Is Task Force Barrage undermining OPS?

Good morning,

It’s Dustin writing your newsletter today. It’s been a minute, but I’m back to cover some gaps this spring and summer — and it’s good to be back! I’ve always appreciated writing the Lookout. It forces me to go through all the local news sites and check out what’s happening in this city.

Otherwise, it can be easy to rely on social media, friends, and (of course) Nate or Geoff doing good work on this newsletter. Going through writing these newsletters is like a snapshot of the current moment in news. You get to see what all the different news outlets are focusing on — and how each is approaching a given news item in its own way.

It’s an interesting experience, and it lends a different kind of appreciation for how the news sausage is made.

In any case, you can expect to see me writing the newsletter here and there over the next few months!

Today, we’ve got a look at the week of news about Task Force Barrage, including allegations police are undermining overdose prevention sites and questions about how the initiative got funding.

— Dustin Godfrey, freelancer

PS - If you find this newsletter valuable, please consider forwarding it to your friends. New to the Lookout? Sign-up for free. 

WEATHER

Monday: 15 🌡️ 10 | ⛅️

Tuesday: 17 🌡️ 9 | 🌤️

Wednesday: 16 🌡️ 10 | 🌤️

THE LOOKOUT RECOMMENDATIONS

What to eat: I visited Nero Tondo at 1879 Powell St., a three-month-old spot in East Vancouver. No set menu, 90 per cent of ingredients from BC, an entirely BC drink and cocktail menu, and two chefs who love to have a good time? This may be my new favourite spot in the city (full review coming soon).

What to see: The Vancouver Art Gallery is showcasing Riopelle: Crossroads in Time all summer long. I visited a few months ago and the exhibit is a kaleidoscope of paintings and sculpture, showing Canadian Jean Paul Riopelle’s skills in multiple media.

What to watch: Arguably one of the greatest movies ever made, Bicycle Thieves is on at VIFF on May 18 and 20. It’s the perfect example of Italian neo-realism focused on working-class people, without stars. It’s a must-watch for anyone interested in film history.

The big story: I’ll let Dustin go through the story in detail, but the long-gestating Safeway development at Commercial-Broadway station is potentially nearing a conclusion. More on that below.

What to do: Tea fans should check out the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden’s Tea Festival on May 17 from 10 am-5 pm. With tea, live music and artisan vendors, it’ll be a calming experience that families and just about anyone will enjoy.

— Curated by Geoff Sharpe, Lookout managing editor

DTES

Is Task Force Barrage undermining OPS?

The VPD’s controversial Task Force Barrage initiative came under scrutiny last week, as community groups claimed police were parking vehicles outside overdose prevention sites, deterring people from using the life-saving services, and as questions were raised about how the group was funded.

• The mayor dodged questions by CTV on Wednesday over how the $5 million in funding for the initiative was approved, as the announcement came after the 2025 budget was finalized, and never went before the board for discussion.

Background: Task Force Barrage was announced in mid-February this year, with Mayor Ken Sim saying in a press release that the “status quo isn’t working” and that “organized crime, drug trafficking and repeat offenders are preying on the most vulnerable, while everyday Vancouverites continue to see the impacts of crime.”

From the outset, community organizations in the Downtown Eastside have spoken out against Task Force Barrage, saying true solutions for the DTES need to come from the community — and don’t include more policing.

Questionable funding: The Vancouver Police Board is required under the Police Act to approve police budgets, and changes must be submitted to city council by March 1 there has been no public documentation the initiative was ever proposed to or approved by the board.

The only publicly available funding request for the task force is retrospective — a first quarter budget variance report to the board seeking an additional $7 million includes the related $5 million in overtime costs. Asked whether the board knew about the initiative prior to its announcement, Sim told CTV he “can’t comment on what people did and didn’t know,” despite the fact that he is a member of the board.

• Although the variance report described the task force as a joint effort by the VPD and city council, Green Coun. Pete Fry told CTV earlier this month that council has never approved those costs. And former board member Faye Wightman told CTV she believed Sim “would like to think that he’s running the VPD out of his office.”

Police budgeting: It isn’t unusual for police to seek extra funding for unplanned overtime. In the second quarter of 2024, the VPD was over budget by nearly $11 million, citing in a variance report on overtime at protests and during the Stanley Cup finals. However, Wightman said this kind of initiative should have gone before decision-makers rather than being retroactively added to the budget with a variance, according to CTV.

“It’s certainly not following due process, and it’s certainly not following good governance,” she said.

Cop cars outside OPS: In a press release last week, Police Oversight With Evidence and Research (POWER) said police have “returned to parking and lingering” outside healthcare sites — in particular, harm reduction sites, “despite a longstanding agreement between VPD and Insite” that they wouldn’t do so.

