Victoria lawyers and homeless activists won a major victory
Tuesday when the BC Supreme Court ruled that homeless people have a
constitutional right to erect a shelter on public property when no
other shelter is available. However, the City of Vancouver is refusing
to acknowledge the validity of the decision and its implications for
Vancouver bylaws.
For immediate release -
October 17, 2008
Vancouver - The Victoria (City) v. Adams decision relied upon the fact that Victoria, like Vancouver, has significantly more homeless people than shelter spaces. In the 2008 homeless count, almost 1600 homeless people were counted in Vancouver. Of those, just over 700 had found a bed in an emergency shelter. In the last 9 months of 2007, homeless people were turned away 36,000 times from Metro Vancouver shelters because the shelters were full.
However, the City of Vancouver stated yesterday that it still intends to enforce its bylaws, despite the Victoria ruling. The City refused Pivot's offer to suspend its equivalent "right to shelter" lawsuit (Sakee et al v. Vancouver), and confirmed that it would force Pivot to go to court to prove that this Charter right exists in Vancouver.
- "We don't know how municipal politicians can be promising to tackle homelessness on the campaign trail, but then violate the constitutional rights of homeless people in the council chamber," said Track. "We would like to ask City Councillors their reasons for ignoring the BC Supreme Court, and refusing to acknowledge homeless people's Charter right to shelter."
Pivot's mandate is to take a strategic approach to social change, using the law to address the root causes that undermine the quality of life of those most on the margins. We believe that everyone, regardless of income, benefits from a healthy and inclusive community where values such as opportunity, respect and equality are strongly rooted in the law.
Our mailing address is:
Pivot
678 Hastings Street East
Vancouver, BC V6A 1R1
Our telephone:
604-255-9700
