Carnegie Housing Speech to Council Opposing the Supportive Housing Pause Motion

by Devin O'Leary

We are so deep in crisis. And saying that we should reject the 3000 people on the supportive housing waitlist is digging the crisis deeper.

The city’s housing targets report last summer said we need 26,000 new shelter rate units in the next 10 years. But the target y’all agreed on was only 2,500 units. That’s wild. What do you think will happen to the 23,000 people who are being left out? Will they have to leave? Will they be policed on the streets?

You note in number 10 on this motion that “people need stable housing in their own communities, closer to family, cultural connections, and local services.” Does that not also apply to Vancouver?

What this motion seems to be saying is “too bad not my problem”. A much more reasonable motion would say “holy crap, what’s going on, how do we fix this? Let’s talk with people who understand this stuff.”

It could say “whereas for decades, Vancouver has lost 10x more affordable housing than we’re adding; whereas in the next decade we are only planning to build 1/10th of what’s needed; whereas the experience of not having housing and sleeping on the street for years destroys people; whereas people are surviving through addictions and precarious mental health who are rich and poor, housed and unhoused, desperate for connection that we are so deprived of in this society.

Therefore be it resolved: Give people a freaking break.

That we are all going through it and we shouldn’t abandon each other when we need some support. That we lead by example and stop the loss of affordable housing for profit. That we fight like hell for ways to fund housing that doesn’t discriminate against people based on income. Further that, for the thousands who have been burned up to now, put a roof over their head as fast as possible, no matter how expensive, cause it is a fraction of the collective financial and emotional cost of this status quo.”

Finally, some PR advice to get the rest of metro Vancouver more interested in supportive housing. Stop poorbashing. The more y’all mischaracterize the DTES, the more you freak out other neighbourhoods. That’s why Richmond couldn’t get their supportive housing project through and Kits has been fighting the one on Arbutus.

We can help with the rebranding. We know a lot of things to celebrate about the DTES and implementing a motion that actually commits to solutions would give us all a lot more to celebrate.

Work with us. We got this. Thank you. Please don’t do this.