East Hastings decampment: Where do people go?

With the decampment of East Hastings Street persevering with in Vancouver, many are nonetheless asking the place precisely unhoused individuals are alleged to go.

Parts of the busy Downtown Eastside road have been as soon as once more closed Thursday as metropolis crews — with police help — continued their work to clear tents and different buildings.

The newest effort started Wednesday when dozens of officers and metropolis staff descended on the encampment to implement a fireplace chief’s order issued final 12 months.

Vancouver has seen this case play out earlier than. In current years, many tent cities have been cleared out, forcing folks residing in these areas to relocate to different public areas and parks.

BC Liberals fireplace again at NDP

BC Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon says he’s apprehensive that is going to occur once more.

“The violence and the chaos on communities throughout this province has never been worse than it is today. And without housing available, those tent encampments will simply move to another park or neighbourhood,” he stated in Question Period on the B.C. Legislature Thursday.

“My question to the Premier is: how can anyone trust any of the Premier’s empty announcements when the results are never there when people need them?”

Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon insists there are shelter models accessible for everybody who had been residing within the encampment.

“No doubt the situation, in particular around the Hastings encampment, is a challenging one, and yesterday was a challenging day,” he stated in response to Falcon.

“I can share with the member that yesterday, the city took some actions on the Downtown Eastside. Part of that: our staff on the ground worked around the clock to find enough housing for everyone that said they needed housing. In fact, I can share with the members today that we have now enough housing, enough shelter spaces available for those that are in the encampments.”

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However, Falcon takes difficulty with the suggestion that extra housing is on the best way. He says the BC NDP talks about new housing models however claims “they never appear and never materialize.”

“The reality is that those tent cities just move from one location to another. In fact, that’s actually now official NDP government policy,” the opposition chief continued.

Many of the individuals who had been residing on East Hastings have stated they really feel safer in tents than within the housing or shelter models they’ve been provided.

In an availability Wednesday, the City of Vancouver additionally acknowledged the housing state of affairs stays a difficult one with nobody easy answer.

“We do recognize in the city, there are more people seeking housing than we have available. That’s absolutely correct,” Vancouver City Manager Paul Mochrie stated.

“We have people sheltering outside across the city and, in fact, most of the people in Vancouver who are unsheltered are not on Hastings Street, they’re in other parts of the city. That’s not going to change with today.”

He stated town was going to proceed working with the individuals who have been being displaced to supply them shelter.

“I think what we’re seeing here is a situation where this encampment in its current form is clearly unsafe. That’s what we have to deal with today. It’s not going to solve the issue of homelessness,” Mochrie added.

GoFundMe marketing campaign launched to assist East Hastings tent residents

Meanwhile, with many individuals being pressured from the encampment space, a fundraiser has been launched to assist help those that misplaced tents and different belongings.

The GoFundMe marketing campaign, arrange by the Stop the Sweeps Coalition, has a purpose of $25,000. As of Thursday afternoon, 23 hours after it was launched, greater than $21,000 had been raised.

“All funds go towards replacing tents and belongings stolen by the City of Vancouver and supporting residents to find shelter,” the web page reads.

–With recordsdata from Charlie Carey

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