Oppenheimer Park fix “squarely in the lap of the City of Vancouver”: Premier
Posted September 24, 2019 3:52 pm.
Last Updated September 24, 2019 4:07 pm.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Don’t expect forceful action from the province when it comes to clearing dozens of homeless campers out of Oppenheimer Park.
Premier John Horgan says the issue is clearly within the local government’s jurisdiction, and building one apartment to house all the residents won’t fix the situation.
“These are issues that are squarely in the lap of the City of Vancouver,” he says.
Even so, Horgan says he’s ready to offer help to the municipal government.
“We stand ready to work with Mayor Kennedy Stewart and his council. The investments of a building are not a single solution here,” he says. “We have been building modular housing throughout the region — particularly here in Vancouver. We’ll continue to do that.”
Horgan says he will work with municipal government, but won’t say if he supports growing calls for legal action.
“I’ll await the actions by the city before I respond to them, but I will say that we have — like every other province in the country– […] a poverty reduction plan in place.”
Vancouver police have blamed displaced campers at the park for drawing more crime and gang violence to the Downtown Eastside –which recorded three shootings over a 15-hour period on Sunday and Monday.