• VPD spokesperson Sgt. Steve Addison told CBC he wasn’t aware of that agreement, but Pivot Legal Society staff lawyer Caitlin Shane said VPD confirmed the informal policy to not block access to OPS in emails to Pivot in 2022.

Why it matters: With more policing in the Downtown Eastside, VPD officers are “routinely teaming up in large groups to harass people living on the street,” POWER said, adding that it “has led to distress among DTES residents and service providers.” The latter group noted patrons often avoid harm reduction sites when police are around.

It isn’t just harm reduction sites — one doctor, whose identity was protected by POWER, is quoted in the news release saying a “massive chilling effect” occurs at the community clinics where they work in the DTES due to the heightened police presence.

What the VPD says: Addison called the claims a “ridiculous false narrative,” denying that a police car being parked outside harm reduction services would have such a chilling effect, according to the Tyee.

• “The notion that an unoccupied police car would deter someone from accessing one of these services is ignorant of reality,” Addison said. “It is not an enforcement priority to arrest people on the DTES who are living with drug addiction and it’s been that way for years.”

What the evidence says: Participants in one study confirmed police presence deters people from accessing harm reduction services.

“I don't trust them [cops] at all. And I do think that they are kind of preventing people from using in safe places,” a 25-year-old Indigenous woman told the study’s authors. “Sometimes they [cops] park their cars in front of Insite, and so nobody wants to be around there, right? So we're going into unsafe alleys and whatnot.”

Enforcement priorities: Despite Addison’s claims that arrest for personal possession is “not an enforcement priority,” Pivot Legal Society staff lawyer Caitlin Shane told The Tyee that the data would suggest otherwise. Numbers published by the province show drug possession offences dropped significantly with the onset of decriminalization before nearly tripling after the province effectively ended the initiative.

‘A whack-a-mole game’: Although some local residents told Global News they feel safer since the launch of Task Force Barrage, the Hastings Crossing Business Improvement Association noted it appears to simply be pushing disorder into other neighbourhoods, describing it as “a whack-a-mole game.”

• “We have seen some positive results in the core areas, but we are seeing some of the issues just spreading throughout the city,” the BIA’s executive, Landon Hoyt, told Global, adding he’s heard from neighbouring BIAs that they are experiencing heightened street disorder.

Not the first controversy: Late last month, a whistleblower’s complaint to the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner went public, calling the initiative a “politically motivated crackdown” and claiming officers were given arrest quotas to meet — a charge that former chief Adam Palmer denied, according to The Canadian Press.

VANCOUVER NUMBERS

✈️ 73,070: Vancouver’s airport saw this many more passengers — for a total of 2.9 million — travelling domestically, an early indicator that we’re seeing a surge in domestic tourism as Canadians abandon US travel. [Vancouver Sun]

🏚️ 31: Real estate marketing firm Rennie is laying off this many employees — just over a quarter of its staff — amid a challenging real estate market, with president Greg Zayadi saying the company is “reimagining how we work.” [Global News]

DEVELOPMENT

The proposed Safeway highrises are going to public hearing this week

After four failed attempts, will the Safeway site rezoning be a safe bet with the existing city council?

The proposal was first submitted in 2019, before getting redos in 2020, 2021 and 2023, according to Daily Hive.

• Now, the controversial development proposal adjacent to the Commercial-Broadway SkyTrain station will face a tough test Thursday, as it is slated to go into a public hearing.

What’s being proposed: The latest plan, like the past applications, involves three towers — only this time, it includes more units and density than in previous iterations, with 1,044 purpose-built rental units, including 104 at some degree of below-market rents, according to a report to council.

The towers are now proposed to reach 44, 38 and 37 storeys in height, up from the 39, 36 and 35 storeys previously proposed, according to Daily Hive.

Rates and amenities: The 104 units being rented at below-market rates wouldn’t count as “below-market rental” in the city’s housing targets. That’s because the units will be rented at the city-wide average rents as recorded by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The city’s targets require rental prices 10% below the CMHC averages to count as below-market housing, according to the city staff report.

• The proposal also includes 37 childcare spaces; a public plaza; and a retail podium, including a grocery store. The childcare facility is valued at $8 million, with the city staff report saying no other Community Amenity Contributions (CACs) — fees paid by developers to build amenities — are expected, “due to the relatively high density” of the buildings and other costs.

Written submissions: The proposal is likely to see significant debate at the public hearing, with CBC noting it could last days. Already there have been 278 written submissions, which is higher than normal. They include 146 supporting, 124 opposed and eight categorized as “other.”

Those in favour say there needs to be more density around SkyTrain stations, with one commenter calling it “a no brainer.” Proponents invoke the housing crisis, saying there is a shortage of housing, and the towers would help to address that shortage — without displacing tenants, as in other proposals particularly in the Broadway Plan area.

