funds for social housing in place.

If council tells gov’t and developers they can’t have condos in the HAHR until there is more social housing, maybe they will help us work for a national housing program. We can’t give up on this or say it will never happen. There is lots of support for Libby’s housing bill. Liberals are saying they want a national housing program now and that canceling it was a mistake. Funding for social housing in the DTES would be a great rate of change mechanism. This program could be your legacy, Mr. Mayor. Harness the unrelenting energy of the market to achieve this goal.

With money available for social housing:
- The low-income community will have a chance to compete
- Chinatown heritage buildings with tenants could try to get this subsidy
- We could manage the rate of change more easily
- The low-income community won’t have to settle for a floor of social housing in the bottom of a condo project with separate elevators and entrances and amenities based on class.

Our 3rd point:

Adopting a definition of affordable and low-income will protect the low-income community from displacement.

The city does not have a definition of “low-income” or “affordable” that we know of or that applies to the reality of the DTES or even the rest of the city where 26% are low income. To us, “low-income” simply means having income below the official low income cut off line. The average income in the DTES is less than $1000 a month. We believe its crucial for the city to keep housing that people on welfare, basic seniors pension, and disabilitiy, can afford. A person on welfare can afford $375 a month for rent. A person at the LICO line could afford $500 a month for rent.

As in interim measure we will support points C2 and C1ii if council adopts the following definition of affordable which we have adopted based on our extensive consultations with the low-income community:

1/3 welfare
1/3 between welfare and LICO
1/3 below market

This housing would be for Aboriginals, Chinese, singles, couples, families, seniors. Some of those units could be for people who need support.

Our recommendations.

- No new height until a social and economic impact study is done on the effects of WW, other condos and new height/density on the tenure and assets of the low-income and Aboriginal community.
- No new height until we have a local area planning process created with and for residents of the area.
- As in interim measure we will support points C2 and C1ii if council adopts the following definition of affordable which we have adopted based on our extensive consultations with the low-income community:
a. At least 1/3 of units at welfare rate (Aboriginal, singles, couples, families and seniors)
b. 1/3 afford to people at income between welfare and LICO line
c. Final 1/3 are rentals at just below market rate

2010 Olympic Impact Update: Now on You Tube, Poverty Olympics Athlete’s Village

2010 Poverty Olympics – February 7, 2010 in Vancouver, Canada: Now on You Tube, Poverty Olympics Athlete’s Village

Low-income Downtown Eastside residents to draw a line in the sand

Come to a news conference/action to:

—Hear Downtown Eastside residents speak out about the impact of Woodwards

on our community;

—Learn what residents think about the City plan to allow more condo towers

in our neighbourhood, to be debated January 19th and 22nd at city hall;

—Meet Mr. Condo King, a 12-foot-tall developer, and his friends who

believe “height is might” and who want a “Tower of Power” for themselves and

only crumbs for the poor; and,

—Get updated news on new hotels recently closed and rent increases in the area.

When: 11:00 am Tuesday, January 19th

Where: Pigeon Park, Carrall and Hastings St. (across from potential new tower)

Organized by Carnegie Community Action Project and Vancouver Action

CCAP: 604-839-0379; Vancouver Action: 778-836-9877

Updated Backgrounder:

The Mayor of Vancouver wants to end homelessness, but there is a big hole in

what he is trying to do. That hole is the impact of Woodwards and

gentrification on the low income community in the DTES.

Higher buildings mean more condos. Condos are already outpacing new social

housing in the DTES by a ratio of about 3 to 1. And the condos in the

Woodwards and other developments are having ripple effects throughout the

neighbourhood:

We hope Vision, COPE and the NPA will consider these facts before making a

decision to increase density in the Historic Area (western part of the

Downtown Eastside) on Jan 19th and Jan 22, 2010 at City Hall:

The SROs are the last housing before homelessness.

Displacement Fact #1: Rents are increasing.

