Housing crisis? What housing crisis?

Protesters say the 2010 Games have driven 1,000 people out of their homes. Critics ask them to prove it

ARMINA LIGAYA
The Globe and Mail
May 26, 2007

VANCOUVER -- He called his room at the Patricia Hotel home for more than 60 years.

So when Olaf Solheim and his belongings were tossed out onto the streets of the Downtown Eastside in 1986 - leaving the elderly man disoriented and alone - it was more than his body could handle.

Mr. Solheim was one of more than 1,000 people evicted from area hotels by owners who wanted to rent their single-occupancy rooms to the influx of tourists predicted for Expo 86. Because of the stress from the disruption, Mr. Solheim, who was more than 80 years old, disabled and frail, later starved himself to death.

It's the threat of similar evictions leading up to the 2010 Olympic Games that has the activist group Anti-Poverty Committee stepping up their vehement campaign of civil disobedience.

But others close to the cause are wondering where the evidence is that these same types of evictions are happening.

"Things are different now," Jim Green, a former mayoral candidate who continues to be an advocate for the homeless, said. "We have the single-room accommodation bylaw, we have the guarantee that the Olympic committee made themselves that nobody would be made homeless or displaced as a result of the Olympics ... And if I find out that's not true, I will not be supporting the Olympics."

Tuesday's trashing of the Vancouver offices of Premier Gordon Campbell, in what the APC called a symbolic eviction of Mr. Campbell's adviser and Olympic board member Ken Dobell, was the latest in a series of protests surrounding Olympic Games preparations.

The aggressive tactics of the APC - which wants to cancel the Games and redirect spending to social housing and alleviating poverty - have prompted police to ramp up security around offices and Olympic events, at a hefty cost to taxpayers. The break-in came after APC organizer David Cunningham said they would target the workplaces of VANOC board members, evicting these executives in the same way residents of the Downtown Eastside are allegedly being displaced.

However, Mayor Sam Sullivan has said no one has been evicted as a result of the 2010 Games.

"Anybody who invests in housing knows that to evict someone for an event lasting 17 days is not a viable strategy. The issue is just a red herring by these people to cloud the issue ... Absolutely no one has been evicted because of the Olympics."

APC organizers, however, say there have been more than 1,000 people who have been put on the street. But when asked, the activist group isn't able to produce these evictees.

"I think that it's over 1,000 people," APC organizer Anna Hunter said. "Have we been able to count that number of people? Definitely not. I think it's an impossible number to actually count."

Ms. Hunter cited the Golden Palace Hotel, whose owner stated in the media that he planned to evict his tenants and rent to Olympic Games' workers. She also cited an interim report card by the Impact of the Olympics on Community Coalition (IOCC) that said 800 rooms of low-income housing have been lost since June, 2003. These losses stem from the gentrification of the Downtown Eastside, she said, a push that has been sparked by the Games.

"I and the Anti-Poverty Committee would say yes, those are due to the Olympics," she said.

Mr. Green said he worries about Games-related evictions, but was skeptical that 1,000 people have been displaced.

The Downtown Eastside has about 6,000 residents, he said, and a displacement that large would be very visible.

"Somebody can't find 10 or 15 or 20? At the time, the [Vancouver] Sun ran a four-page spread about who these evictees were ... the point is, where are these evictees?" Mr. Green said. "It's not the way to build support for a cause, by not telling the truth."

David Eby - a lawyer with the Pivot Legal Society and a director with the IOCC - said evictions are taking place, stemming from pressure by Olympic-related projects, but it is hard to pinpoint the exact cause.

"But in terms of total numbers, I don't know," he said. "I've heard some numbers floated that they're saying ... that I think are more rhetorical than I think what's happening on the ground."

Mr. Eby said it's less likely there will be Expo 86-type evictions now, because there are protections in place. But he said there aren't any regulations stopping the slow conversion of hotels to make way for higher-paying tenants.

"I think it's fair to say that these evictions would have happened in any event," Mr. Eby said. "I think the issue is the speed at which they are happening. I think that it's rapidly accelerated as a result of the Olympics."

Kris Olds, a geography professor at the University of Wisconsin who has studied the impact of past Olympics and World's Fairs, said the displacement of lower-income residents is a typical outcome of these large-scale events. During the Calgary Olympics, he said, without regulations in place, some towers were cleared out and rented to tourists on a day-to-day basis.

But, he said, these events can have positive effects, such as bringing in outside money to fund infrastructure projects. One way to mitigate its negative consequences is to have all levels of government state publicly that housing rights will be respected in the host city.

Housing is one of the 12 areas of commitments on the Inner-City Inclusive Commitment Statement signed by the city, the province and the federal government, to ensure the Games don't adversely affect the inner city.

But Mr. Eby said VANOC has done a lacklustre job of leaving a legacy of affordable housing.

"I think they've done a very poor job," Mr. Eby said. "If they really meant what they said ... they would work really hard to ensure that their government partners were building housing. But I don't see that happening."

He cited the lack of affordable housing in the athletes' village, which was cut down to 20 per cent of the entire project, leaving just 25 units allocated for low-income singles.

Mr. Green also said VANOC has not done enough. But he cited the province's $80-million commitment to purchase 15 buildings - 10 of which are in Vancouver - as a victory due to the Games, one that will provide nearly 1,000 units for the homeless.

"Not enough, but a very good thing," Mr. Green said. "Nothing like that happened during Expo. So we had a different situation than we do now. The people are very aware of what happened in 1986, and are very concerned ... I feel very strongly that the Olympics can still be very positive for the future of this community."

What the deal says

The 2010 Winter Games Inner-City Inclusive Commitment Statement - signed by the city, the province and the federal government - made commitments in 12 areas to ensure the Games don't adversely affect the inner city.

Housing Commitments

• Protect rental housing stock;
• Provide as many alternative forms of temporary accommodation for Winter Games visitors and workers;
• Ensure people are not made homeless as a result of the Winter Games;
• Ensure residents are not involuntarily displaced, evicted or face unreasonable increases in rent due to the Winter Games.
  

A history of violence

Timeline of recent Olympic-related protests and events involving the Anti-Poverty Committee:

• May 23 Three APC members are charged in connection with the break-in. Brendon Cunningham, 29, Thomas Malefant, 23, and an unidentified 17-year-old are each charged with two counts of mischief and breaking and entering in the incident.
• May 22 Three APC members barge into Premier Gordon Campbell's Vancouver offices, overturning furniture, shattering glassware and covering office floors with paper.
• May 21 Vancouver police impersonate a newspaper reporter to arrest David Cunningham, luring him to a public mall.
• May 16 APC protesters vow to force their way into a closed-board meeting of the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee. Security is boosted at VANOC headquarters, with more than three-dozen uniformed police officers, a metre-high metal fence surrounding the building, dogs and horses. Deterred by the police presence, APC protesters march down the street, and vow to target individual VANOC board members at their homes and businesses. Mr. Cunningham later says board members homes are no longer targets.