During the covid empidemic, anyway.  Hotels and motels sitting empty.  People   
   hunkered down in tents, without water or proper washing facilities.     
      
   Great once again, government of BC.  That's an *NDP* government.   
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   CBC News · Posted: Apr 25, 2020   
      
      
   B.C. enacts order to move tent city residents into hotels amid COVID-19   
   pandemic   
      
   Encampments at Vancouver's Oppenheimer Park, Victoria's Topaz Park, Pandora   
   corridor set to be dismantled   
      
   B.C. is enacting a public safety order to move homeless people living in tent   
   city encampments into hotels in Vancouver and Victoria during the COVID-19   
   pandemic.   
      
   Ministers Mike Farnworth, Shane Simpson and Judy Darcy made the announcement   
   Saturday morning, along with representatives from BC Housing. The plan is   
   supported by an order under the Emergency Program Act and the ongoing   
   provincial state of emergency.   
      
   Simpson said encampments in Vancouver's Oppenheimer Park, along with   
   Victoria's Topaz Park and Pandora corridor will be dismantled, and that hotels   
   and other sites will be used to keep people housed until more permanent   
   housing is made available.   
      
   "I acknowledge that this will be welcome news for some," Simpson said,   
   addressing camp residents directly.   
      
   "It will cause anxiety and hesitation for others. Our priority is your health   
   and safety ... You will not be alone, and you will not be abandoned," he said.   
      
      
   May 9 deadline   
      
   The province said it has identified 686 hotel and community centre spaces in   
   Vancouver, and 324 hotel spaces in Victoria, in partnership with non-profits   
   and municipalities.   
      
   The deadline for the transition is May 9, with a plan to move 15 to 20 people   
   into accommodations per day.   
      
   Once in the accommodations, people will have their own living space, as well   
   as meals, laundry, washroom facilities, health-care services, addictions   
   treatment and harm reduction, and storage for personal belongings. There will   
   also be designated spaces    
   for women.   
      
   "At this point we believe the vast majority of people will move willingly,   
   we're hopeful of that," said Simpson.   
      
   Farnworth highlighted recent tragedies among the province's vulnerable   
   populations — with two people dying of overdoses in Victoria, and a newborn   
   baby found dead on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.   
      
   "We are at a confluence of two of the most challenging health emergencies our   
   province has ever faced, and we cannot leave our most vulnerable behind," he   
   said.   
      
   In response to the government's plans, homeless advocates at Oppenheimer Park   
   say camp residents are only a portion of the province's homeless in need of   
   housing.   
      
   "They're not caring about the ones that are in the alleys, or the ones that   
   are on the streets," said tent city liaison Chrissy Brett.   
      
   "I don't think that they've got enough rooms in these hotels that they say   
   they've secured for the homeless people, 'cause it's only going to take a tiny   
   little fraction of what's down here," said housing advocate Erica Grant.   
      
   "There's going to be more tragedies to come if this does not take place, and   
   it needs to take place now."   
      
   Farnworth said the plan to dismantle the camps is a public safety order and   
   not a health order.   
      
   "As an order, police and other compliance officials are able to enforce   
   violations of this act," he said. "We know there will be challenges ahead."   
      
   Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart issued a written statement in support of the   
   measures, saying they would help reduce overdoses and encourage physical   
   distancing.   
      
   "All who live in our great city deserve to be treated with dignity and   
   respect," he wrote.   
      
   Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps said the temporary housing is critically important,   
   and called Simpson's plan to keep the homeless housed until permanent   
   accommodations are made available a significant commitment.     
      
   "I don't think they would have said it unless they meant it, and we're going   
   to hold them to that."   
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)