Hotel rents are escalating beyond what people on welfare, disability and

seniors can afford. According to CCAP’s hotel survey, the number of hotel

rooms renting for over $425, $50 above what people on welfare and disability

have for rent, increased by 44% between 2008 and 2009. In other words,

about half of the privately owned SROs are renting for more than low income

people can afford. Probably as a result of these rent increases, CCAP also

found that the number of hotels where two people are staying in one tiny

room quadrupled between 2008 and 2009.

Displacement Fact #2: Hotels near Woodward’s have the highest rents.

According to data from CCAP’s 2009 hotel survey, 10 hotels with about 450

rooms, East of Main, are renting rooms at over $425 a month. But 15 hotels

with about 1130 rooms, West of Main, are renting rooms at over $425. This

statistic shows that, in general, the hotels closer to Woodward’s have the

highest rents.

Displacement Fact #3: More empty rooms.

According to a survey by the Jodyne Keller of the VPD in December 2009, some

hotels have large numbers of vacant rooms, which are not for rent. In

CCAP’s experience this usually means they are getting ready to sell or to

upgrade and rent at increased rents (maybe to students of the new SFU Arts

School). These hotels include the Colonial Hotel (90 vacant units), and

Argyle Hotel (40 vacant units). The Golden Crown Hotel (28 units) is empty

and renovating as is the Burns Block (28 units). Other hotels may be doing

this also. With increased rents these hotels will not be available to

current low-income DTES residents. These hotels are all located near

Woodward’s.

Displacement Fact #4: The City counting method doesn’t give a clear picture.

City staff continually inform council that its 1 for 1 replacement policy

(for every 1 SRO that is lost, a new social housing unit should be built) is

being met. However, the city does not take into account rent increases that

make the SROs unaffordable to very low-income people. Nor is it examining

the impact on low-income DTES residents of owners holding rooms vacant. And

the city includes provincially owned hotels as new social housing when they

are newly social but not new accommodation.

For these reasons CCAP believes it is crucial that the city take a step back

from its “revitalization” policies to gage whether or not the “without

displacement” part is actually happening too. If low income people are

being displaced, as CCAP believes they are, then homelessness will keep

increasing.

This is why CCAP wants a social-economic study of the impact of Woodward’s

and new condos in the DTES BEFORE more density is allowed. The study should

look at what has been the impact of Woodward’s and condos on the assets and

tenure of the low income community and on homelessness.

Another consideration about the Height Review: Planning staff have told

CCAP that they want extra height so they can get amenities from developers.

The “amenity” that low income DTES residents want the most, according to our

research, is housing. But we have seen pro formas from the Building

Communities Society that show very few social housing units will be built by

condo developers as amenities. For every 7-10 condos we might get one

social housing unit in good economic times. This means that to get the 6000

units of social housing that the DTES needs, we’d have to have 42,000

condos, which would totally wipe out all the assets of the low income

community that we uncovered in our mapping with over 200 residents. Our

other fears are that the community would be split arguing over whether

heritage, housing, childcare, etc were the most appropriate amenities, or if

the amenities were designed for the benefit of the new richer residents and

not for more vulnerable low income residents.

What CCAP wants: the city should not consider “outright” or even

“conditional” height increases, or any additional supportive regulatory

framework to facilitate increased development within the DTES Heritage Areas

under review. These proposed policies will lead to demolition of heritage

buildings and further displacement of low-income residents. Instead, we

recommend the following:

1. A social-economic study of the impact of Woodward’s and other condos on

the tenure and assets of the Aboriginal and low-income communities and on

homelessness.

2. A vision for the whole DTES neighbourhood (which includes all 7 sub-areas

of the DTES as defined by the city).

3. A short term local area planning process in which Aboriginal and

low-income residents have a say proportionate to their numbers and with a

goal of designing a plan to ensure Vancouver’s low-income and heritage

districts are secured.

