Vancouver Protest Against Olympic Kidnapping Act

Hundreds gather to protest the Assistance to Shelter Act Protesters want the act repealed Britt Carlsen VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) |

Sunday, December 13th, 2009

http://www.news1130.com/news/local/more.jsp?content=20091213_224159_5236 VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) -

Hundreds gathered as people who live in the Downtown Eastside and activists rallied outside the Vancouver Police station to show their displeasure with a recent act concerning the homeless. Police call it the Assistance to Shelter Act and it allows officers to take the homeless to the door of a shelter, with or without their consent. But Harsha Walia of the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre refers to it differently and says the act will hurt rather than help those living within the poorest postal code in Canada. “We have called it "Olympic Kidnapping Act" because the Assistance to Shelter Act is the exact opposite to what it does. It makes it seem like the act is intended to help homeless people but the reality is that the police's job is to arrest and criminalize people in this neighborhood.” And while Vancouver Police Chief, Jim Chu, has told media the act will be used "softly", Downtown Eastside groups remain skeptical. Walia says the act puts too much arbitrary power in law enforcements hands, is a waste of resources and has made it clear what the protesters want. "Why should resources be going to increased policing whose job is not to act as outreach workers? If the government was actually concerned with state of homelessness in this province, then it could certainly do a lot more to build affordable housing and decent shelters rather than involving police at an increased level in the day to day lives of people who live on the streets. Despite what Jim Chu says, we have a history of broken promises from the police and the government. This act does nothing to help the homeless. We want this act off the books." Walia went on to say the act is unconstitutional. Repeal 'kidnapping' act, say protesters Cops won't force people to cold-weather shelters By Cheryl Chan, The Province, December 14, 2009 http://www.theprovince.com/news/Repeal+kidnapping+protesters/2338000/sto... About 60 Downtown Eastside activists [this is a bad estimate, at least 200 people] gathered at the steps of the Vancouver Police station on Main Street Sunday afternoon to protest the controversial Assistance to Shelter Act. The group wants the provincial government to repeal the act, passed into law last month, which gives police the power to forcibly move homeless people into shelters during extreme winter conditions. "The act needs to be repealed," said organizer Harsha Walia. "If the police have said they're not enforcing it, then the act shouldn't even be on the books." Housing Minister Rich Coleman said the purpose of the act is to prevent the homeless from dying needlessly out-of-doors, but protesters, who have dubbed the new law "the Olympic Kidnapping Act," said the act has less to do with the wellbeing of the homeless than it is about cleaning up the streets for the Olympics. "It's a displacement power, and it's being used to displace people from particular streets for the Olympics for esthetic and cosmetic reasons," said Vancouver Action's Tristan Markle, noting that housing providers such as Atira Women's Resource Society and the First United Church have also voiced concerns over the act. Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu said his officers will only use "minimal non-forceful touching" -- similar to the helping hand one would use to help an elderly person cross thestreet-- when enforcing the act. chchan@theprovince.com