"The best test of a civilised society is the way in which it treats its most vulnerable and weakest members."

Mahatma Gandhi


  

Hope in Shadows 2009

 
 
Issue-related news
 June 2007		    
Vancouver Drops Olympics Housing Pledge
One of the many presentations that Sullivan refused to hear was a plan presented by Pivot Legal Society under which new homeless housing could be paid for out of existing provincial, city and VANOC funds.
[The Tyee, June 29, 2007]

Shaking the money tree to solve homelessness
by David Eby
The host governments of the 2010 Olympics and the Vancouver Olympic Committee can meet their stated goal of eliminating homelessness in Vancouver by 2010 without increasing taxes. Here's how they could pay for more than the 3,200 units called for as part of the 2010 Games bid:
[Vancouver Sun, June 29, 2007]

Groups press council to fulfil housing promise
One in particular, Pivot Legal Society, claimed it had proof the city could afford to provide more money.
[Vancouver Sun, June 29, 2007]

Finances are in great shape, Vanoc says
About the time Vanoc was holding its news conference, the Pivot Legal Society issued statements saying it had documents showing Vanoc and its city, provincial and federal partners will be unable to meet their promises to build 3,200 social housing units.
[Vancouver Sun, June 29, 2007]

VANOC raising ire for spending millions on staff bonuses
At a meeting of Vancouver City Council yesterday to discuss the possibility that social housing commitments for the 2010 Olympics will not be met, David Eby of the Pivot Legal Society called for the $44.5-million fund to be put into housing.
[Globe & Mail, June 29, 2007]

City urged to spend extra $14m on housing
Yesterday, housing advocates urged the city to spend the windfall on improving the social housing component of the plan. "We're here today to tell the city that they do have the money to build the housing required for the Olympic Legacy," said Pivot Legal Society lawyer David Eby.
[The Province, June 29, 2007]

Pivot and Mayor Sam can't agree
Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan says Pivot's calculations, "are pretty wonky."
[CKNW, June 28, 2007]

Memo shows Vancouver can afford social housing, say critics
The Pivot Legal Society and 2010 Watch released an undated city memorandum on Thursday, which they say show the city will earn millions more than originally anticipated from redeveloping Southeast False Creek for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
[CBC, June 28, 2007]

Pivot Legal Society says Olympic Village won't help homeless
The Pivot Legal Society says Vancouver's Olympic Village will not help deal with the homelessness crisis.
[News1130, June 28, 2007]

Olympic Partners Said to 'Fudge' Housing Claims
"I don't see a single project on this list that is both new housing for low-income people in Vancouver, and was initiated in response to the Olympic bid," said David Eby, a housing watchdog at the non-profit Pivot Legal Society.
[The Tyee, June 28, 2007]

New ethics adviser to rely on 'gut' instinct
Mr. Oliver's appointment has nothing to do with recent controversies over complaints by the Pivot Legal Society about police abuse of public trust, the chief said.
[Globe & Mail, June 25, 2007]

Housing promises in Olympic bid unlikely to be kept, report says
"There's no clear commitment from the provincial or the federal governments to fund the housing that's needed," said David Eby of Pivot Legal Society, a major advocate for improved housing in advance of the Olympics.
[Vancouver Sun, June 25, 2007]

Coleman touts new strategy for Downtown Eastside
"It was a big surprise," said David Eby, a housing advocate with the Pivot Legal Society. "That was definitely a big change of policy."
[The Province, June 24, 2007]

City buys hotel to increase social housing stock
David Eby of  the Pivot Legal Society says the city is slowly moving in the right direction, but  buying pre-existing housing is the wrong approach.
[CBC, June 22, 2007]

New chief to aim for 'community safety'
"I think the appointment is a really interesting choice and one that provides this opportunity for the community to interact with the police in a new and different way with a more constructive relationship," said David Eby of the Pivot Legal Society.
[Globe & Mail, June 22, 2007]

Pivot Legal Society looking forward to working with new police chief
Lawyer David Eby with the Pivot Legal Society likes the fact incoming chief Jim Chu plans to meet with as many community groups as possible before making changes to police policies.
[News1130, June 21, 2007]

Straight Choices
City events for the socially conscious
...a public forum featuring a large roster of speakers: David Eby (Pivot Legal Society), Janice Abbott (Atira Women's Resource Society), Wendy Pederson (Carnegie Community Action Project),...
[Georgia Straight, June 21, 2007]

New VPD chief getting praise
The Pivot Legal Society has filed numerous complaints against the VPD for residents of Vancouver’s poorest neighborhood.
[CKNW News Talk, June 21, 2007]

