PRESS RELEASE - Residents of the Hastings Street tent city (represented by the law firm Arvay Finlay LLP) sought a Judicial Review of the Fire Order issued by Vancouver Fire Rescue Services in late July 2022. The review of this Fire Order and the City of Vancouver’s enforcement actions highlight the gross disparities that people who rely on public space face as they seek shelter in the community now known as the Hastings Tent City.

NEW CAMPAIGN ALERT: Addressing stigma is part of the solution to ending discriminatory policies and bylaws that harm already marginalized communities. From by-laws to provincial and federal legislation we must #EndTheStigma

A win for our client, a missed opportunity for law reform - Read our latest blog post: A mixed ruling from the BC Court of Appeal in R v Ellis

OPS are necessary—both to save lives and in accordance with public health laws. When local governments or police obstruct OPS, they contravene a Ministerial Order; violate provincial jurisdiction over health; discriminate against people who use drugs; and put people’s lives at even greater risk amid overlapping health crises. When health authorities fail to establish or otherwise protect OPS, they breach their legal obligations, potentially amounting to negligence and/or discrimination.

Your stigmatizing policies and practices are driving social murder. It is time to amend the BC Human Rights Code and to include Social Condition as a protected ground. @kennedy.stewart @johnhorganbc @MurrayRankinNDP @nicholas.simons.73 @melaniejmark @dave.eby

We need a ceasefire from the VPD in the #DTES - Joint Statment Regarding the 5th VPD Murder in 2022

MEDIA ADVISORY - #StopTheSweeps Denounces the Forced Decampment of Hastings Tent City and City/Police Campaign of Terror in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside

Hastings Tent City Residents give City of Vancouver and Vancouver Fire Rescue Services an overall "E" grade + Fact Sheet which highlight myths and misunderstandings created by City, VFRS and VPD.

BCCLA, Justice for Jared & Pivot write to demand accountability for the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) actions on Saturday July 30 & about the Independent Investigations Office of BC (IIO) actions on July 30. These actions included shooting a community member, pulling another community member to the ground and striking them repeatedly, and verbally abusing and intimidating onlookers. These incidents occurred in the middle of the Downtown Eastside (DTES) community, with no support provided afterwards, and during a heatwave and forcible decampment along Hastings Street.

When Our Streets asked questions related to what kinds of housing options will be offered to tent city residents they were met with no response. No plan has been formulated by the city other than decamping the tent city, leaving residents with no place to go and violating the city’s MOU on decampment (“Support for Unsheltered Residents – Memorandum of Understanding between City of Vancouver, Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, and Provincial Government”).