THE ASSASSINATION OF DTES-CHINATOWN VANCOUVER BC CANADA

VANCOUVER BC DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE-CHINATOWN DEATH BY A 1000 CUTS

DTES "CANADAs POOREST POSTAL CODE"

THIS MEMO-PAPER ALSO PUBLICLY AVAILABLE HERE:

https://www.greyzonewar.net/the-assassination-of-dtes-chinatown-vancouver-bc-canada

Internationally Acclaimed Canadian Artists Come Together to Donate Major Artworks to Support CAROL LEEs Vancouver Chinatown Foundation’s 58 West Hastings Project

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231017055086/en/Internationally-Acclaimed-Canadian-Artists-Come-Together-to-Donate-Major-Artworks-to-Support-Vancouver-Chinatown-Foundation%E2%80%99s-58-West-Hastings-Project

THATS THE SYSTEM HYPE THIS IS THE REALITY>

58 WEST HASTINGS DTES VANCOUVER SOCIAL HOUSING APPLICATION PROCESS

CORRUPT ACT OF PLANNED DISPLACEMENT

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/07/11/advocates-frustrated-by-application-process-for-social-housing/

Housing advocates are voicing concerns about the application process for a new social housing project, saying it discriminates against low-income people.

Our Homes Can’t Wait (OHCW) advocates for housing in the Downtown Eastside and is seeking accountability for Bob and Michael’s Place at 58 West Hastings.

Bob and Michael’s Place is an affordable housing project led by the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation.

“Tons of our members have applied and have not gotten in, nobody has gotten in, people are turned away for a huge number of reasons because of the barriers,” said coalition member Nate Crompton.

OHCW says Bob and Michael’s Place has “unusually high barriers” for tenants to apply, including an online application process, submitting paper copies of birth certificates, passing a credit check, going through a criminal record check, and submitting at least three references.

In a statement, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Affordable Housing Society — the housing operator reviewing tenant applications — says, in part, it is “crucial to emphasize that applicants are required to furnish proof of B.C. residency and documentation verifying their identity. These requirements align with the responsible and prudent practices expected of a landlord. Ensuring the functionality and safety of the building for incoming tenants has been a top priority. “

Of the project’s 231 units, 120 are offered at “shelter rates,” and just over 100 are below the market rental rate. One-bedroom units are going for just over $1,400, and two-bedroom suites are $1,700.

The coalition says these rates are unaffordable and not what was promised in the past.

“In 2015, then-Mayor Gregor Robertson signed a contract with residents promising 100 per cent community-controlled welfare and pension rate housing at 58 West Hastings, where we stand today,” said OHCW coaltion member Vince Tao.

“That promise was broken.”

Broken promises at 58 West Hastings. ‘Our Homes Can’t Wait Coalition’ shines light on failure to deliver 100% social housing at shelter rate, wants City to deliver on promises. New building still almost empty.

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/07/11/advocates-frustrated-by-application-process-for-social-housing/

LET ME BE CLEAR CAROL LEE IS A RICH URBAN ELITE WHO DESPISES DTES POOR & VULNERABLE AND ADDICTED/USERS---

SEE HERE

https://www.greyzonewar.net/vancouver-mayor-sim-bc-premier-eby-endorse-rbc-fossil-fuels-part-1

TO BE CLEAR THE DTES HAS BEEN MANAGED CONTROLLED CORRALED HERDED BY NON PROFITS

AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS/ GOV/POLICE/DEVELOPERS/ MEDIA FOR DECADES--

IN THE LAST 15 YEARS THE DTES HAS BEEN AN ACTIVE TARGET FOR SYSTEMIC DISPLACEMENT

AND GENTRIFICATION BY GOVERNMENTS ESPECIALLY LOCAL AND PROVINCIAL--SEE MAYOR GREGOR

ROBERTSON AND VISION VANCOUVER --NON-PROFITS--WELL PAID EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS --CHURCHES--