Those opposed: Zakir Suleman told CBC in April that the developers “stand to make a significant profit” and “should be paying their fair share back,” which could be through CACs, but the current proposal “doesn’t build affordability in the neighbourhood; it barely builds community amenities.”

His comments were echoed in the dozens who wrote in to oppose the project, with commenters citing the lack of affordable units, as the only affordability measure being to have 10% of the units be rented at city-wide average rates.

THE AGENDA

🚢 The BC and federal governments are in favour of dredging the Burrard Inlet to allow tankers to fully fill up with oil from the Trans Mountain terminal in Burnaby to international markets — currently, filling with too much oil could cause a ship to hit the bottom of the inlet. However, environmental groups and First Nations are concerned the move could stir up more solids in the water, harming marine life in the area. [The Canadian Press]

👶 As Canada celebrated Mother’s Day yesterday, Laura Spencer, whose six-year-old was conceived using IVF, says provincial funding puts BC “on the right path,” but “there are still so many unanswered questions.” Mother’s Day was always hard for Spencer before her son came along. [Vancouver Sun]

🚨 A 21-year-old has been arrested and charged with two separate homicides in Vancouver and Surrey. In March 2023, 22-year-old Caleb Morin was fatally stabbed at a home on Boundary Road near East 45th Avenue. Ten months earlier, 18-year-old Maanav Kinkar was found dead in Hazelnut Meadows Park in Surrey. The two homicides are not believed to be related. [Global News]

🧑‍⚖️ The Canadian Bar Association’s BC branch says it is “deeply concerned” by Premier David Eby’s comments in legislature about the Lapu-Lapu Day tragedy. “In my opinion, he is a murderer. He should spend the rest of his life in custody,” Eby said, spurring the Bar Association to pen an open letter accusing Eby of “ignoring the presumption of innocence,” giving “permission for others to do the same.” [Global News]

⚽️ Vancouver soccer teams were in sync Sunday, with both the Northern Super League’s Vancouver Rise FC and Major League Soccer’s Vancouver Whitecaps coming from behind to finish in a tie. Rise player Jessica De Filippo scored nearly five minutes into extra time to tie the game 1-1 after an 85th-minute goal from Toronto. And Whitecaps player Brian White scored twice to tie the game 2-2, after beginning the game with an early two-goal deficit. [The Canadian Press]

VANCOUVER JOBS

Discover your new dream job in Vancouver:

• Conveyancer, Avisa Group

• Scientific content writer (remote), Supreme Optimization

• Marketing & communications coordinator, BC & Alberta Guide Dogs

• Paralegal/legal assistant, Preszler Law Firm LLP

EVENT GUIDE

Bad Drag | The Birdhouse | Saturday, 7 pm | The cheapest, stupidest and silliest drag show East Van has to offer | Tickets $8

Cheap and Cheerful | Birdhouse | Saturday, 10 pm | A cheap night? In this economy?? Birdhouse is on it with this queer dance party | Tickets $10

Seeds of Resistance | Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre | Thursday, 6 pm | An interdisciplinary tribute to Rosario Castellanos, one of Mexico’s most influential writers, poets and intellectuals | Tickets $23 and up

2025 Vancouver All British Car Show | VanDusen Garden | Saturday, 10 am to 4:30 pm | A day of classic British cars, featuring models from 1910 to modern day | Tickets $26

2025 Garden Tea Festival: Tea For All | Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden | Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm | Bringing together tea vendors, tea professionals and tea lovers from different cultures together to share their joy of tea | Tickets $14

Indie Sleaze Dance Party | May 24, 10 pm | The Birdhouse | Serving millennial nostalgia all night long | Tickets $11

Spring Strings | May 25, noon or 4:30 pm | VanDusen Botanical Garden | A contemporary cello concert in a fecund spring setting | Tickets $32 

Sophia's Forest | May 29 - June 1, 2025 | Studio T at SFU Woodwards | A chamber opera exploring the inner life of an immigrant girl | Tickets $55+

VANCOUVER QUIZ

GOOD NEWS MONDAY

Start your day off with some good news:

Little Patch is a grey whale who has been showing off for Metro Vancouver residents in recent weeks. It’s not often you’ll see a grey whale close to the shore, but Little Patch has been close enough that one observer could hear it breathing as it surfaced. That observer, Cari Siebrits, a wildlife photographer, described the experience as “being a kid at Christmas.”

“Everyone was just so captivated and mesmerized by him, watching him slowly feed and move and surface and disappear and reappear,” she said. [The Canadian Press]

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• The DTES community and others memorialized a local “inspiration.” [Global]

• The Vancouver Art Gallery could be joined by a performing arts complex to create a “cultural precinct.” [Vancouver Sun]

• Cordova’s becoming a two-way street. [CTV]

• A Filipino-owned dance studio is showing up for its community. [Vancouver Sun]