(Vancouver) - Standing across from one of the new emergency homeless shelters established this term, Vision Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson outlined the sharp policy contrast between the NPA and Vision on homelessness this morning.
"On my first day as Mayor, I set to work on making sure that no one in our city has to sleep outside at night," said Robertson. "Opening new homeless shelters has helped get people into housing and addictions services, and brought a place to sleep and a warm meal to some of our most vulnerable citizens," said Mayor Robertson.
"The shelters are working - and a vote for Suzanne Anton and the NPA would be a major step backwards on the progress we've made on homelessness."
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The NPA's Suzanne Anton is the only member of council to vote against the City providing support for emergency shelters, a vote she cast in December 2009. This, despite the fact that the Province pays the operating costs of the shelters. As well, the NPA's platform does not include any commitments to protect city shelter funding next term; the only mention of shelters in the NPA platform is a dismissive “a shelter bed is not a home.”
Suzanne Anton was also the only councillor to vote against the City’s 10-year affordable housing and homelessness plan, which includes increasing shelter support for youth, women, and urban aboriginals as a key priority.
Since the new shelters opened this term, the number of people sleeping on the streets of Vancouver has plummeted, with an 82% decrease. In 2008, there were 811 people sleeping outside in Vancouver; this year, the number is down to 145.
The NPA’s simplistic view on shelters is ignoring the important role they play in addressing Vancouver’s homelessness challenge, said Vision Councillor Kerry Jang.
“Our partnership with BC Housing has enabled new shelters to be opened in neighbourhoods where they are desperately needed,” said Jang. “It’s not good enough to tell people who are on the street ‘a shelter isn’t a home, so you need to wait 2-3 years for new housing to be built.’ Shelters provide a warm place to sleep and enable outreach staff to connect them with health and housing services.
“That’s progress. The fact that all of Vancouver’s shelters have been full since the summer shows that we need more shelters, not less. A Vision council will work with BC Housing to push for more shelter services, while Suzanne Anton and the NPA have said that they won’t.
This contrast shows why it’s too risky to vote NPA this Saturday. We need a strong Vision and COPE team on council to keep making progress on homelessness, not an NPA council that takes us backwards.”
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