DEVELOPERS--POLICE--RETAIL GENTRIFICATION ETC

SINCE 2013 THE LAST STREET BATTLES FOR A LOW INCOME SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY WERE FOUGHT IE

DAILY COMMUNITY PICKETS AGAINST HIGH END GENTRIFICATION RESTAURANT PIDGIN THAT I STARTED LASTED A YEAR

MY 36 DAY HUNGER STRIKE AGAINST GENTRIFICATION AND DISPLACEMENT---

DTES Anti-Gentrification Picket -Hunger Strike Day 16 HD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnmyysi9Jp8

SINCE THEN THERE WAS NO PLAN OR STRATEGY TO WIN AGAINST DISPLACEMENT AND GENTRIFICATION

THOSE WHO ADVOCATED FOR A WE SURRENDER--BUT ASK FOR A SLOWING DOWN OF THE GENTRIFICATION

DISPLACEMENT PROCESS TOOK OVER IE THE NON PROFITS THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS--THOSE WHO

GAVE UP THE STREETS FOR SEAT AT THE TABLE--BUT NEVER REALIZING THEIR SEAT WAS NOT AS EQUALS

BUT AS SERVANTS BEGGARS TRAINED DOGS AND MANAGED TURNCOATS

NOW EVERYONE IS FUNDED BY GOVERNMENT AND FOUNDATIONS AND NON PROFITS--GET IT

THEY ARE ALLOWED A SHORT LEASH--OR A SHOW LEASH-- THE DTES TODAY IS AN OPEN AIR AND CLOSED AIR PRISON--PEOPLE ARE MANAGED BY NON PROFITS EDs POLICE GOVERNMENT MEDIA

FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY ARE ILLUSIONS THE PEOPLES VOICES ARE MANAGED AND CENSORED TO FIT THE MESSAGE TO NON PROFITS EDs GOV POLICE MEDIA DEVELOPER-EVEN A LEGENDARY ADVOCATE WHO DOESNT LIVE IN THE DTES BUT WHO THE CANADIAN STATE ADORES-

- EVEN THE HORRIFIC DEATH RATE ARE MANAGED AND SANITIZED FOR PUBLIC CONSUMPTION NOT REAL SOLUTIONS

CAN ANYONE TELL ME THAT THE DTES LOW INCOME VULNERABLE COMMUNITY IS BETTER OFF THAN SAY 10 YEARS AGO (EBEN THEN DTES WAS IN GREAT CRISIS)?

THE ANSWER IS NO WITH EMPHASIS--THE DTES COMMUNI8TY IS BEING TORTURED MURDERED ASSASSINATED TO DEATH SLOWLY BUT SURELY

TO ME THE DTES IS LIKE EVERY POOR OPPRESSED-REPRESSED COMMMUNITY-NEIGHBORHOOD

IN THE WORLD--ITS TIME FOR--

NON PROFITS EDs POLICE GOVERNMENT MEDIA DEVELOPERS

CAPITAL.. WHO OPPRESS-REPRESS THE LOW-INCOME PEOPLE WE ARE NOW A MINORITY IN

OUR OWN COMMINITY-NEIGHBORHOOD TO BACK-OFF TO RESTORE FREEDOM & DEMOCRACY

BY THE LOW-INCOME PEOPLE --PROVIDE THE PEOPLE WITH FUNDING TO

ELIMINATE HOMELESSNESS ELIMINATE PREVENTABLE DEATHS-IE ODs--AND TO SECURE THE SAFETY

OF OUR COMMUNITY FROM THREATS OF REPRESSION OPPRESSION CONTROL AND STATE VIOLENCE--

THE BATTLE FOR THE DTES -CHINATOWN MUST NOW BE AS WELL FOUGHT IN ALL VANCOUVER AND BEYOND

THE BORDERS OF VANCOUVER

ANYHOW HERE IS MY FRIEND SID CHOW TAN (RIP) TELLING THE TRUTH

SID TAN’S LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF THE PROVINCE ABOUT PIDGIN PICKET

MARCH 8 2013

https://www.thevolcano.org/2013/03/08/tan/

This letter was written to the editors of The Province newspaper but not published. We are publishing it here as a record of community responses to mass-media. – Editors.

