[van-announce] Cancelled: Third Annual Affordable Housing Week, October 14-20

[Friends of the Woodwards Squat]

The Third Annual Affordable Housing Week, scheduled for October 14-20, has 
been quietly cancelled by BC Housing in order to avoid further embarassment 
over government and police mishandling of the Woodward's Housing 
Cooperative.

The annual week was planned as a glitzy public-relations 
'multi-partnernship' programme involving a variety of government agencies 
and commercial enterprises. But it happened to coincide with the one-month 
anniversary of the squat action by 200 homeless people residing on the 
sidewalks encircling the old Woodward's building.

October 14th will mark Day 31 of the Woodwards Squat.

The squatters remain in a tent city despite ongoing police violence and 
harassment from the City of Vancouver. They vow to stay until their six 
demands are met.

Renovations for the Woodward's Housing Cooperative were already well 
underway when the Liberal Party came to power and cancelled the project. The 
centre of the building has already been 'cored' in accordance with 
architectural drawings discovered in the renovation office during the 
occupation of 14-20 September.

It is not yet known if the cancellation order was issued by Shayne Ramsay, 
the CEO of BC Housing, or George Abbott, the Liberal Party minister in 
charge. To find out please send them a query at <sramsay at bchousing.org> and 
<abbott at gov.bc.ca>. They have been rather unresponsive to date.

For on-line daily updates from Friends of the Woodwards Squat visit:
http://www.woodsquat.net

...

Demands of the Coalition of Woodwards Squatters and Supporters:

1. Develop Woodwards as social housing immediately. (There must be an 
allotment of housing in the building for aboriginal people equal to or 
greater than the percentage of aboriginal people in the Downtown Eastside.)

2. Reverse the cuts to social housing and all social services.

3. Draft a civic anti-vacancy by-law to seize and convert empty, abandoned 
buildings into social housing.

4. Full disclosure of all information regarding the proposed sale and 
development of the building.

5. The Federal government must fund and support the development of 
aboriginal business in the proposed commercial storefronts on the ground 
floor of Woodwards. These storefronts must also include an urban native 
self-governing office with drop-in / support services and culturally 
sensitive native liason workers from the community.

6. Decent and dignified immediate shelter for all homeless squatters forced 
from Woodwards and asked to leave the sidewalk in front of the building.



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