Latest news with #DowntownEastside
CTV News
12 hours ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Vancouver Police Board learned about ‘Task Force Barrage' through mayor's announcement, chair says
The oversight body was unaware of a $5 million crime crackdown on the Downtown Eastside before it was announced at a press conference, the chair confirmed. An oversight body whose role it is to develop the Vancouver Police Department's budget, wasn't part of the approval process for a multi-million dollar initiative aimed at targeting crime on the Downtown Eastside. Frank Chong, the chair of the Vancouver Police Board, said the board learned about the $5 million dollar plan, named 'Task Force Barrage,' through Mayor Ken Sim's press conference with then-chief Adam Palmer in February. 'That was a notification that we found out at during the media announcement,' Chong said. 'And I think that what transpired was that there was a miscommunication and perhaps, some missteps with regards to process.' Chong said the board is working on rectifying what transpired. 'That was determined by the finance committee that there is a need for sharpening of that particular process, which will be discussed at our governance committee,' he added. Police Act The mayor's announcement, came after the city's budget was finalized. As outlined in the B.C. Police Act, the Vancouver Police Board is required to prepare and approve the provisional budget for the following year on an annual basis. Any changes to this budget, per the act, must be submitted to council on or before March 1 of the year to which the provisional budget relates. Chong believes the board did not breach the legislation. Mayor's response Typically, the approval process for an initiative such as Task Force Barrage involves city council sending a request to the police board, which would then discuss the financial implications. From there, if board members agreed they were wiling to adjust the budget, they would then give approval to the Vancouver Police Department. CTV News asked Sim in May, why a funding request or proposal was not sent to the police board for approval before the task force was launched. At the time, Sim said he didn't know. 'Look, I can't comment on what people know and didn't know,' he said. 'You're asking me to comment on what six other individuals knew. I'm not in their mind.' Critics such as Green Coun. Pete Fry and former board vice-chair Faye Wightman have questioned how Task Force Barrage was approved. Both have pointed to the lack of a paper trail and called it a backroom deal.
Globe and Mail
06-06-2025
- Health
- Globe and Mail
Canada's homeless population is aging, changing how shelters are run
Seventy-one-year-old Roger Oake sat on a bench outside the Union Gospel Mission shelter in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside after breakfast. He had been sleeping at the shelter for about a month 'this time' and said that after several years of homelessness, walking 'the beat' during the day when the shelter isn't open has become harder as he gets older. 'I really don't know where to even begin. There's so many things that could or should change, but I really don't know,' he said on Wednesday. 'We're people too, you know? We're not just bums, we're not just hobos looking for a handout. We are what we are and we're at where we're at – and that's basically where it's at.' In major cities across the country, those who provide shelter and services for people who are homeless say they are seeing more elderly people turn to them for help. It's leading to a shift in how they do their jobs and the type of care they are providing. They often must juggle complex medical needs with basic considerations, like ensuring seniors get beds closest to accessible washrooms, and that power sockets are available to charge mobility scooters overnight. Nick Wells, a spokesperson for Union Gospel Mission, said more than 1,000 people sleep in the shelter every year and that the number of elderly users spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to grow. 'The number of people in the 61-to-65 age range keeps growing at about 2 per cent every year,' he said. 'If you look at it from 55-plus, around COVID, they accounted for about a quarter of our shelter population, and now we're up to one-third.' Wells said teams that work around B.C. have heard of seniors who do not have enough money at retirement to keep up with housing and other costs of living. Some have been evicted when their long-term rental homes are renovated, he said. 'There's been a couple cases, and these are really tragic, that a senior's gone into hospital for a health issue and had an extended stay, and then when they've come back, they've discovered that they've been evicted because they haven't paid their rent,' he said. 'So they've just come back to no home and then they end up here.' Wells said that along with helping clients complete pension or old-age security applications online, staff sometimes have to help with medical issues like Alzheimer's and dementia. In one case, a former shelter user was able to secure a spot in full-time transitional housing in the same building. But he returned to the shelter space to use the washroom. 