As unhoused people are evicted from Strathcona Park, they look to local and international human rights laws to evaluate government decampment strategy and, based on these laws, issue a significantly low grade of “D”

On International Human Rights Day, the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition and Pivot Legal Society are renewing calls for an amendment to the BC Human Rights Code to include protections based on social condition.

Joint letter (BCCLA, UBCIC & Pivot) in response to Vancouver Park Board resolution concerning by-law amendment to temporarily sheltering in parks.

Pivot urges Vancouver City and Fire & Rescue to work with Oppenheimer Park residents to come up with a solution for a serious health and safety risks faced by camp residents.

Despite the heavy snowfall we are experiencing, Oppenheimer Park residents continue to be refused onsite-options for warming. We recently sent letters calling on both Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services and the City of Vancouver to “meet people where they are” and provide warming options for those who will inevitably remain outside in the cold this season.

As we close out this year and look back on the past few months, we commend the steadfast, principled advocacy of Oppenheimer Park Tent City residents. We stand in solidarity with the assertion of Indigenous sovereignty in the Park. As long as people must rely on public space, we must respect Tent Cities as the safest option in a list of undesirable alternatives.

We must develop a flexible definition of Social Condition that includes an element of disadvantage and explicitly identifies housing status.

Park residents, neighbours, and advocates will be gathering on the 1 year anniversary of the rent city for a warm meal, music, and legal information about rights for people who rely on public space for survival, and to celebrate resilience in the face of a housing crisis, a drug poisoning crisis, and the ongoing criminalization of homeless people.

The Court did not condone the City’s “priorities and approach” regarding Anita Place, and invited the parties to bring another application regarding the constitutionality of the City’s conduct.

We intend to inform the Court of the City and RCMP’s misconduct over the weekend, which included numerous and egregious contraventions of Justice Grauer’s decision.