Pivot Legal Society Executive Director John Richardson smugly sits in front of his latest publicity stunt.
The Pivot Legal Society specifies its mandate as taking “a strategic approach to social change, using the law to address the root causes that undermine the quality of life of those most on the margins.”
And when employing the law as “a critical tool for social change,” encompassing:
- Legal education projects
- Strategic legal action
- Reforming laws
they can serve as a powerful agent of social change. A few examples include fighting for the rights of protesters around the Woodward’s building in 2002, participating in a Charter challenge on decriminalizing sex work in Canada, and advocating on behalf of keeping the InSite safe injection site open.
But where I have an issue with the tactics of the society is in their tendency to allow cheap publicity stunts to overtake the causes they are fighting for.
Their latest “Red Tent” campaign is a perfect example.
The initiative is little more than a way to exploit the homeless for attention in front of the world’s media.
The society’s Executive Director John Richardson admits as much in the above-linked article:
“We want the media to experience the most liveable city in the world and also see the contradiction — that this is a city that has a chronic problem with poverty and homelessness.”
How exactly do red tents (of course intimately branded with Pivot) help to raise the profile of such a contradiction?
Despite fear mongering to the contrary, hiding the homeless away is not a option that has any basis in reality. No politician, no law enforcement official and no social advocate can solve nor shield from public consumption. The homeless are unfortunately going to be a part of Vancouver that the world witnesses whether we like it or not.
The fundamental question boils down to what exactly these red tents are going to do towards solving the problem of homelessness. Is it going to shame the Conservatives into acting? I highly doubt it. If the Copenhagen experience has been any kind of indication, this is not the kind of government that bows to the weight of international pressure and/or scorn.
This cannot be about the provision of shelter out of concern for the 500 who are left on the streets even after the HEAT shelters have been opened (to full capacity I might add). Why do I suggest this? Because it would have been rolled out much earlier if that was the motivating factor.
There is no doubt that the federal government needs to do more. And, speaking out about such a troubling void in responsibility is something that I would expect Pivot and others to do as much as media will care to carry the story.
But using the homeless as props to get their point across and also raise profile (and subsequently donations) for the organization is something that I find sickening quite frankly. The sole purpose of the campaign is to leave a black eye on the city and in the process position their organization as global media darlings fighting the good fight.
Some might argue that this is social engineering at its most provocative and effective.
I call it cheap tactics that does little to nothing to improve the situation of the vulnerable that Pivot claims they are trying to help.
I am very shocked by this headline! It is so callous manipulative as a Vancouverite I can only hang my head in shame! We have people sleeping in the streets while others that walk by with access to things that most can only dream of. We now will will not only deny these people proper shelter, but giving them a tent is a “publicity stunt” . Shame Shame Shame
You’re right Jonathan, shaming politicians into doing anything is impossible.
Instead, I suggest PIVOT follow the money and shame shareholders of Olympic sponsors and partners like The Vancouver Sun, RBC, and HBC by camping out in front of their establishments with the red pup tents.
Vancouver’s homeless have been used as pawns by uncaring politicians and civic leaders for years, so if as you suggest this is just one more example it is worth it because it will shame Vancouverites on the world stage and remind them to vote for ethical leaders in the future.
No doubt Vancouver will look stupid and uncaring when the international news media and especially bloggers start to circulate in heavy rotation stories of our homeless, but it is too late to worry about optics.
The only other option would be to sweep the homeless under the rug and appease VANOC, but that would truly be heartless and cruel.
I would say that it is indeed a publicity stunt, but I would not say it is self-serving.
The homeless have been swept under the rug. Though VANOC and its government partners promised to begin tackling homelessness and the need for more social housing IMMEDIATELY (check the 2001 bid book’s Inner City Inclusive Commitment Statement), no construction of new units began until November 2009. So, we are left with shelters that will remain open until after the Paralympic Games end and then back out on the street they go, no longer under the carpet.
The numbers of visible homeless people has been markedly reduced by the opening of the seven HEAT shelters. I believe part of the reason Pivot has chosen this course of action is to show the world that Vancouver does have a homelessness crisis when the Olympic Games aren’t on and that it has yet to be dealt with.