'He remembers how to get down there. He remembers how the bathrooms are laid out, but then he needs help getting back to the [transitional housing] floor, because he can't really remember the ins and outs of going back there,' he said. 'So we will have a staff member help guide him back up. That's not a problem whatsoever, I don't want to even suggest that, but it is something that I don't think people would have thought about a couple years ago.' The Mustard Seed runs a dozen 24-hour emergency shelters in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia with a total of 747 beds. Numbers provided by the agency show that at the Calgary women's shelter, the percentage of clients aged 51 and older has gone from 25.4 per cent in 2024 to 28.4 per cent this year. The shelter in Red Deer saw the proportion of clients 55 and older jump from 12 per cent in 2023 to 29 per cent in 2024. Samantha Lowe, Mustard Seed's senior director of shelter operations, said the experience of chronic homelessness can age someone differently than those with secure housing, meaning the definition of what qualifies as a 'senior' can be different than the conventional definition of 65 years old. 'Somebody who has experienced, say, chronic or episodic homelessness and has aged within that population will need those supports earlier,' she said. 'The physiological age of somebody who's experienced so much in their life, they may be 55 and they present like a 75-year-old in terms of their co-morbidities and everything they've got going on, whether that's in their lungs or their heart or their social situation or their mental health.' Lowe said staff are seeing more elderly clients who struggle to manage medications for illnesses ranging from diabetes and breathing problems to cancer, on top of the cost of housing. 'You're having to choose between that or housing. And so we're having folks who are coming in with more chronic conditions that staff are then having to be more knowledgeable about,' she said. Lowe said one shelter is able to allow oxygen tanks to be present, but that's not possible in all spaces. She said there are people in emergency shelters waiting for spots in supportive housing and dedicated seniors housing. Lowe said shelters also have clients nearing the end of their lives. 'We have people who have disclosed that they are dying of cancer, they have a certain amount of time left in the prognosis, but they're really hesitant to go into hospital, and so we work with them to see if we can get them into hospice,' she said. 'We work with them to see if we can prevent that acute crisis that they do end up in hospital, if they're hesitant to go there … but it's quite challenging." In Toronto, the Salvation Army runs the Islington Seniors' Shelter, an 83-bed, 24-hour shelter for men and women experiencing homelessness who are 55 and older. Spokesman Glenn van Gulik said the facility is at capacity, and while the organization does not maintain a wait-list, beds fill up fast when they become available. 'There's over 8,000 people who are currently experiencing homelessness within Toronto, and what we know to be true is just about 20 per cent of those who have responded … are over 55,' he said. 'It's going up.' The Islington shelter offers three-bedroom suites, each with a shared bathroom, and staff familiar with the unique needs of homeless seniors. Van Gulik said that could mean helping with dietary needs, connecting with landlords to help find rentals for people on a fixed income, or finding dental care for aging mouths. He said the style of living, with both men and women and shared spaces, also helps combat the loneliness that can come with aging. Wells said there have been steps in the right direction, like the opening of more seniors housing in B.C. He said there needs to be broad conversation between governments and health care and service providers about the kind of wraparound supports elderly homeless people need, including more housing options and rent protections. Mo Singh Khunkhun sometimes sleeps and eats at the Union Gospel Mission emergency shelter in Vancouver. He's easy to spot, with his formerly grey beard dyed a bright purple. 'People like it, you know? I don't do boring,' he said on Wednesday. Khunkhun is 68, and worked most of his adult life, including in construction and on farms. But he has been homeless for about eight years since the heat failed in his last apartment and he fell behind on rent. He's stayed at various facilities and has watched as more seniors turn up. 'I don't know what proportion is increasing, but I'm sure there is an increase,' he said. He said he considers himself in good health, and tries to help others as they age, whether that means going for a walk, telling a joke or just having a conversation. 'Some will talk about their health issues,' he said. 'But a lot of them, they just have the camaraderie of being here, you know?'
