Vancouver Mayoral candidate Peter Ladner says he's sick of seeing mostly stolen goods bought and sold in the open on East Hastings Street.
Blocks away from Hastings and Carrall Street -- one epicenter of trading -- the candidate said he wanted to clean up Vancouver.
"I've walked through there and it's intolerable," said Ladner. "We have to enforce the laws of our city saying you can't sell goods on the sidewalk."
The illegal drug trade and homelessness on the Downtown Eastside is always a hot-button issue during election time.
Ladner wants to use a $10-million grant from the provincial government to clean up the garbage in the Downtown Eastside, Chinatown and Gastown.
Past mayors have pledged to fix the situation in the Downtown Eastside, but the situation has persisted.
Ladner's rival, Vision Vancouver mayoral nominee Gregor Robertson, says Ladner has already has his shot at cleaning up the streets.
"Ladner has been lead councillor with Mayor [Sam] Sullivan, and nothing got better," said Robertson.
The city is running out of time, he said.
"I think we can make real progress between now and the 2010 Olympics," he said. "We have to tell a story about Vancouver that is positive. We can't have people showing up here and seeing our city in that situation."
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Lisa Rossington