Something else to consider:

CCAP could consider the staff’s proposal for a “moderate” height increase in

the historic district “if” we can get these things in place first:

* a social-economic study of the impact of Woodward’s and other condos on

the tenure and assets of the Aboriginal and low-income communities and on

homelessness.

* a National Housing program,

* a 50% raise in welfare,

* a vision for the DTES that secures the tenure and assets of the low-income

and Aboriginal community and historic district, and

* a plan for how to achieve the vision, with

* Aboriginal and low-income reps on the vision and planning committee

represented in proportion to their population (about 70%).

Council could consider “holding back” approval for 12 months conditional

upon a serious effort made by reps from Chinatown, business and developers

work with the Aboriginal and low-income community on this. The national

housing strategy could help the DTES community build housing for Chinese

families, Aboriginal families, working families, seniors, low-income singles

as well as supportive housing and indirectly preserve the historic district

as well. New zoning is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Council could use

the energy that is pushing for zoning change to help the Mayor achieve his

goal of building affordable housing and ending homelessness in Vancouver.

More information: Carnegie.action@shawlink.ca

Displacement Facts

Hello City Council members,

It would be great if you could read this before dealing with the Historic Area Height Review on Jan. 19th. CCAP really appreciates some of the things this council has done to get affordable housing and shelters:
• The motion at the 2009 UBCM (Union of BC Municipalities) to get a national housing strategy;
• Removing the 10% daily/weekly option from the SRA bylaw (Single Room Accommodation Bylaw) which helps preserve DTES hotels as monthly rentals;
• Better enforcement of maintenance standards;
• Councillor Kerry Jang’s interview on CBC radio last week about the need for even more shelters;
• Mayor Gregor Robertson having the goal of ending homelessness by 2015;
• The HEAT shelters;

And we understand that the province and feds have to build more housing and that the city doesn’t have the tax base to take on this entire responsibility.

However, we are afraid that there is a big hole in what you are trying to do to end homelessness. That hole is the impact of Woodward’s and gentrification on the low- income community in the DTES.

We are hoping you will consider these facts before making a decision to increase density in the Historic Area (western part of the Downtown Eastside):

The SROs are the last housing before homelessness.

Displacement Fact #1: Rents are increasing.
Hotel rents are escalating beyond what people on welfare, disability and seniors can afford. According to CCAP’s hotel survey, the number of hotel rooms renting for over $425, $50 above what people on welfare and disability have for rent, increased by 44% between 2008 and 2009. In other words, about half of the privately owned SROs are renting for more than low income people can afford. Probably as a result of these rent increases, CCAP also found that the number of hotels where two people are staying in one tiny room quadrupled between 2008 and 2009.

Displacement Fact #2: Hotels near Woodward’s have the highest rents.
According to data from CCAP’s 2009 hotel survey, 10 hotels with about 450 rooms, East of Main, are renting rooms at over $425 a month. But 15 hotels with about 1130 rooms, West of Main, are renting rooms at over $425. This statistic shows that, in general, the hotels closer to Woodward’s have the highest rents. The majority of residents in the Downtown Eastside are on income assistance and can only afford $375 a month for rent, meaning, many may choose to be homeless rather than pay the extra $50+ a month for rent.

Displacement Fact #3: More empty rooms.
According to a survey by the Jodyne Keller, Homeless Outreach worker for the VPD in December 2009, some hotels have large numbers of vacant rooms, which are not for rent. In CCAP’s experience this usually means they are getting ready to sell or to upgrade and rent at increased rents (maybe to students of the new SFU Arts School). These hotels include the Colonial Hotel (90 vacant units), and Argyle Hotel (40 vacant units). The Golden Crown Hotel (28 units) is empty and renovating as is the Burns Block (28 units). Other hotels may be doing this also. With increased rents these hotels will not be available to current low-income DTES residents. These hotels are all located near Woodward’s.

