Several hundred people gathered outside the soon-to-be empty Balmoral Hotel in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside on Sunday to protest the city’s response to the troubled single-room occupancy (SRO) building.
More than 150 people took to the streets, shutting down several blocks of East Hastings Street, just one day ahead of a mandated evacuation of the building.
Tenants were served notices to vacate the property earlier this month after a city inspection found water damage and rot may have put the building at risk of collapse.
The city says it has found alternative SRO housing for all registered tenants of the 176-room building.
Housing advocate Wendy Pedersen said the city’s sudden action flies in the face of its years of inaction.
While protesters filled the streets and organizers put on a street barbecue and block party, tenants could be seen packing their belongings in cardboard boxes, with the June 12 date to clear the building looming.
Pedersen said her impression is that the city only acted after activists took their complaints to City Hall.
She believes the city pins conditions in the building on the tenants, not the owners.
“The owners are making a killing off of taxpayer dollars here through welfare payments,” Pedersen said. “They’ve made a real estate empire off of the backs of the poorest people in this city.”
The city says that it is moving ahead with taking the Sahota family to court over 64 bylaw violations related to the Balmoral, and is waiting for more information from its prosecutor.
It adds that a team has been put together from the city, BC Housing, Vancouver Coastal Health, and the Ministry of Social Development to assist tenants in the move.
However, despite the city saying all tenants have been accounted for, Pedersen says she still believes more than two dozen could find themselves on the street after Monday’s deadline.
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