UN housing specialist to tour Canada's poorest postal code

JANE ARMSTRONG
The Globe and Mail
August 31, 2007

VANCOUVER -- A United Nations housing specialist who this year blasted Australia for its record on providing housing to that country's poor and aboriginal populations will next turn his attention to Vancouver's notorious Downtown Eastside.

Miloon Kothari, the UN's special rapporteur on adequate housing, will tour the stricken neighbourhood during a cross-Canada trip this October.

Mr. Kothari, who is based in Geneva, is to spend two days in Vancouver, said David Eby of the Pivot Legal Society, an activist group that provides legal assistance to Vancouver's poor and homeless. The second day of his visit will be in the Downtown Eastside where he'll meet with residents and community organizations.

Mr. Eby, who met Mr. Kothari at a housing conference in Geneva this year, said the UN housing official is interested in the potential impact the 2010 Olympic Winter Games will have on low-income people.

It will be Mr. Kothari's first trip to North America.

Mr. Eby said he hopes Mr. Kothari's high profile will shine the international spotlight on the dreadful housing conditions in the Vancouver neighbourhood. Mr. Eby also plans to take the UN official to the Surrey neighbourhood of Whalley, which is plagued with drug problems. "He can help bring the international attention we think needs to be brought to Canada's failure to provide minimum standards of housing for people," Mr. Eby said.

Mr. Kothari's two-week visit will take him to Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. He plans to tour a reserve in Ontario and a rural native community in B.C.
In June, Mr. Kothari issued a scathing report on Australia's track record of housing low-income populations. He called for a national housing strategy to improve public housing and increase home ownership for aboriginals.

Mr. Kothari was appointed by the UN High Commission on Human Rights in 2000. His mandate is to identify housing needs and to respond to allegations of violations of housing rights worldwide.

This month, Mr. Kothari called on Sudan to halt work on two hydroelectric dams after reports that the projects would prompt large-scale evictions of neighbouring communities.

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