issue 09 / volume 41

Vancouver's 2015 homeless count begins

» Annual count aims to track number of homeless; numbers in 2014 doubled

Angela Espinoza
News Editor
Minews
@theotherpress.ca

 

he city of Vancouver began
its homelessness count for
2015 on March 26,

Each year, the city annually

works to keep track of how
many homeless people live in
the city. The count involves
research into whether those
who are considered homeless
have an income, how old they

if they have a history of illness,
as well as several other factors.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor
Robertson, who was re-elected
in November 2014, held a press
conference at the start of the

 

Gregor Robertson

2015 count. Robertson had

: previously promised during
his 2008 election campaign to
are, their identified gender, and ! “end homelessness” by the year
: 2015, yet numbers have notably
: increased during his time as

: mayor.

“We pushed really hard

and had success in getting
: people off the street,’ Robertson :
> announced to media, “It doesn’t :

: end today.”

Photo by Emily Jackson/Metro

: to have increased the homeless
: number, according to Metro

: Vancouver, is increasing

: housing costs. The average cost
: of Single Room Occupancies

: climbed to $485 from $469,

: despite the fact that many

: homeless only receive $375 from :
: welfare.

There was a cause for alarm

One of the reasons believed

: affordable housing buildings
: in 2014 when the previous year’s :
: count noted that the number

: of homeless had “nearly

: doubled” to 538, many media

: outlets reported. The number

: referred to those who were

: counted for sleeping on streets
: in Vancouver. The Vancouver

: Sun reported that in 20n, the

: number of homeless was as low

> aS 154.

: is not high enough to keep

: up with not just Vancouver's
: growing homeless numbers,
: but all of BC's.

: homeless were also increasing

: in areas of BC such as Nelson

: and Nanaimo, reporting that

: “roughly 200 to 300 homeless

: people” currently resided

: in Nanaimo. In addition,

? community coordinator for

: the Nelson Committee on

: Homelessness Ann Harvey told
: CBC, “We've found families

: sleeping in cars, sometimes

: camped out ina stairwell

: occasionally, so they really have

While 14 permanent

operate in BC, the number

CBC found numbers of

no stable housing situation.”
In November 2014,

news // 5

: Megaphone Magazine

: published “Dying on the

: Streets,” a report that tracked

: the lives of many of BC’s then-

: known homeless between

: 2006 and 2013. In that time,

: the report noted, “at least 271

: homeless people died in British
: Columbia.”

In January 2015, Vancouver’s

: RainCity Housing announced
: they were aiming to complete
: a permanent affordable

: housing shelter in Coquitlam,
: as numbers of homeless have

: also risen in the tri-cities of

: Coquitlam, New Westminster,
: and Port Coquitlam.

Metro Vancouver reported

: that final numbers from this

: year’s count are expected to be

: revealed within the next several
: weeks.

 

BC minimum wage workers left in poverty

» Upcoming increase to minimum wage may not be enough to support BC residents

Natalie Gates
The Navigator

?

he BC government has

refused to increase
minimum wage enough to
keep working people above
the poverty line, despite calls
for an increase from British
Columbians.

Instead, on March 12,
the provincial government
announced that it would
increase the minimum wage
by 20 cents in September, and
link it to BC’s Consumer Price
Index (CPI) inflation increases
annually.

Vancouver Island
University’s students’ union
(VIUSU) director of external
relations Alec Patterson spoke
about the impact the decision
is likely to have on minimum
wage workers.

“The 20 cents increase in
my opinion is infuriating,” said
Patterson. “It shows the stance
of the provincial government
on this issue, and they don’ see
it as an issue. Tying minimum
wage with the rate of inflation is
counterproductive.”

The Canadian Federation
of Students’ BC chapter (CFS-

Federation of Labour’s call to
increase minimum wage to $15
per hour. In addition to helping
curb poverty, an increase
would help students tackle

the mounting student debt
crisis. The Bank of Montreal

: estimated that the average

: student debt after a four-year
: degree is about $35,000, said a
: press release from CFS-BC.

At the January 2015 CFS-

: BC general meeting, delegates

: from around the province voted
: to endorse the Fight for $15

: campaign.

“Minimum wage should

: immediately be increased so no
: one working 4o hours a week is
: forced to live below the poverty
: line,” said Zachary Crispin,

: chairperson of CFS-BC. “The

: whole point of identifying a

: poverty line is to keep citizens

: above it.”

“The board hasn't formally

: endorsed it at our individual

: students’ union, but we have an
: upcoming board meeting where :
: we will have a presentation

: from the Canadian Labour

: Congress who will speak about
: the campaign with request for
: endorsement,” said VIUSU’s

: executive director Michael

: Olson.
: At $10.25 per hour, $6 below :
: the poverty line for full-time

: workers, BC’s minimum wage is
: one of the lowest in Canada. At
: the current minimum wage, it

: takes the average student about
BC) joined the British Columbia : 550 hours of work just to pay for :
: tuition fees.

Patterson and Olson both

: addressed concerns about the

: impact a higher minimum wage
: would have on small businesses. :
: wealthy, adding fees to public

“[The government says]

: the BC Child and Youth

: Advocacy Coalition, released

: November 2014 revealed

: that approximately 1 in 5 BC

: children were living in poverty

: it will ruin small businesses,

: which isn’t the case at all,”

: Patterson said. “If you pay your
: employees higher, everyone

: will be paying the same price.
: People will be out of poverty
: and have disposable income

: that they can spend on the

: businesses. And it would be

: an incremental increase so

: businesses can adapt to it.”

“The outcry against $15 an

: hour is the same as the outcry

: to $10 an hour was,” Olson said.

: “What’s happened is there

: wasa very small amount of :
: businesses that were negatively :
: affected and a huge amount of

: British Columbians that were

: positively affected. Minimum — :
: wage right now keeps people in :

poverty, $15 an hour puts people :

: 10 per cent above the poverty

: cut-off. Pegging a minimum

: wage to inflation pegs people to :
: always be in poverty and allows :
: the government every year to
: say that minimum wage is going :
up

”

A report by First Call,

in 2012, and that the number

: was growing. The report also

: found that BC had the second
: highest rates of poverty among
: provinces at 16.1 per cent.

“Cutting taxes for the

: will only result in increased
: poverty rates for BC families,”
: said Crispin.

: to save for post-secondary
: education,” Olson said. “So
: what if teenagers are being paid :
: $15 an hour? How else are they
: going to afford to save?”

 

: services, and refusing to

support a fair minimum wage

Olson and Patterson also

: addressed concerns around

: secondary school students

: having a minimum wage of $15
: an hour.

“Tt will help them afford

Photo via thinkstock

“And even if they don't

: go to post-secondary, they

: are still contributing to the

: local economy because they

: have that disposable income,”
: Patterson said.

The CFS-BC is composed

: of post-secondary students

: from 15 universities and colleges
: in every region in BC. Post-

: secondary students in Canada

: have been represented by

: the Canadian Federation of

Students and its predecessor

: organizations since 1927.