[antiwar-van] URGENT! City will evict squatters at 2:00 today

[Harsha]

Anyone that can make it down for an emergency support rally, please do so.

For Immediate Release:

City of Vancouver just notified tent city squatters at 950 Main Street
that they will be evicted at 2:00 today - Monday, October 15, less than 24
hours since the squat began.

Where:  950 Main Street
When:  2:00 pm - Monday, October 15, 2007
Contact:  David Diewert, Streams of Justice 604-760-9741

-30-


Tent Squat Up at 950 Main Street

Streams of Justice members, DTES-resident activist group Poor and Huddled
Masses, and community members have commenced a tent squat in the 900 block
of Main Street. This city-owned property was taken over on Sunday October
14th. The intention is to remain on site for the duration of Homelessness
Action Week.

Please come by and visit us in support of this action.


A Streams of Justice Summary

The Current Homeless Situation in Vancouver:

According to the 2005 GVRD Homeless Count, homelessness in Vancouver
doubled between 2002 and 2005. Current estimates put the homeless
population in Vancouver at 1500 – 2000, with hundreds more in shelters,
transition houses and couch surfing.


The Strategy:

In June 2005, the City of Vancouver produced its Homeless Action Plan,
which identified three strategic priorities: the provision of adequate
income, housing and support services. These are crucial aspects to any
comprehensive approach to ending homelessness and significantly reducing
poverty in our region.


Income: While the Homeless Action Plan focused on reducing the barriers to
receiving welfare and creating employment opportunities, it is also
essential that welfare rates and the minimum wage be increased
substantially.
Housing: The construction of social housing is absolutely crucial for any
strategy to end homelessness, and the Homeless Action Plan called for the
construction of 3200 units of supportive housing (800 new units a year for
4 years).

Support: For those in need of support services, increased access to mental
health and addiction support is necessary for personal well-being and
social participation.


Government Resources:


Municipal: Currently, the City of Vancouver has 12 sites designated for
social housing, with options on another 7 sites. Few of these are
presently being developed for housing.

Provincial: According to a BC Ministry of Finance News Release (July 11,
2007), the provincial government ended the fiscal year with a $4.1 billion
surplus, and in the first quarter of 2007-2008, it announced a surplus of
$1.6 billion. In its last budget, the Province designated $250 million for
low-income housing, but put the money into a housing endowment fund rather
than using it to build housing.

Federal: The Federal government recorded a budgetary surplus of $6.4
billion for the first quarter of the 2007-2008 fiscal year ($13 billion
for 2006-2007). Through its Homelessness Partnership Initiative, it has
allocated $269 million for supportive housing over two years. The GVRD was
allocated $12 million from that fund, with $7 million for capital projects
and $5 million for service provision.


The Olympic Housing Promises:

In 2002, as part of their submission to the 2010 International Olympic
Committee, VANOC and the three levels of government, known as the Four
Partners, wrote, signed and submitted an Inner-City Commitment Statement.
With that statement, the Four Partners committed themselves to:

Protect rental housing stock
Provide a legacy of affordable housing
Provide visitor and worker accomodation
Ensure the Games do not increase homelessness
Ensure no displacement, evictions, or rent-gouging occur as a result of
the Games


Having won the bid for the 2010 Games, the Four Partners convened a group
called the Inner-City Inclusive Housing Table (ICI Housing Table). This
group consisted of 28 representatives from non-profit community and
housing groups; developers; tenant, landlord and real estate
organizations; and the Four Partners. The stated task of the ICI Housing
Table was “to develop the goals, action plans, and outcomes that will be
carried out by the Partners” (Report of the ICI Housing Table, p. 1).

Based on the five housing commitments, the ICI Housing Report makes 25
recommendations, 23 of which were passed unanimously. The five key
recommendations of the report are:

Build 3200 units of social housing by 2010
Acquire 800 units of low-income rental housing in Vancouver by 2010
Convert, after the Games, 200 units in the Vancouver Athletes’ Village to
low-income housing
Raise welfare rates by 50% from the March 2007 levels so recipients can
afford rent
Remove the barriers that block access to welfare, such as the 3-week
waiting period.


With a little more than 2 years remaining before the Games, most of these
recommendations show no signs of implementation. In particular, there are
few if any indications that the construction of 3200 units of social
housing and the increase in welfare rates and accessibility will be
enacted any time soon.


International Commitments:


Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 25:

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and
well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing,
housing, and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to
security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood,
old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All
children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social
protection.

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Ratified
by Canada in May 1976.

Article 11

(1) The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of
everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family,
including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous
improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate
steps to ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect
the essential importance of international cooperation based on free
consent.


(2) The States Parties to the present Covenant, recognizing the
fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger, shall take,
individually and through international co-operation, the measures,
including specific programmes, which are needed.

Covention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Aceded to by Canada
in October 1970.

Article 5

In compliance with the fundamental obligations laid down in article 2 of
this Convention, States Parties undertake to prohibit and to eliminate
racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of
everyone, without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic
origin, to equality before the law, notably in the enjoyment of the
following rights:

(iii) The right to housing;

(iv) The right to public health, medical care, social security and social
services;

(v) The right to education and training;

(vi) The right to equal participation in cultural activities;

Convention of the Rights of the Child. Ratified by Canada in December 1991.

Article 27

1. State parties recognize the right of every child to a standard of
living adequate for the child's physical, mental, spiritual, moral and
social development.

2. The parent(s) or others responsible for the child have the primary
responsibility to secure, within their abilities and financial capacities,
the conditions of living necessary for the child's development.

3. States Parties, in accordance with national conditions and within their
means, shall take appropriate measures to assist parents and others
responsible for the child to implement this right and shall in case of
need provide material assistance and support programmes, particularly with
regard to nutrition, clothing and housing.