In 2022, the Stop the Sweeps coalition (Pivot Legal Society, Coalition of Peers Dismantling the Drug War, Defund 604 Network, and Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users) published the “#STOPTHESWEEPS: Ending Cyclical Displacement & Criminalized Poverty in Vancouver,” which addresses the daily practice of City Engineering Workers and Vancouver Police Department officers moving throughout Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside seizing possessions, notionally in order to “clean” City property. The report identifies the street sweeps as a part of the broader criminalization of poverty enforced through an array of anti-homeless bylaws, which are endemic in municipalities across British Columbia. The report demands an end to the enforcement of street and traffic bylaws against people who rely on public space, planned directives relating to confiscation and the provision of storage facilities.
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Substance use
Demands
Recommendation 2: Defund City Engineering & Police Budgets and redirect funds currently allocated to Street Sweeps, in order to redistribute resources and funds for cleaning to local organizations and individuals who reside in affected areas.-
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Recommendation 3: Implement directives related to the confiscation of belongings from people who rely on public space, which recognize that this practice has continued potential for harmful and discriminatory impacts.- In the rare event that belongings must be confiscated, directives should clearly detail how City staff are to protect the rights and dignity of those who are impacted, including rights to procedural fairness.
- City staff must provide at least 24 hours of advance notice prior to seizure.
- If someone’s belongings are justifiably confiscated, City staff must provide a receipt that details what was taken, and clear instructions on how to retrieve personal belongings.
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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.-
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