CTV News
06-06-2025
- CTV News
Vancouver police install Downtown Eastside safety cameras in bid to curb crime
Security cameras to improve safety have been installed in the Downtown Eastside by the Vancouver police. Police in Vancouver are ramping up safety measures with the installation of new surveillance cameras in the Downtown Eastside. Eight cameras have been installed in the area, with four at the intersection of Main and East Hastings streets, and four at the intersection of Carrall and East Hastings streets, the Vancouver Police Department said in a release issued Friday. 'We continue to drive down crime and drive out predators through proactive, assertive, and targeted enforcement against violent criminals and prolific offenders who operate in the Downtown Eastside,' said Deputy Chief Howard Chow in the statement. 'Despite significant progress, there's still ongoing and imminent risk to residents and police officers. Now is not the time to let up.' They will replace two public safety trailers that were installed after a spate of concerning incidents in April, among them a knife attack on a VPD officer, an incident in which two officers had their uniforms set on fire, and a fatal assault on a 92-year-old man. 'Residents, business owners, and community advocates tell us they're still concerned about the level of violence in the Downtown Eastside, where gangs and violent criminals are endangering the community,' said Chow. 'We've spoken to more than a dozen organizations, residents and advocates about this initiative, and we're confident it has widespread community support.' According to the VPD, the Downtown Eastside accounts for 30 per cent of all violent crime in Vancouver despite representing just three per cent of the city's population and two per cent of its geographical area. The areas around the intersections where the new cameras have been installed have the highest crime rates in the entire city, with 225 violent crimes – including 14 robberies, 115 assaults and one homicide – taking place within a one-block radius of the camera locations so far in 2025.
CTV News
06-06-2025
- Health
- CTV News
‘We're people too': Canada's homeless population is aging, changing how shelters run
Mo Singh Khunkhun, 68, sits on a bed in the Union Gospel Mission overnight shelter in Vancouver, B.C., Wednesday, June 4, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns VANCOUVER — Seventy-one-year-old Roger Oake sat on a bench outside the Union Gospel Mission shelter in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside after breakfast. He had been sleeping at the shelter for about a month 'this time' and said that after several years of homelessness, walking 'the beat' during the day when the shelter isn't open has become harder as he gets older. 'I really don't know where to even begin. There's so many things that could or should change, but I really don't know,' he said on Wednesday. 'We're people too, you know? We're not just bums, we're not just hobos looking for a handout. We are what we are and we're at where we're at — and that's basically where it's at.' In major cities across the country, those who provide shelter and services for people who are homeless say they are seeing more elderly people turn to them for help. It's leading to a shift in how they do their jobs and the type of care they are providing. They often must juggle complex medical needs with basic considerations, like ensuring seniors get beds closest to accessible washrooms, and that power sockets are available to charge mobility scooters overnight. Nick Wells, a spokesperson for Union Gospel Mission, said more than 1,000 people sleep in the shelter every year and that the number of elderly users spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to grow. 'The number of people in the 61-to-65 age range keeps growing at about two per cent every year,' he said. 'If you look at it from 55-plus, around COVID, they accounted for about a quarter of our shelter population, and now we're up to one-third.' Wells said teams that work around B.C. have heard of seniors who do not have enough money at retirement to keep up with housing and other costs of living. Some have been evicted when their long-term rental homes are renovated, he said. 'There's been a couple cases, and these are really tragic, that a senior's gone into hospital for a health issue and had an extended stay, and then when they've come back, they've discovered that they've been evicted because they haven't paid their rent,' he said. 'So they've just come back to no home and then they end up here.' Wells said that along with helping clients complete pension or old-age security applications online, staff sometimes have to help with medical issues like Alzheimer's and dementia. In one case, a former shelter user was able to secure a spot in full-time transitional housing in the same building. But he returned to the shelter space to use the washroom. 'He remembers how to get down there. He remembers how the bathrooms are laid out, but then he needs help getting back to the (transitional housing) floor, because he can't really remember the ins and outs of going back there,' he said. 'So we will have a staff member help guide him back up. That's not a problem whatsoever, I don't want to even suggest that, but it is something that I don't think people would have thought about a couple years ago.' UNIQUE NEEDS OF HOMELESS SENIORS The Mustard Seed runs a dozen 24-hour emergency shelters in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia with a total of 747 beds. Samantha Lowe, senior director of shelter operations, said the experience of chronic homelessness can age someone differently than those with secure housing, meaning the definition of what qualifies as a 'senior' can be different than the conventional definition of 65 years old. 'Somebody who has experienced, say, chronic or episodic homelessness and has aged within that population will need those supports earlier,' she said. 