Art by Karen Ward

Dear Editor.

Your editorial “perpetuates misery” as you say, much more than the protesters at Pidgin restaurant.

A fine dictum of journalism is to follow the money trail. Here it points to the enormous profits for developers and real estate speculators who are catered to by Vision Vancouver and the Non-Partisan Association. In all their years of civic government, why has a social impact study never been done about the gentrification and displacement of low-income people and their needs, assets and tenure in the Downtown Eastside?

The talk-demolish, talk-evict and talk-renovate DTES Local Area Planning Process has successfully, as expected, demobilized many social justice and housing activists. Is it any wonder Pidgin and other “zones of exclusion” would bear the brunt of the anger and frustration of good citizens in direct action?

You write implying the protesters are useless, mistaken and non-strategic. But they are using direct action, the only course available in such circumstances. They are giving voice to their concerns and voting with action, aka feet on the ground. They have no financial gain here, as do the cafe owner, police or politicians.

They are within the law as developers, real estate speculators and such clever mercenary and pecuniary individuals and enterprises are. However, laws are made by judges appointed by politicians who are funded by developers, real estate speculators and the same mercenary, pecuniary types. Your editorial is a value judgment with your values clear but useless, mistaken and non-strategic.

Most of the evil we have continues because of what good people will not do. It’s good to see citizens speaking out and standing up for what they believe in. The protesters are the citizens of the year!

Sid Chow Tan

SID CHOW TAN (RIP) INTERVIEWS FORMERLY HOMELESS DAVE(ME) 2013 HD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6PTqaHXTHM

Friends and activists remember legendary chinatown-dtes activist/artist Sid Chow Tan, dead at 73

Tan is being honoured for his long legacy of fighting for Vancouver's Chinese-Canadian and DTES communities

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/sid-chow-tan-obituary-1.6601332

Temporary firehall proposed for green space in Vancouver's Chinatown-Strathcona JULY 14 24

Site was supposed to be the off ramp for a 1960s freeway that would have demolished much of Chinatown and Strathcona

https://vancouversun.com/news/temporary-firehall-proposed-chinatown-strathcona-vancouver

But the location is THE ONLY GREEN SPACE in Chinatown , right beside the MacLean Park social housing project. It’s also next to the busy Union Street bike route.--PLACED NEXT TO LOW INCOME POOR PEOPLE IN CHINATOWN-HOGANs ALLEY BC SOCIAL HOUSING--

There is currently an empty space near the new St. Paul’s Hospital site, but the city said it would not work for a temporary firehall.

“The new St. Paul’s site is not owned by the city and therefore not available to the city to deliver this important community safety facility,” states an email from the city.

YES MAYOR KEN SIM CAN WORK WITH PREMIER DAVID EBY AND A CATHOLIC ST PAULS HOSPITAL WHICH IS AN APPROPRATE TEMPORARY PLACE FOR THE TEMP FIRE HALL==

BUT HEREs THE THING I KNOW HOW THE CITY AND DEVELOPERS WORK--THE CHINATOWN SITE IS A PLACEHOLDER SITE FOR FUTURE CONDOS MUCH LIKE HOW GREGOR ROBERTSON USED COMMUNITY GARDENS AND TEMP MODULAR HOUSING AS PLACEHOLDES FOR FUTURE CONDOS--

CHINATOWN WILL BE WALLED IN WITH CONDOS FROM MAIN ST TO GORE ST

The proposed firehall would be approximately six storeys high, and is essentially a giant tent.

