B.C. housing minister says Vancouver's plan for Downtown Eastside could increase crime

B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon says Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim's new plan for the Downtown Eastside will make the community less safe and lead to more homelessness.

Sim's proposal, announced on Thursday, involves a halt on building new supportive housing in the city and what he calls a "crackdown" on gangs.

Kahlon said he supports a goal of increased safety, but criticized Sim's plan on housing in the Downtown Eastside.

"If the goal is to increase safety, I'm all for it. We want to make sure that police and bylaw are working better together," he said. 

WATCH | Housing minister questions Vancouver mayor's Downtown Eastside plan:

Minister takes aim at Vancouver mayor's housing plan for Downtown Eastside | Canada Tonight

2 days ago

Duration 8:42

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim has unveiled a controversial plan to revitalize the city's Downtown Eastside, an area once described as Canada's poorest postal code, that would halt the construction of net-new supportive housing units. Ravi Kahlon, B.C. minister of housing and municipal affairs, says linking supportive housing to crime is ‘false’ and a ‘major challenge.’

"But by saying that we're not going to have supportive housing, it means more people will be homeless, more people will be sleeping in parks, and that actually is a bigger detriment to community safety than actually having housing available for them," Kahlon added.

Linking supportive housing to increased crime is "false," he said, and research in B.C. has shown that providing housing leads to a decrease in crime.

Part of Sim's plan is a call for other municipalities to build more supportive housing. According to Sim, Vancouver has 77 per cent of the region's supportive services, including housing and shelters, but only 25 per cent of the population.

Kahlon said he agrees other communities in the region need to do more to support their vulnerable residents. But he questioned Sim's strategy.

"If we're saying that we're going to not support the people that are already in the community until we wait for somebody else to do something, it's just going to cause more unrest in the community."

Kahlon said the province is working with other Metro Vancouver municipalities to try and build supportive housing, but the process is slow. He added that there are no immediate plans for new supportive housing units in Vancouver, so Sim's initiative won't have a huge impact in the short term.

Vancouver Coun. Peter Meiszner, who's a member of Sim's ABC Party, said that although the plan is to not build more supportive housing, other types of housing such as for-profit housing and social housing would continue to be built in the city.

"Vancouver can't continue to shoulder the burden for the whole region. It's just not sustainable and it's really unhealthy when it's all concentrated in one neighbourhood."

WATCH | How the public can weigh in on new Downtown Eastside plan:

Plan to freeze Downtown Eastside supportive housing seeks public input

2 days ago

Duration 2:15

People will soon get a chance to weigh in on Vancouver mayor Ken Sim’s controversial proposal to put a freeze on net new supportive housing. He wants other cities to step up to build supportive homes before more are built here. As Meera Bains reports, the public will get to weigh in on this decision next month. 

Several advocates, residents and organizations of the area have criticized Sim's plan, though.

Donnie Rosa, the CEO of Atira Women's Resource Society, which provides housing to vulnerable women, said 5,000 people are on a waitlist for supportive homes.

"What we know is that women go back to abusive settings when there aren't options for housing or services, so we know that will continue and be exacerbated by this."

Meiszner said Sim's motion will come to council for debate, public input and a decision by the end of February.