Dehumanizing and disruptive: Calls to end 'street sweeps' in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside
People living on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside are calling for an end to so-called street sweeps, when city crews clean up debris each day, saying they're dehumanizing and disruptive.
A coalition of Downtown Eastside organizations and residents held a rally Wednesday to protest ongoing street cleanups, saying belongings of unhoused residents are often taken away in the process. Instead, the group called for the tools to clean up the area themselves.
"This practice puts into peril the life, liberty and security of people who depend on the things that they have taken away from them on a daily basis," one protester said during the rally.
Some Downtown Eastside residents are glad the city is cleaning up unsanitary sidewalks, but don't like the disruption, degradation and what some say is police intimidation during the process.
The Vancouver Police Department said in an emailed statement to CTV News Vancouver they will not be accompanying city crews after this month.
"VPD officers do not ask people to move along nor do they dispose of people's belongings," the statement said.
But some residents say they keep being moved and have nowhere to go, especially after encampments in local parks have been shut down.
Coun. Jean Swanson has a motion coming to city council next week calling for an end to street sweeps, saying they "perpetuate a cycle of displacement."
Swanson is instead calling for staff to engage with community partners to develop an alternative cleanup program. She's also calling for staff to develop "appropriate storage facilities" for Downtown Eastside residents, including a place where community members can retrieve items that were "justifiably confiscated."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.