Throughout February, volunteers with the Stop Demovictions Burnaby Campaign conducted a social impact survey on the square block at Dunblane and Imperial just east of Metrotown where over two hundred apartment units have been or will be soon demolished. Volunteers went door knocking and filling surveys about the impact of evictions and demolitions on a particularly hard-hit group of Metrotown residents. Our survey concentrated on a group of renters on the full block north of Dunblane and Imperial. City council has already approved the rezoning of nearly every single building of the more than a dozen apartment buildings on this square block. And now they are drafting a new plan for all of Metrotown that will subject every block to the same fate as Dunblane: total demoviction.
In these surveys we found people saying that demovictions are disorienting, violent forces in their lives: communities are being displaced, people are being pushed out of Burnaby, residents feel stressed and unable to cope, and their future is unknown.
This Monday May 16th, the Stop Demovictions Burnaby Campaign will officially release our Dunblane Demovictions report with two major events:
1) Media Dunblane Demovictions Tour
Monday May 16th, 11am
Beginning at the north-east corner of Dunblane and Imperial
Rather than a traditional news conference, we will launch our report to the media with a tour of Dunblane demoviction sites. Our tour will visit sites scheduled to be demolished soon, and those that have been evicted and demolished this spring. Speakers will include residents who are being displaced by demoviction. Copies of the report will be available for media and all those who come on the tour.
2) Stop Demovictions rally and report to City Council
Monday May 16th, 6:30pm
Burnaby City Hall
(4949 Canada Way, Burnaby)
Starting just after 7pm, the Stop Demovictions Burnaby Campaign is scheduled to present our report to Burnaby City Council in council chambers. Join us to support the presenters and make it clear that we will fight for the recommendations of this report, beginning with an immediate moratorium on demolitions of rental housing. We will rally outside at 6:30pm to hear from affected residents as speakers, and to gather our spirit of resistance and hope as we march into council chambers together, and onwards.
Paper copies of the report will be available at the rally and report to council, and an online report will be released Monday as well. Stay tuned!