'The physiological age of somebody who's experienced so much in their life, they may be 55 and they present like a 75-year-old in terms of their co-morbidities and everything they've got going on, whether that's in their lungs or their heart or their social situation or their mental health.' Lowe said staff are seeing more elderly clients who struggle to manage medications for illnesses ranging from diabetes and breathing problems to cancer, on top of the cost of housing. 'You're having to choose between that or housing. And so we're having folks who are coming in with more chronic conditions that staff are then having to be more knowledgeable about,' she said. Lowe said one shelter is able to allow oxygen tanks to be present, but that's not possible in all spaces. She said there are people in emergency shelters waiting for spots in supportive housing and dedicated seniors housing. Lowe said shelters also have clients nearing the end of their lives. 'We have people who have disclosed that they are dying of cancer, they have a certain amount of time left in the prognosis, but they're really hesitant to go into hospital, and so we work with them to see if we can get them into hospice,' she said. 'We work with them to see if we can prevent that acute crisis that they do end up in hospital, if they're hesitant to go there … but it's quite challenging.' In Toronto, the Salvation Army runs the Islington Seniors' Shelter, an 83-bed 24-hour shelter for men and women experiencing homelessness who are 55 and older. Spokesman Glenn van Gulik said the facility is at capacity, and while the organization does not maintain a wait-list, beds fill up fast when they become available. 'There's over 8,000 people who are currently experiencing homelessness within Toronto, and what we know to be true is just about 20 per cent of those who have responded … are over 55,' he said. 'It's going up.' The Islington shelter offers three-bedroom suites, each with a shared bathroom, and staff familiar with the unique needs of homeless seniors. Van Gulik said that could mean helping with dietary needs, connecting with landlords to help find rentals for people on a fixed income, or finding dental care for aging mouths. He said the style of living, with both men and women and shared spaces, also helps combat the loneliness that can come with aging. Wells said there have been steps in the right direction, like the opening of more seniors housing in B.C. He said there needs to be broad conversation between governments and health-care and service providers about the kind of wraparound supports elderly homeless people need, including more housing options and rent protections. Mo Singh Khunkhun sometimes sleeps and eats at the Union Gospel Mission emergency shelter in Vancouver. He's easy to spot, with his formerly grey beard dyed a bright purple. 'People like it, you know? I don't do boring,' he said on Wednesday. Khunkhun is 68, and worked most of his adult life, including in construction and on farms. But he has been homeless for about eight years since the heat failed in his last apartment and he fell behind on rent. He's stayed at various facilities and has watched as more seniors turn up. 'I don't know what proportion is increasing, but I'm sure there is an increase,' he said. He said he considers himself in good health, and tries to help others as they age, whether that means going for a walk, telling a joke or just having a conversation. 'Some will talk about their health issues,' he said. 'But a lot of them, they just have the camaraderie of being here, you know?' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2025. Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press
CTV News
29-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Vancouver drug traffickers linked to notorious Wolfpack gang sentenced
A man is handcuffed after being detained by Vancouver police officers in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck Five members of a Vancouver drug-trafficking ring linked to a notorious organized crime group have been sentenced to a combined 35 years in prison, according to British Columbia's anti-gang police unit. The Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of B.C. says the men were trafficking drugs in the city's Downtown Eastside as part of a network linked to the Wolfpack Alliance gang. The investigation into the group's activities began in July 2020 and led to the identification of the suspects over several months. By May 2021, police had conducted search warrants at various locations around Vancouver, gathering evidence that would eventually lead to 11 charges against the five men. During the searches, investigators seized seven prohibited or restricted guns and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition, according to a police statement when charges were approved in November 2022. Police also seized 10 kilograms of fentanyl, six kilograms of methamphetamine and three kilograms of cocaine, along with various cutting agents. Three vehicles and $160,000 in cash were also surrendered. All five suspects later pleaded guilty, according to investigators. Vinod Kanna Aruldevarajan, 28, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for drug trafficking on July 14, 2024. Co-accused Howjeen Saed, 29, and Roger Bardales Medina, 32, were sentenced to 10 years and five years in prison for drug charges, respectively, the following November. Finally in February, the remaining offenders – 32-year-old Hemen Hewa Saed and 26-year-old Diego Saed – were sentenced to nine years and six and a half years for drug-related offences, respectively. 'These convictions demonstrate CFSEU-BC's continued success in targeting and disrupting organized crime groups that pose a threat to public safety,' spokesperson Cpl. Sarbjit K. Sangha said in a statement Thursday. 'The investigation highlights the strength of inter-agency collaboration, and CFSEU-BC extends its thanks to the Vancouver Police Department's Organized Crime Section, the VPD Strike Force, and the VPD Integrated Emergency Response Team.'
