VANCOUVER — Critics are denouncing Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim's plan for revitalizing the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood, with former councillor Jean Swanson saying his proposal to pause supportive housing construction is "Trumpian."
Swanson, an anti-poverty activist, says Sim's plans to pause net new supportive housing units in Vancouver and reduce the concentration of social services in the Downtown Eastside are "not compassionate" and are akin to victim blaming.
She says housing is fundamental to health and safety, and with about 3,000 people on the city's supportive housing wait-list, people "will probably die on that wait-list" if no new units are built.
Russell Maynard, who says he has worked in community harm reduction for more than 20 years, says in a post on social media platform X that Sim's plan "is the wrong solution to the right problem."
Sim announced his plan at a forum on Thursday held by the Save Our Streets coalition, a group of businesses expressing concerns over crime and public safety in places such as Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.
He said 77 per cent of Metro Vancouver's supportive services were located in Vancouver, which has about 25 per cent of the region's population.
Coun. Peter Meiszner, who is a member of Sim's ABC Vancouver party's majority on council, says on X that "positive change is coming" through the plan, which he calls a "long overdue change of direction in city policy to build a healthier neighbourhood."
Swanson said she wasn't surprised by Sim's announcement, noting the council had already got rid of a number of supportive housing units in the city since coming to power in 2022.
"If there's no new supportive housing, we're going to get more homelessness," she says.
"So he may think that he's integrating Downtown Eastside with the rest of the city by making more people homeless. But those people have to go someplace, and it's not going to benefit anybody to have thousands more people on the streets."
Sim's press secretary, Kalith Nanayakkara, said further details of the plan would be made available closer to the date when Sim presents a motion on the proposal to council.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 24, 2025.
Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press
