Just a few blocks from where the world has gathered to celebrate some of the planet’s best athletes is an area of Vancouver that is practically Third World. It’s the Downtown Eastside. There are 1,500 homeless, 5,000 drug addicts and 10,000 working poor. Walk down East Hastings in the middle of the day and you’re likely to see dozens of mentally ill, numerous drug deals and even a heroin addict shooting up on the sidewalk. A United Nations spokeswoman called it one of the worst areas of blight in the world.
Leading up to the 2010 Winter Olympics, Vancouver and British Columbia leaders decided it was time to attack the problem. The government has spent tens of millions of dollars buying hotels and converting them to welfare housing. Homeless shelters were given money to keep their doors open 24-7 during the Games. And the area is crawling with police.
For the most part the extra attention has worked. Crime is down and there have been no headlines about a tourist who wandered into the wrong area and got mugged or worse. While you still see scores of homeless and mentally ill, having the shelters stay open all day has helped. As we shot video for our story, a Vancouver woman came up to me and said it was the first time she’s walked the area in years. And she felt safe.
The Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee is even giving away some event tickets to shelter residents. Go into a shelter and you’ll see a new television on with the Olympic games playing. In many ways it has been an extraordinary effort to conceal Vancouver’s most troubling social wart. The question many are asking is, ‘What happens when the Olympics are over?’
Many homeless we interviewed who said life had improved in recent weeks also believe the government just wants to keep them out of sight during the Games and when they’re over things will return to normal. But British Columbia Premiere Gordon Campbell says that’s not going to happen. He insists that the effort was not tied to the Olympics and government is trying to change the culture in the Downtown Eastside.
The proof will be in the funding. The government, which has run up a huge deficit preparing to host the Games, has signaled much of the cash flow will end in April.