Displacement Fact #4: The City counting method doesn’t give a clear picture.
City staff continually inform council that its 1 for 1 replacement policy (for every 1 SRO that is lost, a new social housing unit should be built) is being met. However, the city does not take into account rent increases that make the SROs unaffordable to very low-income people. Nor is it examining the impact on low-income DTES residents of owners holding rooms vacant. And the city includes provincially owned hotels as new social housing when they are newly social but not new accommodation.

For these reasons CCAP believes it is crucial that the city take a step back from its “revitalization” policies to gage whether or not the “without displacement” part is actually happening too. If low income people are being displaced, as CCAP believes they are, then homelessness will keep increasing.

This is why CCAP wants a social-economic study of the impact of Woodward’s and new condos in the DTES BEFORE more density is allowed. The study should look at what has been the impact of Woodward’s and condos on the assets and tenure of the low income community and on homelessness.

Another consideration about the Height Review: Planning staff have told CCAP that they want extra height so they can get amenities from developers. The “amenity” that low income DTES residents want the most, according to our research, is housing. But we have seen pro formas from the Building Communities Society that show very few social housing units will be built by condo developers as amenities. For every 7-10 condos we might get one social housing unit in good economic times. This means that to get the 6000 units of social housing that the DTES needs, we’d have to have 42,000 condos, which would totally wipe out all the assets of the low income community that we uncovered in our mapping with over 200 residents. Our other fears are that the community would be split arguing over whether heritage, housing, childcare, etc were the most appropriate amenities, or if the amenities were designed for the benefit of the new richer residents and not for more vulnerable low income residents.

What CCAP wants: the city should not consider “outright” or even “conditional” height increases, or any additional supportive regulatory framework to facilitate increased development within the DTES Heritage Areas under review. These proposed policies will lead to demolition of heritage buildings and further displacement of low-income residents. Instead, we recommend the following:
1. A social-economic study of the impact of Woodward’s and other condos on the tenure and assets of the Aboriginal and low-income communities and on homelessness.
2. A vision for the whole DTES neighbourhood (which includes all 7 sub-areas of the DTES as defined by the city).
3. A short term local area planning process in which Aboriginal and low-income residents have a say proportionate to their numbers and with a goal of designing a plan to ensure Vancouver’s low-income and heritage districts are secured.

Something else to consider:
CCAP could consider the staff’s proposal for a “moderate” height increase in the historic district “if” we can get these things in place first:
 a social-economic study of the impact of Woodward’s and other condos on the tenure and assets of the Aboriginal and low-income communities and on homelessness.
 a National Housing program,
 a 50% raise in welfare,
 a vision for the DTES that secures the tenure and assets of the low-income and Aboriginal community and historic district, and
 a plan for how to achieve the vision, with
 Aboriginal and low-income reps on the vision and planning committee represented in proportion to their population (about 70%).
Council could consider “holding back” approval for 12 months conditional upon a serious effort made by reps from Chinatown, business and developers work with the Aboriginal and low-income community on this. The national housing strategy could help the DTES community build housing for Chinese families, Aboriginal families, working families, seniors, low-income singles as well as supportive housing and indirectly preserve the historic district as well. New zoning is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Council could use the energy that is pushing for zoning change to help the Mayor achieve his goal of building affordable housing and ending homelessness in Vancouver.

CCAP and low-income DTES residents desperately need your help at City Council on (probably) Jan. 21st

Hi everyone.  CCAP and low-income DTES residents desperately need your help at City Council on (probably) Jan. 21^st.

That’s the day that council will hear speakers on staff recommendations to allow building heights to increase in the western DTES (roughly west of Gore).  This report is called the Historic Area Height Review.

Higher buildings mean more condos.  Condos are already outpacing new social housing in the DTES by a ratio of about 3 to 1.  And the condos in the Woodwards and other developments are having ripple effects throughout the neighbourhood:

• Land prices increase;
• Rents in hotels (the last cheap housing available before homelessness) increase;
• Businesses that serve local residents can’t afford taxes;                                http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/planning/hahr/index.htm
• New businesses serving new upscale residents move in (some are subsidized by the city);
• Low income people are excluded from upscale business by security guards and prices;
• A new power structure favouring people with more money develops;
• Some new residents lobby to stop new housing and services that low income residents need;
• Low income people stop feeling comfortable in their own neighbourhood;
• Homelessness increases.
• A unique low-income community with many assets could be lost.

