Health committee  Absolutely. I would say that is really essential. Definitely with the hotels, as I mentioned, it's for about 5% of those in need, which includes those who are homeless and those who are really inadequately housed in poorly maintained SROs that are not providing the opportunity fo

Health committee  Sure. Regarding safe supply, absolutely, there have been calls for years for a safe supply since the overdose crisis began in 2016-17. As I mentioned, there have been about 1,000 deaths now, so it's really a horrifying crisis. Safe supply is a very essential way to address that.

Health committee  We can, in a number of ways. Early on there is peer deployment. I think peers are really effective and a good way to provide information. A lot of that was done through direct one-to-one information sharing and posters. Even prior to the pandemic we often saw that doing things by

Health committee  Sure. I would say that I absolutely agree a hundred per cent that there needs to be immediate, very aggressive and very assertive action around housing. Since the seventies, there's been a real dire shortage of housing and social housing being built and a shortage of funding to

Health committee  I'm sorry?

Health committee  What was the question? Wrap up. Yes. The hotels were offered to only about 5% of those in need. Including those who are homeless and those who are under-housed in SROs and other inadequate housing, the hotels offered addressed about 5% of the need.

Health committee  Thank you for inviting me to be a witness at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health. I would like to first acknowledge that I'm speaking to you from the unceded traditional territory of the Coast Salish peoples, including the territories of the Musqueam, the Squamish

Health committee  The last City of Vancouver homelessness count showed that there are over 1,200 homeless people in the Downtown Eastside, including 600 unsheltered, which is an undercount. In March, the City of Vancouver declared a homelessness emergency in the city of Vancouver. This is a popula

Health committee  This has added more homeless who used to shelter with friends and family. One estimate is as high as an additional 400 homeless due to no-guest policies. As well, shelters reduced capacity by up to 50%, meaning even more people in the street. Privately owned SROs are often poorl