Vancouver homeless advocate makes his case to UN conference

One of Vancouver's most outspoken advocates for the homeless has told a United Nations conference the city is failing to meet its commitment to provide sustainable housing during the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Pivot Legal Society lawyer David Eby spoke to a conference in Geneva Thursday on housing rights and evictions.

He later told CBC Radio he told the delegates that the city's promises to avoid evictions to make way for the Olympics have not been followed through.

"When we look at the athletes' village development where the moderate housing was cut and low-income housing was cut by a third, when we look at Project Civil City which has initiatives like bylaws banning sitting or lying down on sidewalks, the increased use of beat police officers,the increased use of surveillance cameras and the displacement that that is going to cause,I had to tell them that really we're well off track to hosting a sustainable Games."

But Cameron Gray, thedirector of housing for the city, saidEby's claims are off the mark.

"I thought that the assessment of what we're doing with the athletes village was incorrect, actually. The commitment to the IOC [International Olympic Committee] was 250 units [of social housing], and we're delivering on those 250 units."

Gray said the recent purchase of 13 single-room-occupancy hotels by the provincial governmentis part ofthe effortto provide housing in the leadup to the games.

He also said the challenges of soaring house prices and low vacancy rates in Greater Vancouver are not the result of the Olympics.

No homeless by 2015

Meanwhile, former premier and mayor of Vancouver Mike Harcourt told CBC Radio on Thursday that Vancouver is on track to eliminate homelessness by 2015.

He noted there are a significant number of shelter and housing projects underway in the city. But they won't all be ready in time for the Olympics.

"The goal is no homeless by 2015, and I think that's a doable goal. I think we're well underway. My last calculation is that there's about 850 to 1,000 units for housing the homelessunder construction, being occupied right now and through to the 250 that will become available in the Olympic Village after February 2010."

The three-term mayor of Vancouver says thecity has faced similar challenges in the past and has emerged as a world leader in urban design.