CCAP needs you to go to Council on the 21^st and support this position:

No new height until we have a social/economic study of the impact of Woodwards and other DTES condo development on the tenure and assets of the low income DTES community and until we have a local area plan for the whole DTES neighbourhood in which low income residents have a say proportionate to their numbers.

In order to speak a Council, you will have to email a quick note to mayorandcouncil@vancouver.ca saying that you want to speak as a delegation on the Historic Area Height Review.  Later there may be a phone number you can call for this and CCAP will forward it to you.

Background

What exactly is the planning staff recommending to Council?

At a meeting on Dec. 10^th DTES planners told CCAP that staff will probably make the following recommendations at a City Council meeting on Jan. 19^th (probably speakers will be heard on the 21^st):

• Three new towers up to 15 stories on three specific sites in the DTES;
• No height increase in Gastown or Victory Square;
• About a one story increase on Pender St.;
• Chinatown South to go from 90 feet to 120 feet (12 stories) with rezonings;
• DEOD (this is Main St. north of Hastings and about two blocks of Hastings):  increase the height limit from 100 feet to 120 feet with rezoning.

What’s missing from the city’s recommendations?

CCAP is just completing a two year comprehensive vision for the DTES based on consultation with 1200 low income residents.  The height increases proposed will leapfrog over CCAP’s process.  The planning department has known about this process from the beginning.

The Woodwards development and other city measures to “revitalize” the DTES are already having a huge impact on the low income DTES community, but the city has done no social/economic impact study of this.  The city needs to assess the development that’s already happened:  Is it creating more homelessness?  Is it destroying a vibrant community where low-income people feel safe and comfortable?  Where will people displaced by higher rents caused by gentrification go?

Displacement facts: Although the city’s policy is “revitalization without displacement”, three displacement facts are troubling to CCAP:

• Hotel rents are escalating beyond what people on welfare, disability and seniors can afford.  According to CCAP’s hotel survey, the number of hotel rooms renting for over $425, $50 above what people on welfare and disability have for rent, increased by 44% between 2008 and 2009.  In other words, about half of the privately owned SROs are renting for more than low income people can afford.  Probably as a result of these rent increases, CCAP also found that the number of hotels where two people are staying in one tiny room quadrupled between 2008 and 2009.
• According to a survey by the police in December, some hotels have large numbers of vacant rooms.  In CCAP’s experience this usually means they are getting ready to sell or to upgrade and rent at increased rents, maybe to students of the new SFU Arts school.  These hotels include the Colonial (90 vacant units), and Argyle (40 vacant units). The Golden Crown Hotel is empty and renovating as is the Burns Block.  With increased rents these hotels will not be available to current low-income DTES residents.
• City staff continually informs council that its 1 for 1 replacement policy (for every 1 SRO that is closed, a new social housing unit should be built) is being met.  However, the city does not take into account rent increases that make the SROs, the last housing before homelessness, unaffordable to very low income people.  Nor is it examining the impact of owners holding rooms vacant on low income DTES residents.  And it is including provincially owned hotels as new social housing when it is newly social but not new accommodation.

What are the reasons why we should not support increased density in the DTES?

#1.  There is no plan for the DTES.  Allowing increased zoning before there is a plan is backwards process.

#2.  There is no study on the impact of denser zoning on the existing low-income community.

#3.  Upzoning (allowing higher density) will benefit developers but not existing residents.

