Franchesca Leo spent part of her Tuesday loading dirty clothes and other personal items into a large plastic garbage can outside her tarp-filled shelter on East Hastings Street.
City of Vancouver crews delivered the 360-litre container to Leo this morning as part of a multi-step plan to remove dozens of makeshift structures and tents from the sidewalks of East Hastings.
“It’s been exhausting,” said Leo, a 45-year-old indigenous woman, as she filled the trash can that would eventually be transported to a storage site on Main Street or East Cordova Street.
Between loading her trash, Leo filled out a BC Housing application form a friend gave her, but she didn’t expect to immediately find a place to live; he planned to move further down East Hastings to another point on the strip.
“I don’t have anywhere else to go, but if I can’t stay here, I have to go somewhere,” he said.
Firefighters fear the tents could catch fire and spread to the buildings
Last week, BC Housing and Mayor Kennedy Stewart told Vancouver Is Awesome that there is not enough housing for people living in East Hastings, a fact that competes with Fire Chief Karen Fry’s order to remove all tents from the sidewalks for fear that they could catch fire and spread to the buildings.
On Tuesday, firefighters, police, city crews and others from various social service agencies were largely on standby as Leo and others began to slowly and methodically empty their belongings into bins.
By morning, police had shut down the section of East Hastings between Main and Columbia streets as media, activists and local residents gathered outside the empty Regent Hotel, which is where the city came into focus due to of the concentration of shelters on the sidewalk. .
Captain Matthew Trudeau of Vancouver Fire Rescue Services on East Hastings Street on Tuesday. Photo by Mike Howell
Hotel Regent vacant since 2018
Captain Matthew Trudeau, public information officer for Vancouver Fire Rescue Services, said firefighters have responded to 1,016 fires in the downtown east this year, including the Vancouver Street Church in the on the other side of Regent Street.
Standing outside the Regent, Trudeau pointed to the empty building and described the challenges firefighters would face if a fire broke out at the single-room hotel, which the city closed in 2018 due to its dilapidated condition .
“Our crews are going to have a very difficult time stopping here seeing the fire and smoke coming out of this building and getting adequate water to the fire in a reasonable amount of time,” he said, adding note that firefighters were called this weekend to a tent fire at 122 East Hastings. “This is incredibly dangerous.”
The city did not have anyone present on East Hastings Street Tuesday to answer questions, but issued a news release in the morning emphasizing the street and traffic law prohibit structures on sidewalks.
“This is a complex endeavor and the city appreciates the work of the many community organizations and social enterprises that have contributed expertise and effort, as well as the support of BC Housing and Vancouver Coastal Health,” the statement said.
“We recognize that this work will have an emotional impact on the community and everyone involved. The staff of the City Council will seek to carry out the work with reflection and care for the residents and their circumstances.”
City crews delivered storage containers Tuesday to homeless people on East Hastings Street. Photo by Mike Howell
The City Council should consider vacant lots to operate the camps
Kelin Ryan, 39, said she lives with a friend in a tent outside the Regent when she can’t get into a shelter, saying “it’s a game of the dice whether or not you’re going to have a place to sleep.”
Ryan, a trained heat and frost insulator, said the city should consider using vacant lots to operate camps, where there would be bathrooms and kitchen facilities, something some American cities offer people no accommodation
Ryan, who last year lived in a townhouse with friends in Burnaby until the rent got too high, said he receives welfare but also works part-time.
“When I go to work every day, everything I earn is immediately deducted from my income,” he said. “So it’s kind of a kick in the pants. Yes, it helps me be able to eat today. But it doesn’t allow me to save anything or put anything aside for the end of the month.”
When asked where he would be staying Tuesday night, Ryan said, “Honestly, probably nowhere. At this point, I mean I don’t really have any other choice. So I’ll probably stay where I am until they literally take over of my belongings, or have provided me with a suitable or safe place to go.”
The city now owns the vacant Regent, Balmoral hotels
Ironically, Ryan and Leo live out of a hotel, the Regent, which has been vacant since 2018 after the city forced its closure. The city did the same with the Balmoral Hotel in 2017. Together, the hotels accommodated around 300 people.
The city has since bought the hotels from the Sahota family, with the intention of demolishing the Balmoral and possibly renovating the Regent, which was closed due to its disrepair.
The Regent and Balmoral have been in the city’s top 10 problem hotels list for nearly 20 years and have been cited by police in numerous reports for drug activity, violence and other crimes.
Housing advocates have long called for the city to penalize the Sahotas and order proper repairs to prevent it from closing.
At one point, Regent had more than 1,000 ordinance violations related to fire hazards, plumbing, electrical, structural damage, and rodent and pest infestation.
The city’s last homeless count in March 2020 recorded more than 2,000 homeless people, with a large population in the East Central.
As of 6pm on Tuesday, none of the tents outside the Regent had been dismantled, with a spot on the pavement previously cleared by Leo now filled with bicycles and other sundries.
Kelin Ryan lives in a tent with a friend outside the empty Regent Hotel when she can’t get into a shelter. Photo by Mike Howell
VPD officers assaulted during the arrest
In an incident that appeared to be unrelated to the camp Tuesday, police were called to the Carnegie Center on the same block.
A press release from the Vancouver Police Department said several officers were assaulted after the arrest of a man who was said to be throwing computers and behaving erratically at the Carnegie.
“While officers were taking him into custody, the man resisted arrest and fought with police,” said Const. Tania Visintin, a media relations manager, said in the statement. “A large crowd gathered and became hostile and combative with the officers. Several police officers were assaulted. Several arrests were made.”
Visintin said officers were in the area at the city’s request to keep the peace while city crews conducted their information campaign at the tent and removed the structure from the strip.
The Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users later tweeted that “Officers violently attacked and arrested DTES residents, VANDU organizers and Pivot Legal Society after a day of peaceful camp observation the tent city of Hastings.”
Several video clips posted on social media showed a heavy police presence at Main and Hastings, with officers taking people to the ground and pushing others back in the melee, including a photojournalist.
Sarah Blyth, chief executive of the Overdose Prevention Society, which has a drug site across the street from Regent Street, tweeted: “Well that was crazy… the community was working with firefighters and city workers to get trash and possible fire. hazards under control to reduce risk. Police were not necessary or helpful and in this situation increased violence.”
Deputy Police Chief Howard Chow responded Tuesday night, writing, “It’s never easy trying to deal with an emotionally charged and chaotic scene. There to support the order of the COV/Fire Chief and called when violence erupted; officers bit, punched in the face & coffee. spears. Rather than officers handling priority calls elsewhere, #facts matter.”
mhowell@glaciermedia.ca
@Howellings