I ACCIDENTALLY MET SUNDAY MORNING A YOUNG BLACK WOMAN AT THAT GREEN SPACE SHE WAS TRYING TO ORGANIZE AHAINST THE FIREHALL PLAN --SHE WAS WORKING INDEPENDENTLY (BRAVO) BUT WAS ALSO ENDORSED BY HOGANs ALLEY SOCIETY-BLACK CONNECTIONS-&BLACKBOYSCODE--

I TOLD HER ITS A DONE DEAL --AND PEOPLE ONLY HAVE LESS THAN 24HRS TO COMMENT TO CITY--

CONTACT HER HELP HER/THEM --HER NAME IS SHAYLA HER EMAIL IS SHAYLABIRD@ICLOUD.COM

ROLLING STONES I SHOUTED OUT WHO ASSASSINATED THE KENNEDYS HD THE SYSTEM

SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cEXCc4Y-bg

∞ ODIN 2.0 iAM FORMERLY KNOWN AS ODIN iAM & HD ∞

MY NEW/OLD NAME

∞ iA (M) THE CLOUD OF KNOWING AND

UNKNOWING BEING&NONBEING iA (M)∞

https://www.greyzonewar.net/vancouver-mayor-ken-sim-dtes-chinatown-upzoning-gentrification

https://www.greyzonewar.net/far-right-wing-mayor-ken-sim-his-abc-party-set-2-upzone-dtes-rip

FAR RIGHT-WING VANCOUVER MAYOR SIM & HIS ABC PARTY SET 2 UPZONE DTES RIP

THOUSANDS OF PREVENTABLE DEATHS IN DTES NOT ENOUGH

THE POLITICIANS AND REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER INDUSTRY

THAT SIM AND HIS ABC PARTY REPRESENTS MUST KILL THE

LOW-INCOME COMMUNITY DTES RIP

ALSO CALLED "THE POOREST POSTAL CODE IN CANADA"LONG COVETED BY REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS..

BUT NO AFFORDABLE NEW HOUSING DENSITY FOR

RICH NEIGHBOURHOOD A MAYOR SIM ABC PARTY STRONGHOLD

OF DETACHED SINGLE FAMILY HOUSES Shaughnessy

Vancouver ABC councillor BLIGH pitches ‘potentially transformational’ plan for the city’s Downtown Eastside NOV 22 2023 PUBLISHED BY THE REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER INDUSTRY VOICE AkA GREED & INJUSTICE

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-vancouver-councillor-to-pitch-potentially-transformational-plan-for/

A proposal to significantly change Vancouver’s strategies for its troubled Downtown Eastside to create more housing, more small businesses that serve residents there, and a more responsive system of medical care was pitched Wednesday by a councillor from the ruling ABC Vancouver party.

The motion from Rebecca Bligh, which some non-profit community groups are calling “potentially transformational,” lays out a comprehensive approach akin to the Vancouver Agreement in place from 2000 to 2010, when all three levels of government worked to improve the area.

This motion goes beyond that in many ways. It proposes re-examining the 10-year-old plan for the area, a controversial one that restricted development in a wide swath of the neighbourhood to buildings with a 60/40 mix of social housing and market rental.

As well, Ms. Bligh’s motion emphasizes the need to make space in any new buildings in the Downtown Eastside for viable small businesses where residents can get jobs or access low-cost food and goods. And it suggests that new types of medical support are needed, which are less bureaucratic and more able to serve people directly in the hotels and social housing where they are living.

Finally, the second-term councillor suggests that Vancouver adopt a “right of first refusal” for building sales anywhere in the city that would be good sites for social and supportive housing – an approach that Montreal instituted in 2020.

“People in the Downtown Eastside are more unwell than ever. This is to enable more social and supportive housing but to do that in a way that is … more holistic,” said Ms. Bligh. “The goal is to create communities where people can live, work and shop.

She emphasized that, although her motion asks for staff to look at coming up with a different mix of allowed housing from the current Downtown Eastside plan, it’s not about allowing in private developers.

Instead, it’s to find the right balance of types of rental housing.

She pointed out that only two buildings that fit the current zoning have been constructed in the last decade, leaving low-income people in the area still heavily dependent on the 4,000 remaining rooms in century-old, barely functional residential hotels.

“It’s not to build a new Yaletown,” Ms. Bligh said, referring to a trendy Vancouver neighbourhood. “It’s to bring out the best of the Downtown Eastside.”

