FRIDAY
July 10 2015 Vol. 106 No. 54
COMMUNITY 14
Goji berries-a-gogo ENTERTAINMENT 21
Khatsahlano comes alive SPORTS 25
A golfer’s memorial There’s more online at
vancourier.com WEEKEND EDITION
THE VOICE of VANCOUVER NEIGHBOURHOODS since 1908
Homeless keep coming
Mayor calls for investment Mike Howell
mhowell@vancourier.com
GRUEL SUMMER Young cast members perform a scene in a Theatre Under the Stars production of Oliver! The Musical. The show, along with a separate production of John Waters’ Hairspray, runs this summer at Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park. See tuts.ca for information. PHOTO JENNIFER GAUTHIER
City adopts a living wage Rally at city hall precedes decision Naoibh O’Connor
noconnor@vancourier.com
Gloria Roque earns a living wage as a teacher, but since she works at an inner city school, she knows many parents who don’t. That’s why Roque was among those who rallied at city hall Wednesday morning in support of Mayor Gregor Robertson’s motion for the City of Vancouver to become a certified living wage employer. The motion passed unanimously. Metro Vancouver Alliance and Living Wage for Families staged the rally, which was timed to precede council’s discussion on the motion. It’s estimated both wage earners in a
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four-person family must earn $20.68 each per hour to meet the definition of a living wage in Metro Vancouver, which stretches from West Vancouver to Langley. Roque wrote “dignity” when asked by organizers what a living wage meant to her. “I make a living wage and I think everyone else should, too,” she said. Deborah Littman is the lead organizer for Metro Vancouver Alliance, an organization of faith groups, labour unions and community advocates. “Basically the whole community is hurt when other people don’t make enough to live not just those workers. It impacts children’s education, it impacts people’s health, it impacts their ability to participate in the wider community,” she said. “It affects the strength of the local economy, so in that sense, it’s an issue that everyone has a stake in solving.” Littman dismisses arguments that in-
stituting a living wage hurts the economy and low-wage earners. “This is something that is pulled out any time you raise the minimum wage or when you try to introduce better wages for people. ‘Oh it’s going to price people out of the market, people are going to lose jobs.’ All the evidence shows that’s not true,” she said. Littman worked on the living wage campaign in London, England, and she said there are now 1,500 employers who pay it, including major banks and retail chains. “None of them have lost jobs because of that. What they find is if you pay people decently, absenteeism goes down, turnover goes down,” Littman said. “The quality of work goes up and most businesses benefit by paying the living wage as opposed to losing from it.” Continued on page 6
Thinking oƒ SELLING your Vancouver home? THINK OF PAUL.
The overall homeless population in Vancouver — whether it be on the street or in some form of shelter — has remained fairly steady over the past six years and the latest statistics released Tuesday show 1,746 people are still without a home. That’s a decrease of 57 people from the 1,803 homeless recorded in a 2014 count. The number of people living on the street dropped from 536 in 2014 to 488 this year, while people residing in a shelter or temporary housing decreased from 1,267 to 1,258. “We’ve heard some positive news on a 10 per cent drop in street homelessness in our last count in March but the overall level of homelessness remains about the same as in recent years, which is unfortunate given all the investment and housing that’s opened up for people who are vulnerable,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson, whose goal was to end so-called street homelessness by the 2015 count, which was conducted over two days in March. “We obviously need more investment from the provincial and federal governments to ensure we bring the number of homeless people down.” The mayor and the rest of council heard from Mukhtar Latif, the city’s housing director, that several factors were driving the steady rate of homelessness in Vancouver, including poverty, severe and untreated mental health and addictions, low welfare rates, youth aging out of foster care, a tight rental housing market and prisons and hospitals discharging people to the street and shelters. Latif pointed out B.C. Housing has a wait list of 4,000 people in Vancouver who want social housing. Vacancy rates in singleroom occupancy hotels continue to decline, whereas rents at the hotels continue to increase, surpassing the allotted $375 shelter allowance provided to people on welfare. Shelters are at capacity, with nearly 200 people turned away during this year’s count. Continued on page 4 $
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