During his response to the throne speech yesterday, Housing and Social Development minister Rich Coleman explained to the British Columbia legislature how he's dealt with foreign reporters' questions about homelessness and the housing crisis in Vancouver. Read more…

With federal and provincial governments failing to adequately address the housing crisis, a faith group in Victoria is raising money to subsidize rents. Read more…

Vancouver’s mayor brandished a Canadian flag and grinned like it was his birthday at a lunch-time pep rally for the 2010 Games. His smile didn’t sink an inch when asked about negative media depictions of the Downtown Eastside. Read more…

A new campaign that calls for a VANOC-like body to end homelessness has the support of mayor Gregor Robertson.

“Love them or hate them,” said Rev. Ric Matthews of the First United Church, “VANOC and the Olympic Games have proved to this city that we are capable of doing amazing things.” Read more…

Mayor Gregor Robertson wants to tighten the city's plan to end homelessness, and has called for a March homeless count to help the city track its progress -- or lack thereof.

"We need a homeless count specific to Vancouver, an annual progress report on homelessness with clear metrics, and a long-term plan that reflects the current economic climate," said Robertson, who was elected on a promise to end street homelessness by 2015. Read more…

Downtown Eastside residents say a new Olympic information centre about the neighborhood ignores the real problem: B.C. and Vancouver's enormous housing crisis. Read more…

The City of Victoria has bid on three Traveller's Inn motels that are on sale as part of bankruptcy proceedings. The intention is to “protect and create affordable small family housing and supported housing,” a city press release said this morning. Read more…

Vancouver’s ruling party won’t endorse a plan to give red tents to homeless people during the Olympics.

“We can’t support this campaign as its currently set out,” Vision councillor Kerry Jang told the Tyee Tuesday. “It’s primarily because of health and safety concerns.” Read more…

VANOC representatives were among the officials who opened a newly renovated Covenant House shelter for homeless youth yesterday.

“This investment provides a permanent housing legacy that will offer at-risk youth both shelter and support,” said VANOC vicepresident Donna Wilson. Read more…

Vancouver's next two HEAT shelters for the homeless will open before affected communities are fully consulted, said a city councillor. City staff remain in contact with direct stakeholders of two proposed sites in Kitsilano and the West End, which will open in less than two weeks, according to Coun. Kerry Jang. Read more…

Vancouver will reopen another temporary homeless shelter this week, and plans to open two more before the 2010 Winter Games begin. But officials conceded on Tuesday that the Terminal City continues to host hundreds more homeless Canadians than shelter beds. Read more…

British Columbia ombudperson Kim Carter has provided 10 recommendations to improve care for seniors in part one of her report on the sector, not all of which the government has accepted. Read more…

The City of Victoria has lost its appeal of a 2008 court ruling that struck down the city's anti-camping bylaws while the number of people who are homeless exceeds the number of available shelter beds.

“The court has made it clear they are going to take the rights of homeless people, the most marginalized people in the city, seriously,” said Catherine Boies Parker, a lawyer who along with Irene Faulkner represented a group of people who were forced out of a tent city set up in a city park in 2005. Read more…

The City of Vancouver is hunting for buildings in which to establish four or more temporary homeless shelters this winter.

"City staff are out looking at a number of sites right now," Councillor Kerry Jang told The Tyee. Read more…

Vancouver police officers won't use force to take homeless people to shelters during extreme weather, Police Chief Jim Chu said Monday. Read more…

Temperatures are forecast to plunge during the coming week, and the perceived right to sleep on B.C.'s streets could fall in lock step as the new Assistance to Shelter Act takes effect. Read more…

Neither the dire warnings nor the spectacular promises that come with hosting an Olympics can be proved, says a new study from the University of British Columbia - at least not until the gold medals have been handed out and the Games have moved on. Read more…

St. James Community Service Society opened a new emergency shelter yesterday for women in the Downtown Eastside.

“If we keep doing this we are going to beat homelessness,” said Housing Minister Rich Coleman. Read more…

Two shocking revelations from Western Australia this week, both involving Freddo frogs. A Freddo frog is a small, frog-shaped, foil-wrapped chocolate bar that has been standard fare in any Aussie kid’s sugar inventory for decades. As someone who grew up on them, and recalls learning the hard economic lesson of inflation when the price went from 3 to 5 cents per frog, I was startled to learn this week that Freddo frogs now price out at 70 cents apiece. That, and a million dollars, will get you a modest bungalow in the far northwestern town of Broome, where house prices have inflated to make even Vancouver seem almost affordable. Read more…

A set of community dialogues put on by a small Vancouver theatre group will give community members a chance to propose potential solutions to homelessness in the city, and actually have them heard by the people making housing policy. Read more…