Ken Sim’s DTES plan is about displacing the poor to help his billionaire friends

*For immediate release*

Feb. 24, 2025

Ken Sim’s DTES plan is about displacing the poor to help his billionaire friends 

Vancouver BC – “Ken Sim and ABC’s secret plans for the Downtown Eastside have nothing to do with helping people, and everything to do with helping his billionaire real estate speculator backers make even more money,” said Sean Orr, COPE candidate for city council in the April 5th by-election. 

“They’ve been talking this way since the 1950s when it was called urban renewal and slum clearing, and I’ve seen it myself as a Gastown resident for the past two decades,” Orr added. “We’re fighting for the Right to the City — against this plan to accelerate the status quo of gentrification and displacement.”

The report, exposed by the Globe and Mail in an article published over the weekend, shows ABC considering the possibility of relocating the Indigenous population of the neighbourhood. 

“Ken Sim and ABC's leaked documents have exposed the systemic racism in ABC's decision-making,” said COPE co-chair Tanya Webking. “Sim's Project 2025 demonstrates that he has zero intentions of addressing the homelessness crisis in the DTES. He simply wants the erasure of Indigenous Peoples so that he can hand over a cheap land transfer to his many billionaire and developer friends.”

“Almost 40% of the residents of the DTES are Indigenous, and of those sleeping rough, 60% of them are Indigenous. Is this what a ‘City of Reconciliation’  looks like under ABC? We cannot let Sim ‘swagger’ like it's 1889,” added Webking. 

“Ken Sim’s plan to stop supportive housing and attack the DTES is cover for his real agenda: Finding new ways to give even more to his billionaire pals like Chip Wilson,” said Orr.

“On City Council, I will hold Sim’s feet to the fire and put the needs of people ahead of the greed of the billionaire class.”

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CONTACT:
sean@copevancouver.ca