Petey Got Off Easy

Police who ticketed Petey for obstructing the sidewalk chose a bad time to do so as hundreds of protesters on the 2nd Annual Women's Housing March shouted "Shame on the VPD!" while TV news cameras rolled. When I asked if I could take his photo, Petey thanked all the photographers for being there. It appears Petey got off easy, though.

The following email, sent to Mayor Sam Sullivan and City Council by a concerned resident of the Downtown Eastside, was forwarded to me by this morning:

From: email withheld by The Blackbird
To: mayorandcouncil@vancouver.ca
Subject: Street By Law Homeless People Lost everything AGAIN!
Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 19:07:30 -0700

Hello Residents, Friends and Mayor/Councillor (81 People)

As I was cruising down Hastings on my way home from Carnegie I noticed a new sign put up ALL along Hastings. It's a By Law telling the homeless they can not put up tents or bed down on the streets/sidewalk, if caught they will be fined and not only that.

This morning a friend of mine notice a City Garbage truck dumping ALL belongs in a shopping cart in to the truck and behind the garbage truck was another to pick up the empty shopping carts, while residents pleading with the truck drive to please let me get my personal belongs. But it fell on deaf ears and away went people's personal belongs with sleeping bags, ID'S and ALL their life belongings went up and down Hastings, my friend said people were down on the ground crying and begging these City Works for the necessities they needed to sleep either at the park or under the via duct and/or where ever they felt safe.

Now they have nothing, they were striped of so much and left with nothing, NOT even letting our homeless people get the sleeping bag and the little food they had. Isn't it bad enough for the homeless who have NO where to go, because of a By Law that has been post ALL along Hastings and probably at the parks. So where are they suppose to go, sleeping in the alley, is only putting them at risk of being beating up and/or for our women to be raped and beaten, all because they are homeless.

Sam and Council don't think about the consequences that comes with these STUPID By Laws, I have to be honest and say you ALL have NO heart and flicking care about what happens to the homeless people when you take away their personal belongs.

The only true Politician that took on living here in the Downtown Eastside and learned so much while living on very little money was Emery Barnes, the other people said they lived at Crab Park for the weekend. However NO one saw them there and they had sleeping bag where most of the homeless don't even have that.

Get real Mayor and Council, if this happened to one of your own, there would have been at least 5 police cars and maybe 8 officers. If the homeless had put up a fight today rest assured they would have been charged and jailed also given a fine for breaking this By Law that was just put up recently. SO Mayor and Council where was the fairness on this day Friday the 13th, 2008?

Concerned Resident
Name withheld by The Blackbird

*****

Note added 21 June 2008 (e-mail by Judy Graves -Coordinator of the City of Vancouver's Tenant Assistance Program - forwarded to me this morning).

From: "Graves, Judy"
Date: June 20, 2008 4:07:41 PM PDT
To: email addresses withheld by The Blackbird
Subject: My sincere apology

Dear Friends,

I've made a very serious mistake, and apologize to you.

When I forwarded the e-mail re: Street by-law homeless people to you earlier this week, I had not first confirmed that the information that was sent to me was correct. The information has been disputed, the person who sent the e-mail to me accepts that the version of the story she sent was not factual.

It was my responsibility to confirm the facts, and I failed to do that.

I cannot set this right, except to promise you, I'll never send an e-mail without confirming the information first.

I hope you will forward my apology to anyone you may have forwarded the original e-mail to.

Judy

[Judy Graves is the City of Vancouver's Tenants Assistance Coordinator whose job it is to deal with homelessness and evictions in the municipality.]