Her initiative is a surprisingly ambitious one for an individual councillor – rather than the mayor or a specialized task force – to bring forward. It will be debated at council next Wednesday.(NOV 29 TODAY)

In an unusual turn for Vancouver’s often polarized politics in the Downtown Eastside, her initiative is getting support from some non-profit groups and it generated a lot of positive response elsewhere after it was made public.

“I kind of feel some hope with this,” said Wendy Pedersen, a long-time Downtown Eastside activist who founded and runs SRO Collaborative, an organization focused on improving conditions for tenants in the residential hotels.

Ms. Pedersen is still adamantly opposed to allowing any market condos to be built in the area but said it might be worth going back to the drawing board to figure out what kind of break-even formula would get more social housing built.

She’s more excited by some other aspects of Ms. Bligh’s efforts: the proposal to get the right to make the first offer on properties that would make good social-housing sites and the efforts to get more money for renovating existing older hotels in the meantime.

Ms. Pedersen said she is seeing a new spirit of collaboration among the political leaders in the three levels of government that are involved in the Downtown Eastside.

And she’s hoping that Ms. Bligh’s motion will be able to leverage that collaboration while it exists, before any elections that bring in big changes.

“The three levels we have now are not going to last long. This is the last opportunity to get a big ambitious plan for the Downtown Eastside.”

The interim CEO of the Atira Women’s Resource Society, Catherine Roome, is equally enthusiastic about the opening Ms. Bligh’s motion creates.

“Putting people in 110-year-old buildings is dangerous and it’s gotten more insecure. Something has to change.”

That’s why she supports changing the current plan, with its 60/40 ratio, to find something that will actually spur development of new social and supportive housing.

And she’s also encouraged by Ms. Bligh’s focus on creating space for small businesses and needed services in the area.

That’s a point that is echoed by the director of an organization that manages commercial spaces in social-housing buildings, with a goal of creating a mix of private businesses that fit in the community and social enterprises that provide local residents with places to get inexpensive clothing or household goods.

Steven Johnston, executive director of the Community Impact Real Estate Society, said that in previous eras, there was a focus exclusively on housing, which didn’t create the healthiest neighbourhood.

“When we only focus on housing affordability, we’re doing a disservice to the community. Housing alone won’t provide everything someone needs for a meaningful life.”

He endorsed the idea that Ms. Bligh’s plan, which he called “potentially transformational,” become essentially a Vancouver Agreement 2.0.

“It’s high time. I just hope ABC is up to the task of making this happen and working with community partners.”

'We're not looking to build Yaletown': Vancouver ABC councillor BLIGH pushes for better fix of city's derelict SROs -

PUBLISHED BY THE OTHER DEVELOPER REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY VOICE NOV 26 2023

Despite many efforts, we continue to have people living on the margins of life and death in our city, the motion reads.

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/vancouver-derelict-sro-fix

HERE IS THE PART THAT TELLS THE TRUTH CALL IT A FREUDIAN SLIP

“We’ve just heard from a bunch of landowners who would like to

build affordable housing with market-rate rental in the

Downtown Eastside and try every way they can within

the existing zoning, but have withdrawn their applications

because at the end of the day the numbers just don’t work.”

HERE IS ARTICLE FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE

Vancouver council is set to discuss whether a solution to the city’s increasing homelessness issue lies in easing what’s required of developers building new housing in the Downtown Eastside, and helping owners and operators of existing buildings with urgent repairs and renovations.

Councillor Rebecca Bligh says her proposal — to be heard by council Wednesday — is to accelerate new social and supportive housing availability, including working with partners to scoop up and redevelop single-room occupancy (SRO) buildings that are languishing in the downtown core.

Bligh’s motion notes only two Downtown Eastside-Oppenheimer district developments have been approved over the past decade, both on East Hastings, since a 2014 housing plan required any new rental development to have a minimum of 60 per cent social housing and shelter-rate or low-end units, with the other 40 per cent at market rates.

