Vancouver DTES residents feel decampment pressures daily

Some people living in tents on Vancouver’s East Hastings Street say city staff are pressuring them every day to clear out.

Those living and working in the area are sharing their thoughts with CityNews on the months of sporadic decampments that have taken place since the summer.

The city confirms staff are on-site “on a daily basis to clean and to encourage people to voluntarily remove their structures.”

“E Hastings has high numbers of pedestrians and the structures present significant fire risks, obstruct sidewalk and building access, create significant accessibility issues for pedestrians and road safety concerns. When necessary, staff are enforcing the Street and Traffic By-law 2849, Section 71A, which prohibits the accumulation of structures and personal belongings on sidewalks,” an emailed statement from the city reads.

Tents along East Hastings Street in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. (Kier Junos, CityNews Image)

However, many refute claims that residents who are leaving are doing so voluntarily.

“They target residents and they put an immense amount of pressure on them to leave, saying it’s voluntary, but it’s not voluntary,” said Ryan Sudds, an organizer with the Stop the Sweeps Coalition.

Currently, the scene on East Hastings Street is different than it was six or seven months ago.

On the block between Carrall and Columbia streets, fewer tents remain as some former residents returned to local single-room occupancy (SRO) hotels or shelters during the colder months.

But others have moved to side streets, saying they’ve been harassed off the block by city staff. Advocates and residents have said Vancouver Police Department (VPD) usually come with the workers but the city says that doesn’t happen.

“People have been through this before though. So they know what to do in terms of keeping their belongings,” Sudds said.

“I’m just waiting to see what kind of mood those guys are in, if they’re going to throw away all my s***, if I stay. Yeah, okay, maybe I’ll shuffle a couple of feet over if they’re just going to throw away the garbage and stuff like that. F*** no, I’m not leaving,” said Jason Rondeau, who has lived on Hastings Street for two years.

Others say they are being forced to move from one location to another, with options quickly becoming limited.

“They moved us from Pigeon Park and told us we have to move, but now it’s like, where do we go? There’s nowhere for us to really go. Every time we move anywhere, they just come along and tell us we have to move again,” one man told CityNews. “I don’t even want to get into how it makes me feel because it’s words that they wouldn’t let you play on TV, that’s for sure.”

On Thursday morning, a spokesperson for the city confirmed to CityNews staff would be on the block that day to conduct work.

However, about two and a half hours later, the spokesperson said they were mistaken, adding “there is no specific planned work there” Thursday.

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• Outcry after Vancouver decamps East Hastings during snowstorm

The clearing of tents and structures on East Hastings has been a controversial matter for months. Last summer, the city, police, and fire department were blasted by advocates for their actions in decamping parts of East Hastings in the Downtown Eastside.

Advocates have said people are being evicted with no place to go. In August, backed by VPD officers, city crews began clearing sidewalks after an order was issued by Vancouver’s fire chief.

“There’s a tonal shift in how city workers are handling it. To me, they feel emboldened to take more of people’s stuff,” Sudds said.

“Nothing has changed. Nothing at all. It’s still the same as it was before,” one resident added.

CityNews happened to run into Sheila Malcolmson, B.C.’s minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction, on Thursday in the Downtown Eastside. She would not comment on the situation and walked away.

B.C. Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction Sheila Malcolmson in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside on Thursday, Feb. 16. (Kier Junos, CityNews Image)