#4.  One of the city’s justifications for higher density is that it will allow the city to extract “amenities” from developers.  However, CCAP has seen pro-formas (tables that developers use to figure out their costs and prices) that show that for a developer to provide one unit of social housing, he would have to build at least 7 condo units (if the economy is good).  That means that for the DTES to get the 6000 units of social housing that it needs, it would have to have 42,000 condos, and the neighbourhood would be completely overwhelmed by condos.

#5.  Another justification for higher density is that density reduces the ecological footprint.  However, the DTES is already a dense neighbourhood, and probably has the smallest ecological footprint in the city, as thousands of residents don’t have cars, washers, dryers or even stoves.

What are the alternatives to making the DTES denser? CCAP’s two year consultation process with 1200 low income residents will call on the city to stop encouraging condo development in the DTES until the housing and assets of the low-income community are secured.

Watch for the city’s report on the Height Review on January 19, 2010.  Please sign up to speak to support the low income DTES community.  As soon as the details of the meeting are available, CCAP will forward them to you.

If you have any questions, please call Wendy at 604 839-0379 or Jean at 604 729-2380.

Bill C-304: Libby’s Affordable Housing Bill passed second reading

2nd Session, 40th Parliament,

57-58 Elizabeth II, 2009

HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA

NOT OFFICIAL VERSION

DRAFT PREPARED BY BRUCE PORTER AND LEILANI FARHA

FROM ADOPTED AMENDMENTS

AS WE UNDERSTOOD THEM

DECEMBER 11, 2009

BILL C-304

An Act to ensure secure, adequate, accessible and affordable housing for

Canadians

Whereas the provision of and access to adequate housing is a fundamental

human right according to paragraph 25(1) of the United Nations Universal

Declaration of Human Rights;

Whereas, in 1976, Canada signed the International Covenant on Economic,

Social and Cultural Rights, a legally binding treaty committing Canada to

make progress on fully realizing all economic, social and cultural rights,

including the right to adequate housing;

Whereas the enjoyment of other human rights, such as those to privacy, to

respect for the home, to freedom of movement, to freedom from

discrimination, to environmental health, to security of the person, to

freedom of association and to equality before the law, are indivisible from

and indispensable to the realization of the right to adequate housing;

Whereas Canada’s wealth and national budget are more than adequate to ensure

that every woman, child and man residing in Canada has secure, adequate,

accessible and affordable housing as part of a standard of living that will

provide healthy physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual and social

development and a good quality of life;

Whereas improved housing conditions are best achieved through co-operative

partnerships of government and civil society and the meaningful involvement

of local communities;

And whereas the Parliament of Canada wishes to ensure the establishment of

national goals and programs that seek to improve the quality of life for all

Canadians as a basic right;

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the

Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Secure, Adequate, Accessible and Affordable

Housing Act.

INTERPRETATION

Definitions

2. The definitions in this section apply in this Act.

“accessible housing”

“accessible housing” means housing that is physically adapted to the

individuals who are intended to occupy it, including those who are

disadvantaged by age, physical or mental disability or medical condition,

and those who are victims of a natural disaster.

“adequate housing”

“adequate housing” means housing that is habitable and structurally sound,

and that provides sufficient space and protection against cold, damp, heat,

rain, wind, noise, pollution and other threats to health.

“affordable housing”

“affordable housing” means housing that is available at a cost that does not

compromise an individual’s ability to meet other basic needs, including

food, clothing and access to education.

“Minister”

“Minister” means the Minister responsible for the Canada Mortgage and

Housing Corporation.

“Aboriginal Community”

“Aboriginal Community” means a community made up of Métis, Inuit or First

Nations peoples, whether or not that community is situated on a reserve.

NATIONAL HOUSING STRATEGY

National Housing Strategy to be established

3. (1) The Minister shall, in consultation with the provincial and

territorial ministers of the Crown responsible for municipal affairs and

housing and with representatives of municipalities

and Aboriginal communities, non-profit and private sector housing providers

and civil society organizations, including those that represent groups in

need of adequate housing establish a national housing strategy designed to

respect, protect, promote and fulfil the right to adequate housing as

guaranteed under international human rights treaties ratified by Canada.

