Pubdate: Mon, 20 Nov 2000
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: The Vancouver Sun 2000
Contact:  200 Granville Street, Ste.#1, Vancouver BC V6C 3N3
Fax: (604) 605-2323
Website: http://www.vancouversun.com/
Series: Searching for solutions - Fix on the Downtown Eastside
http://www.mapinc.org/thefix.htm

A TRAGIC TIMELINE

PRE 1970s

The Downtown Eastside is Vancouver's historic skid road, a home to the
poor and, with its many bars and cheap rooms, a disproportionate share
of the alcoholic, disabled and drug-dependent. Still, attractions such
as Woodward's and Chinatown draw people from all walks into the
neighbourhood, and the drug scene is mostly hidden.

1970s

Gentrification begins in Gastown and the South Shore of False Creek
and accelerates in areas such as Kitsilano, Fairview Slopes, Mount
Pleasant and the West End, funnelling the poor toward the Downtown
Eastside and adjacent areas.

1980s

In preparation for Expo, cheap rooming houses elsewhere in the
downtown peninsula are converted to hotels or otherwise gentrified.
Meanwhile, Vancouver's profile is raised throughout Canada, attracting
many young migrants who arrive to find few jobs and high rents -- but
also mild winters and cheap drugs. And the new SeaBus and SkyTrain,
complete with an honour system for payment, provide essentially free
transportation for party animals and drug buyers commuting downtown
from the suburbs.

1982

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms is passed. In coming years, police
and courts will complain it ties their hands in dealing with both
immigration and drug problems -- especially after street-level
trafficking comes to be dominated by refugee claimants.

1986

Thousands of low-income people lose their homes to Expo-related
gentrification. The Downtown Eastside is one of the few areas left
untouched.

1990s

A prolonged early-decade recession throws many people out of work
while contributing to a government debt crisis that leads to cuts in
health and social service spending. As drug- and poverty-related
problems fester, reaction will be slow due to conflicting ideas about
what to do, not to mention finger pointing and protests of "that's not
my jurisdiction" on the part of municipal, provincial and federal
governments.

Meanwhile, a baby boom within Canada's aboriginal populations reaches
maturity, and the exodus from rural reserves accelerates. A
disproportionate number, especially of those with substance-abuse
problems, land on the Downtown Eastside, where the bars serve as the
urban social centre that is otherwise lacking.

1992

Cheap, over-strength heroin results in a rash of overdose deaths.
Though authorities are not convinced that the number of drug users has
risen markedly, the public is becoming concerned.

1993

Woodward's closes and the once vibrant Hastings Street commercial
district begins its rapid decline.

The newly elected Liberals carry through on the Mulroney
Conservatives' plan to retreat from social housing.

1994

Cocaine -- usually injected or smoked -- becomes increasingly
available and begins to displace heroin as the drug of choice. Users
are far more active, visible and inclined to commit crimes to support
their habits.

1995

The Gove Report into the death of Matthew Vaudreuil in 1992 becomes a
public scandal, and the provincial government commits its social
services system to, above all, serving the needs of children and
families. Addiction-treatment services suffer.

1996

Welfare rates are reduced, significantly lowering the standard of
living in areas where many are dependent.

1998

Hundreds of drug trafficking cases are thrown out of the courts as the
justice system reaches a crisis point. Police complain that courts are
a revolving door. Court officials reply that, with jails overcrowded
and no treatment options available, their hands are tied.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake