Little Mountain Housing

The pace of gentrification, high numbers of homeless and loss of social housing in Vancouver has been staggering and continues to move forward as we get closer and closer to the 2010 Olympics.

Unfortunately, the long term residents and families of Little Mountain, some of which have been in the community for 30+ years, have been unable to escape what seems to be the norm here in Vancouver, the swift loss of social housing. In November 2008, the city began boarding up Little Mountain. The city continues to board up around the few remaining families that refuse to leave as developers wait to tear it down to make way for market value homes. They claim it is "for their safety". This has turned the once thriving housing project into an eerie ghost town.

On June 1st 2009, BC Housing applied to the city of Vancouver for both building and demolition permits without a plan in place or any consulting with the community at large. At this point in time, when the city is in dire need of housing, Little Mountain sits quiet with no plans to move forward or house anyone.

The tenants of LIttle Mountain have deep roots in the neighbourhood and many volunteer based services in the community have suffered due to the dislocation of the tenants. Many larger programs in Vancouver have their roots in and/or originate from LIttle Mountain. A few of them are:

- Current Riley Park Community Centre

- ESL for Adults

- Block Watch

- Community Police and Community Liason

- Vancouver Food Bank

- Little Mountain Neighbourhood House

- Riley Park Branch Library on Main Street

Please let your Vancouver/Canadian representatives and officials know that this is unacceptable and that we demand social housing, not only here in Vancouver, but across Canada. The housing crisis has gone on long enough.

"THIS IS NOT A ONE-SITE, NOR A ONE CITY ISSUE, WE ARE SETTING A PRECEDENT PROVINCE WIDE. This is not related to just one site, one neighbourhood, one community or one city. Given the public statements made, this issue relates to how ALL OTHER tenants, residents and surrounding communities will be or can expect to be treated, when this comes to another (theirs/yours) neighbourhood" - Little Mountain pamphlet

Many thanks to Ingrid and Sammy for helping to create this video.

Protest Against Police Brutality

Friday July 31st was the beginning of the Police and Fire Games. To honor this occasion the Anti-Poverty Coalition organized a march from Victory Square to GM Place where the opening ceremonies were taking place. The purpose of this march was to shed light on the many issues involving police brutality in Vancouver, Canada and in particular the Downtown East side. Once the group arrived at GM place they were met with strong police resistance and were told to keep behind an imaginary line. I was quite surprised at how aggressive some of the police were as I was threatened with arrest on two separate occasions just for taking photos.

Protestors stand before police holding a polish flag bearing the name of Robert Dziekanski, a polish citizen who was tased and killed at Vancouver International Airport by RCMP officers.

As we approached GM place a giant banner that read "RIOT 2010" unfurled from the bridge above.

This protestor, waving a mohawk warrior flag, was getting right in the faces of the police much to their displeasure. He was later arrested for crossing "the line".

Protestors stand with signs as police look on.

The march heading down Abbot street toward GM place.

In the background is one of a few unmarked police cars that were watching, photographing and video recording all who showed up at Victory Square to attend the march.

Sign honoring the memory of Dudley George

Sign honoring the memory of Fredy Villanueva

With the exception of one arrest, the protest ended without incident. This action, put on by the APC and attended by the Olympic Resistance Network, as well as by many concerned citizens and independent media, will become more frequent as 2010 approaches. Hopefully, those who want to voice their dissent of the 2010 games will be able to without fear or harassment but as the security budget grows and "free speech" zones are introduced, that idea seems to be fading more and more everyday. To get involved and have your voice heard, please check out these website for more information:

http://no2010.com

http://apcvancouver.org/

http://olympicresistance.net/

http://submedia.tv/stimulator/

Please check out my flickr page for more photography