VANCOUVER -- A flyer being distributed in Vancouver's Point Grey neighbourhood is encouraging property owners to write to the city demanding officials not go ahead with a proposed plan to help the homeless.
“It’s not just divisive, but it is heartless,” said Point Grey resident Anna Brookes, who called the flyer a "classic example" of NIMBYism.
Brookes told CTV News she was disturbed by the messaging on the paper.
In October, city councillors and the mayor unanimously voted in favour of exploring the idea of converting Jericho Hostel into temporary housing for some of the hundreds of Vancouver residents living in tents or on the street.
The hostel is city-owned and its more than 280 beds have been vacant during the pandemic.
The two-page flyer is signed by a group called the West Point Grey Residents Association and reads, “this may negatively impact property values and public safety.”
Without proof, the flyer implies that those potentially housed in the empty hostel could bring “increased risk to children and vulnerable elderly,” as well as “issues of needles, garbage, weapons, and increased criminal activity.”
City councillor Christine Boyle said police statistics do not show an increase in crime surrounding the city’s modular housing sites in residential neighbourhoods.
“The lesson has been giving people housing, and allowing them to move inside and not need to rely on survival skills to get by, gives them a chance to settle in and get back on their feet,” Boyle said.
“Housing is a human right and we have neighbours in the city that don’t have anywhere to call home and sleep indoors — and then we have some empty city owned buildings.”
Boyle added it is important for the city to be looking at how to help people without homes have a place to move indoors during the winter.
West Point Grey Residents Association has yet to respond to interview requests from CTV News.
Meanwhile, Anna Brookes said safety is not an issue she’s concerned about if the city does go ahead with a relocation plan for members of its homeless population to Jericho Hostel.
“I would feel just as safe. I would feel just fine and I would feel safer knowing that people inside have water, a home and a place to be,” Brookes said.
Update: The West Point Grey Residents Association tweeted on Wednesday that the flyer "includes statements and photos that have no associate with WPGRA or its website, and that WPGRA does not necessarily endorse." The association said it wasn't asked for permission for its name to be used on the flyer.
