Video raises questions about how homeless people are treated

SURREY (NEWS 1130) -It’s a video that’s raising questions about how we treat homeless people.

In a clip leaked to the Surrey Now newspaper by a fired former city worker, bylaw officers are seen removing a homeless person’s items from a private property.

The video shows a woman upset that a suitcase, which she says contains medication, is being taken from her in Whalley by bylaw officers.

“The video is deeply concerning,” says lawyer DJ Larkin with the PIVOT Legal Society. “It’s reflective of stories that we hear from our clients and things that I’ve witnessed in the past repeatedly. What’s being taken from her are her essential belongings, things like medication, clothing, personal items that she relies on on a day-to-day basis. That gives me quite a bit of concern that this type of activity doesn’t meet constitutional standards, because taking away those essential belongings really does put someone’s safety at risk, and their health at risk.”

But the City of Surrey says after the video ends, the woman’s personal items were returned to her.

“That video’s from November of last year,” says Jas Rehal, Surrey’s manager of bylaw enforcement and licensing, who says the woman was asked to remove her things from the privately owned property four days before bylaw officers arrived. “The main part missing in the video is at the end of the video, is when officers are working with the woman to give her back her belongings.”

Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner says her city is trying to improve the situation by creating storage spaces for homeless people, in collaboration with other organizations.

“We’re working with Lookout, which is shelter housing in that area, to provide lockers which people can utilise for their worldly goods, so they can get the help they need,” says Hepner. “Oftentimes, what we find is that, even to attend some medical appointments to get them the help they need, they’re reticent to leave their goods.

“If we can provide some locker space and make that a little bit more easy, then maybe they can get the help they need and some of the housing support that are badly needed in the city, not only in Surrey but elsewhere in the region. We need more shelter housing.”