Labelthis…

Yet  again the do-gooder & busy bodies, backed up by squads of junior “fascists” in red,are on a mission to harass the people of the DTES & the Granville street area.

Their crime,being poor,and daring to walk the public streets & spaces

Security guards in Vancouver are discriminating against the city’s homeless by telling people sitting or sleeping on benches to move along, to stop binning in alleys, and by following and intimidating them.

In response to the tactics of the so called “Goodwill Ambassadors”,an initiative of the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (DVBIA).

The good people of Pivot legal society & United Native Nations have filed a complaint with the BC human Rights Tribunal.

Laura Track, a lawyer with Pivot, said the Downtown Ambassadors program, which is run by Genesis Security and the DVBIA, under the guidance of commissioner Geoff Plant, singles out street people and impedes their legal access to public areas.

The downtown core and in particular the DTES & Granville street happens to be home to nearly all Vancouver’s 6-7000 SOR’s(single occupancy rooms).Therefore if one is unemployed,disabled,living on welfare,trying to survive on minimum wage etc the chances of one  ending up in the DTES are quite good.

Imagine leaving your room to walk the street or to just sit ,along comes some junior g-man in a dorky red outfit telling you to move on,like you’re some kind of dog.Or worse…

the guards follow and stare at people they find “undesirable” and take photographs and notes for unknown purposes.

Not because you have done anything wrong but because you are poor .Also if you happen to be native you are even more likely to be harassed

To add insult to injury…

The monies being used to fund,what is in affect a  private business program aimed at forcing the poor from Vancouver’s public spaces & streets,are public funds.

Non-Partisan Association councillors “ignored council process and staff recommendations” to force public funding for a private business program through Vancouver City Council, a Vision Vancouver media release has alleged.

Read more here , here, and here

Also be sure to check out ‘Incivilty City‘ over at Creative Revolution.