The cost of hosting the Olympics
The 44-and-a-half million dollars set aside to reward executives with Vancouver's Olympic organizers would be better spent on social housing. So says David Eby, a lawyer and advocate for residents of the downtown eastside...
[CKNW News Talk, June 20, 2007]

 

  Pivot founded to give leverage to the city's disadvantaged
The idea for the Pivot Legal Society came to John Richardson seven years ago as he walked the troubled streets of the Downtown Eastside on his way to work as a lawyer with the Sierra Legal Defence Fund.
[Vancouver Sun, June 15, 2007]

Watchdog orders Probe of police chief
The investigation stems from a complaint brought by the Pivot Legal Society, which bills itself as "a non-profit group dedicated to advancing the interests of illegal drug users, sex trade workers and other marginalized persons through legal education, strategic legal action, and law reform."
[Vancouver Sun, June 15, 2007]

Vancouver mayor overruled on police chief probe
Police commissioner Dirk Ryneveld ordered an external investigation after the legal group Pivot filed a complaint alleging the chief failed to co-operate with an RCMP investigation into the misconduct complaints.
[Globe & Mail, June 15, 2007]

Chief must be investigated, commissioner rules
In May, Mayor Sam Sullivan dismissed a complaint from the Pivot Legal Society that alleged that Chief Constable Jamie Graham had failed to co-operate with the RCMP in a 2003 investigation into the police department.
[Globe & Mail, June 15, 2007]

Police chief's conduct to be probed
The investigation stems from a 2003 Pivot Legal Society complaint on behalf of about 50 residents of the Downtown Eastside, alleging abuse by police.
[The Province, June 15, 2007]

Probe coming into 'stonewall'
But PIVOT Legal Society lawyer John Richardson, whose group launched both the original VPD complaint and the subsequent complaint against officer conduct, said the decision meant an opportunity for Graham to be held accountable.
[24 Hours, June 15, 2007]

Mayor questions merits of OPCC investigation
The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner says it will investigate a complaint made by the Pivot Legal Society that Chief Graham didn't fully cooperate with the RCMP investigation into allegations of alleged misconduct by Vancouver Police on the downtown eastside.
[CKNW News Talk, June 14, 2007]

Vancouver's top cop faces new probe
...Dirk Ryneveld's order overturns a decision by Mayor Sam Sullivan who — as chair of the Vancouver Police Board — dismissed complaints against Graham by the Pivot Legal Society.
[CBC, June 14, 2007]

Police complaints commissioner overturns Sullivan's decision to clear VPD Chief Jamie Graham
Deputy Police Complaints Commissioner Bruce Brown says, "When we got Mayor Sullivan's decision, we reviewed it and in the general, overall context felt it needs to be investigated." The complaint is related to a complaint filed by Pivot Legal Society in 2003.
[News1130, June 14, 2007]

Vancouver homeless advocate makes his case to UN conference
...Pivot Legal Society lawyer David Eby spoke to a conference in Geneva Thursday on housing rights and evictions.
[CBC, June 14, 2007]

Investigation ordered into conduct of Chief Graham (10:03 am)
A written release by Pivot Legal Society states Ryneveld overturned a May 14, 2007 decision by Mayor Sam Sullivan to dismiss a complaint by Pivot alleging that Graham failed to cooperate with an RCMP investigation into 50 complaints of misconduct by residents of the Downtown Eastside.
[Vancouver Sun, June 14, 2007]

Housing headaches go global
"They made these promises around displacement," said Pivot Legal Society's David Eby on behalf of Impact of the Olympics on Community Coalition. "What are they doing to make sure Vancouver doesn't become a statistic?"
[24 Hours, June 7, 2007]

Seeing 2010 through the third eye
...the Pivot Legal Society, and the Coalition to Save Eagleridge Bluffs, as well as all the others who’ve either risked or endured imprisonment, police harassment, media vilification, and career-destroying stigma to defend Vancouver’s poor and British Columbia’s ecosystems from the Olympics juggernaut.
[The Republic of East Vancouver, June 7, 2007]

Report just PR exercise: Watchdog olympics: VANOC releases sustainability study to mixed reviews
"My first reaction was disappointment," said David Eby of the Impacts on Community Coalition and the Pivot Legal Society.
[The Province, June 6, 2007]

In-house green report takes flak
"At least they're issuing a report and talking about sustainability," Pivot Legal Society's David Eby said on behalf of Impact of the Olympics on Community Coalition.
[24 Hours, June 6, 2007]

Pivot lawyer to speak
Lawyer David Eby is one of about a dozen people who have been invited to Geneva to make a presentation on the impact of the 2010 Olympics on residents of the Downtown Eastside.
[Vancouver Sun, June 2, 2007]

Why not check out the archives?
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
January and February 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
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