VANCOUVER -- New questions are being raised about a controversial flyer distributed in Vancouver's pricey Point Grey neighbourhood urging residents to voice their opposition to a proposed temporary homeless shelter.
The flyer was marked with the logo of the West Point Grey Residents Association, but the neighbourhood group said Wednesday that it "did not authorize or approve" the contents.
In an email statement to CTV News, the group acknowledged the flyer used some information from its website, but said the handout as a whole "does not accurately reflect our views."
"We were not aware of it until it was posted online," the group wrote.
It's unclear who is responsible for the flyer, which drew backlash from some neighbourhood residents for the way it framed a proposed homeless shelter as a threat to property values and public safety.
Some of the language was lifted word-for-word from the West Point Grey Residents Association website, including the suggestion that housing homeless people in the area could pose "increased risk to children and vulnerable elderly who use the parks and community centre facilities."
The group's website does not list declining property values as one of their concerns regarding the shelter, however.
The temporary housing has been proposed at the Jericho Hostel, a city-owned building on Discovery Street that currently has more than 280 vacant beds.
On Tuesday, Point Grey resident Anna Brookes called the flyer disturbing, and said it smacked of NIMBYism.
"It's not just divisive, but it is heartless," Brookes told CTV News, adding that she would be happy for the hostel to be used as a shelter. "I would feel safer knowing that people inside have water, a home and a place to be."
City councillor Christine Boyle also noted that police statistics don't reflect an increase in crime around 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.
The flyer, which was delivered to numerous houses in the neighbourhood, directs people to email Vancouver city council and Mayor Kennedy Stewart to voice their opposition to the plans, and to watch for updates on the West Point Grey Residents Association website.
The group told CTV News members are "very concerned about the homeless situation and want to see the people currently in Strathcona Park properly housed," but argued the Jericho Hostel in Locarno Beach Park isn't the right place to put them.
"Moving this around the city through the parks system is not the answer. Communities need the use of their parks, especially during COVID. Homelessness needs to be addressed and the city should be using the $55 million of federal funding for housing the homeless," they said.
