WATCH: An effort to clean up Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside street market may have created an even bigger problem. Leigh Kjekstad explains.
For many, the idea of an open-air market in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside might conjure up images of blocks of questionably legal wares for sale.
Advocate Roland Clarke says that needs to end.
“There are illegal activities that happen there, and we want to cooperate with the VPD and the City of Vancouver to clean that up,” he said. “That’s why we’re promising to run, seven days a week, market location opportunities for the low-income vendors there so they don’t have to vend on the sidewalk and they don’t have to operate in an illegal environment.”
Clarke has been part of the DTES Street Market at Pigeon Park for five years and is heading up the recent move to a new location five blocks away on Powell Street.
It’s more closely regulated for stolen goods, but so far the reviews are mixed.
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“They’re trying to sell for retail prices instead of wholesale prices,” said neighbour Jim McDonald. “And also the street traffic you get by here is nothing compared to what they have on Hastings. So people can take all kinds of junk over there…and it gets sold over there. Here there is nobody walking by.”
With the help of the city, Clarke and his crew are also trying to stifle open-air vending on Hastings St. by opening a Monday to Friday market nearby.
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Police say they are encouraging vendors to relocate to the new sites.
The City of Vancouver is providing the property for both sites. No one was available to speak with Global News about the associated costs or when they hope to clear the sidewalks of East Hastings.
Clarke says the new market could help the community.
“Instead of just pushing them off the block and forgetting about them, we can actually find out why they are there. Are they homeless? Do they need mental health assistance? Do they need addiction assistance? Are they just survival vending? Then our market is a place for them, but if they need other services, those other services need to be offered,” he said.
–With files from Leigh Kjekstad
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