“Despite many efforts to date, we continue to have people living on the margins of life and death in our city — people who are in desperate need of better support, those who are homeless or precariously housed,” her motion reads.

Keefer Rooms SRO on Keefer Street in Vancouver. A motion going before council proposes repairing and refurbishing SROs in disrepair in the city. PHOTO BY JASON PAYNE /PNG

“We’ve got non-profits and different levels of government at the table trying to unlock much-needed affordable housing, but with rising construction costs and interest rates, the formula that is set out in the DTES is proving too restrictive,” said Bligh.

Council will vote on “exploring options to update the DTES Area Plan, with a goal of delivering more social units,” the motion states.

It also recommends a project to speed “the full replacement of existing SROs in the (city), including exploration of a pilot funding program to support the interim repair and renovation of the existing publicly and privately owned SROs on an urgent basis,” in partnership with B.C. Housing and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

“We’re not looking to build a Yaletown; the plan is not to build a bunch of condos but to look at existing variables of the plan in a 2023 context, 10 years later,” Bligh said.

“We’ve just heard from a bunch of landowners who would like to build affordable housing with market-rate rental in the Downtown Eastside and try every way they can within the existing zoning, but have withdrawn their applications because at the end of the day the numbers just don’t work.”

Vancouver councillor Rebecca Bligh suggests dealing with DTES SROs differently. PHOTO BY NICK PROCAYLO

Bligh’s motion also proposes the city expedite the implementation of a right-of-first-refusal bylaw, granting it priority to purchase properties it deems strategic for affordable housing creation. Montreal put a similar policy into effect in 2020.

However, the possibility of zoning changes causes concern among local advocates, such as Wendy Pedersen, who worries it will backfire.

“If there’s any whiff that the motion could mean zoning opens up to condos, it could start a land price war,” said Pedersen, executive director of SRO Collaborative, which works with low-income tenants.

“Speculation could see owners of DTES buildings less likely to sell them to the city, non-profits, or anyone who wants to acquire them cheaper for the purposes of renovating them into affordable units.”

Pedersen, former co-chair of the Carnegie Community Action Project, recalls the lengthy public battle over the zoning requirements.

“We fought for five years to ensure that this district would remain rental only,” she said.

s of January, Vancouver has 146 SROs with 6,500 units housing almost 7,000 residents at risk of homelessness. While the majority are privately owned, 45 per cent are owned and operated by the government or non-profits.

Fires and other age-related dangers have already shuttered some of the century-old buildings.

“We would like to see the federal government reinstate their funding of the RAP (rental assistance) program, which gives forgivable loans to private owners to renovate and rehabilitate the existing SRO stock without increasing rent,” Bligh said.

In October, B.C. paid $8.2 million for the SRO hotel, Keefer Rooms, in Chinatown. The deal included a $3-million commitment to fix up the building and have its 48 units serve as low-income housing by spring 2025.

“By purchasing this property on Keefer Street, we are taking steps to prevent homelessness before it begins … by partnering with organizations that will provide additional support to those who need it,” Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said in an Oct. 17 news release.

The Community Land Trust Association in the DTES is to oversee operation of the building and the SRO Collaborative will carry out tenant-led supports within it, including room cleaning, fire safety and harm reduction.

sgrochowski@postmedia.com

ABC Cllr. Rebecca Bligh says “Unlocking Shaughnessy” Motion is A Questionable Use of City Staff Time and Resources

https://abcvancouver.ca/2023/11/elementor-11571/

Vancouver ABC SUPERMAJORITY council rejects motion that sought to add more housing to Shaughnessy neighbourhood

NO INCLUSIVE ZONING NO DOWNZONING

ONLY UPZONING SAY THE REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS WHO OWN THE POLITICIANS IN POWER HD

Christine Boyle's motion would have directed staff to create policies for more affordable housing

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/shaughnessy-motion-christine-boyle-1.7029707

VANCOUVER MAYOR KEN SIM DTES/CHINATOWN UPZONING GENTRIFICATION

MAY 25 2023