Ambassador funding cut applauded
Vancouver, February 6, 2009 - Pivot Legal Society applauds Vancouver City Council's vote yesterday to end public funding for expansion of the Downtown Ambassador program.
Pivot's housing campaign lawyer Laura Track presented to City Council in advance of the vote, urging them to discontinue the program and said she was very happy with the result. “With this decision, City Council has recognized that public money should not be spent on private security guards that are unaccountable to the broader public. The Ambassadors are asked to address ‘street disorder,’ but lack both the training and the mandate to address systemic issues of poverty, homelessness, mental illness and addiction.”
Josh Paterson of the Vancouver Public Space Network, who also presented, agrees. “All people have an equal right to make use of public space, including to sit, sleep or panhandle,” says Paterson. “Businesses must not be allowed to dictate appropriate uses of space that, by definition, belongs to everyone.”
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| The Security before Justice report was published in November. |
In 2008, Pivot conducted a study asking 160 residents of the Downtown Eastside about their experiences with private security patrols. The results, published in the report Security before Justice, showed that poor, homeless and under-housed individuals were far more likely than employed and adequately housed individuals to report frequent, negative interactions with private guards. Additionally, those interactions were much more likely to occur on public property.
Dr. Darcie Bennett, who conducted the study, says “The results of our research showed that private guards were targeting the most vulnerable and marginalized individuals and overstepping their authority on public space. City Council’s decision to end its funding for these kinds of programs is a step in the right direction.”
See Laura Track and Josh Paterson present to Council (Josh at 43:50 and Laura from 51:00 - 01:12:30)
See "Pivot calls for private security ban" (November 27, 2008)
