96 homeless deaths in BC in three years
Feb. 2nd, 2010
IMPACT ON COMMUNITIES COALITION
96 Homeless Deaths in BC in Three Years (2006-2008)
Vancouver – As BC Housing and other partners opened up a public relations kiosk yesterday for international media, it was revealed that 96 homeless people died in BC between 2006 and 2008 according to the BC Coroner’s office.
“A homeless person dies, on average, every 11.4 days in BC – the health and human rights impacts of this marginalized existence are devastating. For the government to be engaging in public relations such as the new information centre they set up is a perfect example of how the Olympics have been an attack on civil society in this province,” said Am Johal, Chair of the Impact on Communities Coalition.
Johal also criticized the opportunity costs of one-time Olympic spending such as $900 million for security, $500,000 for city uniforms and $300,000 for event tickets.
“The money spent for this propaganda kiosk by BC Housing is beyond comprehension since it is the public agency responsible for building housing – they should be building housing, not investing in propaganda,” said Johal.
According to the BC Coroner’s office, the cities of Vancouver and Victoria had the most deaths at 21 and 18 respectively. 62 of the 96 deaths over the three year period were of street homeless. Of the 96 deaths, 77 were male and 19 were female. The average age of those who died was 45.
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