Mayor to exempt faith groups from seeking permits

Will table motion waiving their soup kitchens, shelters from some regulations

JUSTINE HUNTER
March 22, 2008
The Globe and Mail

Religious groups should not have to beg city hall for permission to offer succour to Vancouver's poor, Mayor Sam Sullivan said yesterday.

His comments mark a policy change after a lengthy battle that pitted city hall against a wide array of faith-based organizations.

Mr. Sullivan announced his new position outside Holy Rosary Cathedral, where he attended a Good Friday service. He said he wants to exempt faith organizations from a controversial permit process that threatened charity services aimed at the city's most disadvantaged.

"It seems counterproductive that we would ask the faith communities to take out a permit simply to do good works in the community," he said in an interview yesterday.

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See also Mayor seeks church exemption, from the Vancouver Sun