Downtown Eastside residents report increased street sweeps tied to World Cup games
Community researchers say cleaning operations intensified during FIFA matches, raising concerns about enforcement practices targeting vulnerable people in Vancouver's neighbourhood.
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Street cleaning operations intensified in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside during the World Cup games between June 13 and July 7, according to community researchers who say the city is engaging in what amounts to "street sweeps" targeting vulnerable residents.
Members of Police Oversight with Evidence and Research (POWER), a grassroots police watchdog, define a street sweep as when city workers and police "try to clear the public, the people that have no place to live, and trying to move them along any way they can." The Tyee documented city workers and police handing garbage bags to people on East Hastings Street, asking them to clean up their belongings.
According to the City of Vancouver and Vancouver Police Department, these operations are regular, year-round municipal work guided by a "person-centred approach" that includes engagement with individuals to comply with bylaws. The city says individuals are not required to leave an area provided their belongings remain mobile and do not create safety or accessibility concerns such as fire hazards or blocked access.
Last fall, Councillor Mike Klassen directly asked city staff whether FIFA World Cup bylaw enforcement included "sweeping vulnerable residents off the streets" within the two-kilometre Fan Zone around BC Place that includes the Downtown Eastside. Deputy City Manager Karen Levitt responded that the city would not sweep homeless or precariously housed people. Councillor Sean Orr noted afterward, "I, too, have heard concerns around increased street sweeps. But I guess we're not calling it that."
