Take Action

Email the Premier of British Columbia, Gordon Campbell
premier@gov.bc.ca

Sample letter:

Dear Premier Campbell,

The 2010 Olympic partners, including the Province of British Columbia, made important social commitments in order to become hosts of the 2010 Winter Games. These included promises to build more social housing, and to prevent increases in homelessness. Yet BC has the highest poverty rate in Canada, and there are more than 2,000 homeless people in Greater Vancouver alone.

I urge your government to meet those commitments by taking the following actions:

  • Increase welfare rates by 50%, and index welfare to inflation, so rates go up when the cost of living does.
  • Get rid of arbitrary barriers that stop people from getting welfare when they need it.
  • Stop clawing back money from welfare recipients when they get child support payments or earn small amounts from part-time work.
  • Build 2,000 new units of non-market housing per year, in addition to assisted living (for low-income seniors and people with disabilities or mental illnesses) and emergency shelters.
  • Increase the minimum wage to $10 per hour, and index it to inflation — this would mean a single person working full time could earn a little more than the poverty line.

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Email the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper:
pm@pm.gc.ca

Sample letter:

Dear Prime Minister Harper,

The 2010 Olympic partners, including the Government of Canada, made important social commitments in order to become hosts of the 2010 Winter Games. These included promises to build more social housing, and to prevent increases in homelessness. Yet today, BC has the highest poverty rate in Canada, and there are more than 2,000 homeless people in Greater Vancouver alone.

Solving these problems requires national leadership, and can’t be left to provincial and municipal governments alone. I urge your government to take the following actions, which will let us show the world in 2010 that Vancouver really is a world class city:

  • Set national standards for welfare, to make sure every Canadian can get help during hard times, and avoid becoming homeless.
  • Create and fund a national housing and homelessness strategy.

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Email the Mayor of Vancouver, Gregor Robertson
gregor.robertson@vancouver.ca

Sample letter:

Dear Mayor Robertson,

The 2010 Olympic partners, including the City of Vancouver, made important social commitments in order to become hosts of the 2010 Winter Games. These included promises to build more social housing, and to prevent increases in homelessness. Yet homelessness in Vancouver, especially in the Downtown Eastside, continues to be a major problem. I urge you to:

  • Work with the provincial and federal governments to implement the Inner-City Inclusive Housing Table’s recommendations — in particular, increasing welfare rates by 50%, getting rid of arbitrary barriers to getting welfare, and building 3,200 units of social housing by 2010.
  • Put a moratorium on the conversion and closure of residential hotels that are the home to about 5000 low-income residents.
  • Re-consider the “Civil City” initiative, which doesn’t address the underlying causes of problems like panhandling and street disorder
  • Freeze condo development in the Downtown Eastside until homelessness is ended, and good quality housing is available for current residents.

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