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

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”).

Today is truly a tragic reminder of the stigma that fuels the hatred and violence towards our most marginalized members of society. Our hearts are with unhoused individuals who are victimized through direct and political violence. We denounce the conditions that manufacture poverty and homelessness - including white supremacy, settler colonialism, anti-drug user and anti-homeless stigma.

Joint letter from 15 organizations expressing deep concern about Vancouver City Council motion for CCTV cameras.

Poverty and social exclusion from services are not inevitable. Rather than contributing to stigma-driven, reactive policies which have long harmed residents in the DTES, Canada Post can help prevent further harm.

Pivot Legal Society's Staff Lawyer, Caitlin Shane, wrote a letter to the Canadian Minister for Mental Health and Addictions, Carolyn Bennett, outlining how low threshold quantities, if set too low, "will undermine the goals of decriminalization", while also causing more harm to the people who use drugs.

Pivot Legal Society letter to City of Dawson Creek: Proposed amendment to zoning bylaw prevents access to life saving harm reduction services.

We urge Council to take this opportunity to begin addressing the City’s legacy of homelessness, eviction, displacement, and gentrification in the Downtown Eastside.