COVID-19: Homeless advocates arrested in overnight occupation of Strathcona school

April 19, 2020

The occupation was an effort to call attention to the DTES population at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic and the city's perceived lack of action, said advocates.

[Red Braid Alliance's facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/redbraidalliance/]

A number of Downtown Eastside homeless advocates have been arrested following an overnight occupation at a Vancouver school.

Around 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, a number of advocates entered the premises of Lord Strathcona School in Vancouver’s Strathcona neighbourhood and made their way to the building’s rooftop, where they held up a banner that read “#Squat2SurviveCOVID-19” and stated their plans to remain overnight. Others set up inside the building and barricaded some doors.

On Sunday afternoon, Vancouver Police said a total of 14 people had been arrested following the break-in.

“This was a dynamic call and a prolonged, overnight situation for police,” said Sgt. Aaron Roed in a statement. “Police were met with hostile, and combative suspects inside the school who, at one point, threw wooden pallets and other large pieces of wood at officers.”

Roed said officers arrested a dozen people around 1 a.m., while two individuals made their way to the roof. Those two individuals were arrested around 8:30 a.m.

Inside the school, Roed said there were a number of sleeping bags, tools and alcohol. The Vancouver school board will be visiting the premises to assess for any damages.

The occupation was an effort to call attention to the DTES population at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic and the city’s perceived lack of action, said advocates, who are now asking the city to open up hotels and adequate housing for DTES residents.

In a statement issued through the Red Braid Alliance, the squatters say the action has been named the Kennedy Stewart Squat.

“We’ve named our squat after Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart, whose policies of opening Vancouver to business and closing buildings to the poor are clearing the way for the COVID-19 pandemic to spread unchecked through the streets and shelters of the Downtown Eastside,” the statement read.

“While the mayor celebrates the installation of hand washing units in the Downtown Eastside, we are dying in alleys, tents, shelters, modular housing, and SROs. Rather than watch our friends die while we wait for politicians like Stewart to throw us some crumbs, we are taking action into our own hands.

Crissy Brett, a resident of the DTES, told Postmedia on Sunday morning that occupiers were simply following the orders of health professionals.

“They were homeless people and supporters who had chosen to do exactly what the medical health officer has been asking everyone to do — self isolation and physical distancing — which can’t be done if you’re homeless and on the block of East Hastings or anywhere else, as well as shelters and SROs where people are not able to social distance,” she said.

“This is a piece of property that used to be part of a school that’s been closed for seismic upgrades, it’s been emptied out and not in use for quite a long period of time … and we’re only two blocks from Oppenheimer.”

About 30 people are believed to be have been a part of the occupation at the two-storey structure adjacent to Strathcona School. The building, constructed in 1921, did not receive seismic upgrades alongside the rest of the school, and has since been used as a storage facility.

Around 1 a.m., the Red Braid Twitter account posted photos of what appeared to be a stack of wooden pallets against a door, where police were attempting to gain access to the building.

Following the arrests, Mayor Kennedy Stewart released a statement addressing the occupation.

“Vulnerable residents, especially our neighbours in the Downtown Eastside, are rightfully feeling anxious for their safety. Since the beginning of our COVID-19 response, my No. 1 priority has been to make sure our most vulnerable neighbours, especially those that are underhoused, are safe,” said Stewart.

“It’s clear from this action, and the hundreds of conversations I have had with people who work in the Downtown Eastside, that more information is needed about how underhoused and homeless residents can find the shelter they need to stay safe from COVID-19.”

Stewart said he had asked Minister Shane Simpson “to outline his plan for the hundreds of hotel spaces and other shelter beds B.C. Housing has already secured.”

The mayor also noted the city had expanded access to sanitation, cleaning SROs, delivered thousands of meals to residents and supplemented incomes of DTES residents who had been impacted by COVID-19 job loss. He also noted the 58 modular homes on Copley Street that had been completed March 25, recent actions taken to introduce a safe supply of drugs to the DTES, along with the two Vancouver community centres now converted to housing for the homeless facing COVID-19.

—with files from John Mackie