'Shame on the city': Advocate for Marpole’s homeless community calls for better warming centre planning
'Shame on the city': Advocate for Marpole’s homeless community calls for better warming centre planning
A person bundled up in a heavy jacket for the cold weather wears a face mask to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Vancouver, on Tuesday, December 21, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
An advocate for homeless people in South Vancouver says they're furious at the city after learning the new warming centre in the Marpole neighbourhood wont be open Tuesday night.
Amal Ishaque, one of the people behind the grassroots collective Marpole Mutual Aid Network (MMAN), describes communication with the city as “an exhausting cycle on repeat” that they've endured for months.
Furious at the city. They knew cold snap was coming. Yet again, we emailed urging to give at least a few days notice on the Marpole warming centre opening tonight so we don’t have to literally scramble to get word out on the streets. Months of this exhausting cycle on repeat
“They knew a cold snap was coming. Yet again, We emailed urging to give at least a few days notice on the Marpole warning centre opening tonight so we don’t have to literally scramble to get word out on the streets,” Ishaque wrote on Twitter Tuesday afternoon.
“It’s not enough that we have to create the flyers, physically get the word out to unhoused neighbours spread out in the area, and post on local groups online etc. They can’t even provide adequate notice,” their post continued.
Had the city provided more notice, Ishaque says community members could have prepared by handing out transit tickets and given people directions to nearby supports.
“Some neighbours don’t read English, others don’t have access to check online city notices,” her tweet reads, adding that the closest alternative warming centre at the Langara YMCA is "too far" for many.
Temperatures in Vancouver are forecast to be “low zero” overnight, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Tuesday’s forecast also includes a 60 per cent chance of showers in the evening, with flurries expected over higher terrain.
Hail was already hammering down in parts of the city as of 4 p.m.
According to ECCC, winds will gust to 20 km/ h, reaching up to 60 km/h over southern sections of the city.
The City of Vancouver’s criteria for activating extreme weather response alerts includes “temperatures near zero” with “rainfall that makes it difficult or impossible for those experiencing homelessness to remain dry” or “0 C with wind chill.”
Online, the city announced it would be making nine additional shelter spaces and warming centres available Tuesday night through Thursday.
Please share: Additional shelter spaces and warming centres are available tonight through Thursday, February 23, due to an Extreme Weather Alert.
CTV News has reached out to the city for more informaation as to why four warming centres will remain closed, including Marpole Neighbourhood House’s, plus ones at the Mount Pleasant and West End community centres and Odd Fellows Hall.
Ishaque says the city told them Marpole's warming can’t open Tuesday due to staffing levels.
They're not satisfied by city’s assurance that the Marpole warming centre will open Wednesday.
“The downloading of life-saving outreach to community conveniently falls on mutual aid groups,” they wrote. “Shame on the city.”
Cape Breton University has more than doubled in size by enrolling thousands of international students, and critics say the campus and community weren't ready. Watch the documentary 'Cash Cow' on CTV W5, Saturday at 7 p.m.
In a choice forced upon them by the Canadian government, four mothers have made the agonizing decision to forfeit an opportunity to repatriate their children from open air prisons in northeast Syria.
Statistics Canada has released its new report about the Canadians level of confidence in Canada’s institutions, finding that recent immigrants are more likely to express confidence in the media and parliament.
A new Canadian study of 4.8 million people says a daily alcoholic drink isn't likely to send anyone to an early grave, nor will it offer any of the health benefits touted by previous studies, even if it is organic red wine.
Lawyers representing Toronto MP Han Dong served Global News with a libel notice on Friday over reports that alleged he spoke to a Chinese diplomat in February 2021 about delaying the release of the two Michaels, and that he was a 'witting affiliate' of Chinese interference networks – allegations that Dong denies.
A recent report from Royal LePage is predicting a drop in prices for Canadian cabins and cottages this year as demand softens from economic uncertainty and low housing stock.
Interim RCMP commissioner Michael Duheme says he would support the Criminal Code changes recommended in the Mass Casualty Commission report to implement stricter gun laws.
A Vancouver Island woman managed to capture something on video last Sunday that experts say is extremely rare. Maxine Gillette calls it a once in a lifetime experience.
A Vancouver Island musician and former church pastor will serve three months of house arrest, followed by 18 months of probation, after he was convicted of one count of sexual assault.
In one day, Ontario midwife Manavi Handa saw three patients who will have to pay thousands of dollars to be able to schedule a C-section beginning on Sunday.
Akwesasne Mohawk Police say they are working with Immigration Canada and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to confirm the identities of the eight migrants whose bodies were pulled from the St. Lawrence River this week.
Montreal's seasonal parking restrictions go into effect Saturday. As of April 1, parking will be limited during certain hours to make way for street cleaning and maintenance operations. Drivers should pay close attention to street signs to determine when and where it's safe to park.
In an attempt to take pressure off hospital emergency rooms, the Saskatchewan government will offer a bump in pay for family doctors who work later hours.
Kevin Garinger says it feels like the passage of time is inexplicable. The five years since a deadly bus crash changed his city, his hockey team and his life sometimes feel like a lifetime. Other times it feels like yesterday.
The sale has started of former Saskatchewan government liquor store buildings. The province got out of liquor retailing earlier this month and is disposing of all assets.
In an attempt to take pressure off hospital emergency rooms, the Saskatchewan government will offer a bump in pay for family doctors who work later hours.
After the RCMP commissioner admitted he didn't read the Mass Casualty Commission’s final recommendations, family members of those killed in the April 2020 tragedy say they have doubts the force will change.
A doctor named in a lawsuit after a Nova Scotia woman died in hospital following a long wait to see a physician has denied allegations from the family that he failed in his duties.
London police responded to Dundas Street, just west of William Street around 6:30 p.m. Friday evening for a reported shooting. According to police, one person is in custody.
A U.S. citizen charged with threatening death or bodily harm to Justin Trudeau made a virtual court appearance from a London jail Friday. Jeremy Joseph, 40 — who is living in Sarnia, Ont. — was arrested on Feb. 4, 2023 after Sarnia police were notified of emails containing threats.
The province’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is investigating after a man was seriously injured while attempting to flee from OPP on Highway 401 Thursday afternoon.
A northern Ontario man has been banned from licenced hunting and fined $5,000 after pleading guilty to having more than six times the legal limit of grouse and obstructing conservation officers.
Ontario's guns and gangs team says with the help of police in Sudbury and Durham, it has disrupted a large drug trafficking operation, seizing 2.7 kilograms of cocaine and arresting six.
A person bundled up in a heavy jacket for the cold weather wears a face mask to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Vancouver, on Tuesday, December 21, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
