Demands

Recommendation 4: Provide funding to storage facilities in an easily-accessible area.

1. Any confiscated belongings must be stored at a facility located within the Downtown Eastside.
2. Storage facilities must be secure, easily accessible, of an adequate size, and informed by best practices and cultural safety for people who rely on public space.
3. Retrieval processes must respect the limited access unhoused people have to identifying documentation.
4. Storage facilities must provide long-term, low-barrier storage space (i.e. 3-6 months).

Demands

Recommendation 6: Drastically expand permanent parklets, green spaces, hygiene facilities, garbage disposal sites, and other public outdoor amenities such as covered cooking facilities, and cultural programming sites through the DTES, as these are essential public spaces.

Municipal policy on confiscation

Recommendation 8: The City of Vancouver should develop a policy on the confiscation of belongings by City Engineering Workers and police which recognizes the fundamental harms caused by the confiscation of belongings from people who rely on public space. The City should instruct its employees to end the confiscation of the belongings of people who rely on public space, especially necessities of life such as shelter, clothing, medication, and important personal items. When City staff must confiscate personal belongings, the City must provide at least 24 hours of advance notice, and when confiscation is justified, direct staff to issue receipts for belongings and cash, details on retrieval, and clear instructions on how people can get their property back. Any confiscated belongings must be stored in an accessible location within the DTES that people can easily attend.

Conclusion

Recommendation 10: Ending Street Sweeps will require cross-department collaboration between the City of Vancouver, Park Board, and Vancouver Police Department. Each of these institutions must commit to the elimination of Street Sweeps. By eliminating costly and traumatic Street Sweeps, the City could fund peer-led programming, including community clean-ups, street and sidewalk maintenance, vending support, and the management of storage facilities.