A group gathered at Vancouver's Oppenheimer Park Sunday morning to stage a rally and march through the Downtown Eastside to demand action on the city's housing and homelessness crises.
“We need something to change, we need something better,” said Ryan Sudds, one of the rally organizers.
As the city got its first blast of wintry weather, approximately 100 people gathered at the site formerly occupied by an encampment before marching down East Hastings Street where tents currently line the streets. Vancouver's fire chief ordered those tents and structures to be cleared over the summer, but many remain because there is no place else for them to go.
The organizers said they intentionally scheduled the rally one day prior to Vancouver mayor-elect Ken Sim’s inauguration.
“We’re not exactly optimistic that council’s going to bring that,” said Sudds, referring to subsidized and affordable housing.
“So people are out here today to put pressure and start the fight for over the next four years to get better housing and better safety for unhoused residents, for tenants.”
Sim declined to comment for this story.
Aero Marion, a resident of a Single Room Occupancy building on the Downtown Eastside says his community is frustrated and losing hope.
“We are trying to get dignified housing for everyone, not just for the residents of Downtown Eastside tent city, but residents of the SROs in downtown.”
Marion says some SRO buildings are unsafe and barely livable, citing the many fires that occurred over the past year – including one that claimed the lives of two residents.
“I feel like they’re just trying to kill us off,” he said.
“We might be unfortunate in some ways, but we are still human,” said Marion.
In addition to creating fear among those who currently live fires in the city's SROs have led to the permant loss of or extensive damage to hundreds of affrodable spaces in the city.
Some marching In the frigid cold do not live in the neighbourhood but hit the streets to support the cause.
“This is how we have to bring change -- by getting people together and marching and showing a sign of strength to bring change,” said James Rankin, who marched alongside his family.
Vancouver has not done its annual homeless count since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That year there were 2,095 people experiencing homelessness. Of those, 547 were "unsheltered," meaning they were living outdoors – on the streets or in parks.
The provincial government recently announced $633 million in its 2022 budget to address homelessness, an issue many say has only gotten worse due to the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and the skyrocketing cost of living.
