VANCOUVER - Police cleared housing advocates and residents out of the Howe Emergency Shelter early this evening. Five people squatted the shelter after the City and province officially closed the facility this morning.

Asked why the City had police kick homeless people out on the street, City deputy GM Brenda Prosken  said "if we didn't do it the province would."

BC Housing reps have been offering residents bus tickets and interviews for other facilities or rooms in SRO hotels. But advocates say there is often a gap between the shelter closure and when these offered units become available and often folks end up back on the streets. They say many residents felt backed into a corner and forced to accept anything offered.

Some residents have been squeezed into the still open Fraser Street Shelter. Housing advocates and shelter residents are planning a big rally there tomorrow (Friday). The shelter is the last of the emergency facilities slated to close by the end of the month.  Supporters plan to meet outside the Fraser Street Shelter at 677 E Broadway at 11am with a possible action to follow the rally.