Last week's news was another Olympic unveiling ceremony (a clock to count the time until the opening in 2010) accompanied by a not-very-polite protest by Vancouver's anti-poverty community.
These protests aren't going away, and there are good reasons why. During the same week, there was also a story in the local media about the Golden Crown Hotel in the 100 block of West Hastings Street. I'm familiar with this establishment. Not as a guest or a resident; when I moved to Vancouver 25 years ago, there was a very good Chinese restaurant on the premises. That restaurant is long gone. Like many old Vancouver hotels, it is occupied by long-term, low-income tenants. The owner, Daniel Jun (a.ka. #627017 BC Ltd.), has issued eviction notices to these tenants, effective the end of March. His plan is to renovate the place, then rent the rooms out, at somewhat higher rates, to construction workers that are coming to town for Olympics-related work.
The problem with this is, Vancouver's Olympic bid contains an inner-city inclusivity committment, and a promise that no one will be displaced because of the 2010 Olympics. This promise has clearly been broken, although I suspect that if Mr. Jun were interviewed on this subject, he would tell you that his signature doesn't appear anywhere on the Olympic bid.
The City of Vancouver certainly signed onto it, however. The City is sensitive to bad publicity on this, so they are hustling to find new accomodations for the evictees. Unfortunately, moving these people into new accomodations will displace other tenants, and the ripple effect continues.
The City has a tool at its disposal; a rarely-used Standard of Maintenance bylaw. It allows the City to repond to complaints about rat-infested rental accomodations by sending contractors in to make necessary repairs, then sending the landlord the bill for the work done.
VANOC, the City of Vancouver, and the provincial government would be well-advised to take a strong action on the Golden Crown Hotel case to avoid turning the this subject into yet another embarassment (along with budget overruns and Eagleridge Bluffs) for the 2010 effort. We keep hearing that the 2010 Olympics are good for business. If that's so, businessmen like Daniel Jun should be willing to occasionally forego making a fast buck in return for longer-term benefits.
Story from from CBC News: Low-rent Vancouver hotel under scrutiny
Story from 24 Hours: City eyes existing bylaw