Financial assistance

(2) The national housing strategy shall include incentives for affordable

rental housing and ensure that the cost of housing in Canada does not

compromise an individual’s ability to meet other basic needs, including

food, clothing, and access to health care services, education and

recreational activities, and shall provide financial assistance, including

financing and credit without discrimination, for those who are otherwise

unable to afford rental housing.

Requirements

(3) The national housing strategy shall also ensure the availability of

housing that:

(a) is secure, adequate, affordable, accessible, and not-for-profit in the

case of those who cannot otherwise afford it;

(b) reflects the needs of local communities, including Aboriginal

communities;

(c) provides access for those with different needs, including, in an

appropriate proportion, access for the elderly and the disabled, and

reasonable design options;

(d) uses design and equipment standardization where appropriate to

accelerate construction and minimize cost;

(e) uses designs with LEED (Leadership in and Environmental Design)

certification;

(f) includes not-for-profit rental housing projects, mixed income

not-for-profit housing cooperatives, special-needs housing and housing that

allows senior citizens to remain in their homes as long as possible;

(g) includes housing for the homeless;

(h) includes provision for temporary emergency housing and shelter in the

event of disasters and crises; and

(i) complies with standards for the maintenance of existing housing stock or

for the construction and maintenance of new housing and appropriate health,

security and safety standards.

Priority

(4) The national housing strategy shall give priority to ensuring the

availability of secure, adequate, accessible and affordable housing to those

without housing and to members of groups particularly

vulnerable to homelessness, including: (a) those with special housing

requirements because of family status or size or because of a mental or

physical disability;

(b) members of groups denied housing as a result of discrimination; (c)

those who are experiencing violence or who are at risk of experiencing

violence.

Quebec

(5) The Government of Quebec may choose to be exempted from the application

of this

Act and may, if it chooses to do so, receive an unconditional payment equal

to the total of

the amounts that would otherwise be paid within its territory under this

Act.

Implementation of national housing strategy

4. (1) The Minister, in consultation with the provincial and territorial

ministers of the Crown responsible for municipal affairs and housing and

with representatives of municipalities and Aboriginal communities shall

develop a coordinated approach to the implementation of the national housing

strategy and may provide advice and assistance in the development and

implementation of programs and practices in support of the strategy.

Measures may be taken

(2) The Minister, in cooperation with the provincial and territorial

ministers of the Crown responsible for housing and with representatives of

municipalities and Aboriginal communities, may take any measures that the

Minister considers appropriate to implement the national housing strategy as

quickly as possible.

Conference to be held

5. (1) The Minister shall, within 180 days after the coming into force of

this enactment, convene a conference of the provincial and territorial

ministers of the Crown responsible for municipal affairs and housing, of

representatives of municipalities and Aboriginal communities, non-profit and

private sector housing providers and civil society organizations, including

those that represent groups in need of adequate housing, in order to

(a) develop standards, and set objectives and targets for the national

housing strategy referred to in subsection 3(1) – including targets to end

homelessness – with clear timelines and accountabilitv mechanisms and

develop programs to carry out the strategy;

(b) set targets for the commencement of the programs referred to in

paragraph (a)

(c) develop the principles of an agreement between the federal, provincial

and territorial governments and representatives of the municipalities,

Aboriginal communities, housing providers and civil society organizations,

including those representing groups in need of housing, for the development,

delivery, monitoring and evaluation of the programs referred to in paragraph

(a): and

(d) develop a process for the independent review, addressing and reporting

of complaints about possible violations of the right to adequate housing;

and

e) develop a process for review and follow-up on any concerns or

recommendations from United Nations human rights bodies with respect to the

right to adequate housing.

6. The Minister shall cause a report on the conference, including the

matters referred to in paragraphs 5(a) to (Lib) to be laid before each House

of Parliament on anyone of the first five days that the House is sitting

following the expiration of 180 days after the end of the conference.