VANCOUVER - He's only half way through a national tour examining homelessness in Canada, but a UN official says the truth about the issue is disturbing and far worse than statistics suggest.
Miloon Kothari arrived in what's commonly known as Canada's poorest postal code on Tuesday as part of his two-week trip through Canada as the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing.
He toured Vancouver's safe-injection facility and the First United Church in the Downtown Eastside, the beleaguered neighbourhood pockmarked with addicts scrounging on the sidewalks for drugs and dozens of agencies set up to help the homeless and working poor.
"Contrary to official statistics which appear to show that poverty is decreasing as is homelessness, the evidence on the street is quite the contrary,'' Kothari told a public hearing.
One woman was so overcome by Kothari's presence in Vancouver, she rose up from her walker to give the slight man a hug.
Sheila Baxter, a longtime anti-homelessness activist in British Columbia, said she felt that the UN's arrival in Vancouver means the world will finally pay attention to the growing scourge of homelessness.
"He wasn't a politician, he wasn't going to bullshit and say promises, promises,'' she said.
"I'm so proud that he came, I'm just in tears.''
Kothari spent the morning hearing passionate pleas from activists and people who themselves have been homeless about what impact the issue has had on their lives.
He's already been through Montreal, First Nations territories in Quebec and Alberta, Ottawa and Edmonton.
The federal government estimates that across the country around 150,000 people are homeless, but one independent study this year set the number at almost double that amount and suggested close to two million Canadians struggling with housing affordability issues.
Rose Henry spent a year living on the street, sleeping in cars and couch surfing while recovering from major surgery.
She told Kothari that she realized she was in danger of becoming a criminal because of being unable to find a place to live.
"I'm asking for you to investigate and help us out because we don't want to be labelled as criminals, we want to see tent cities legalized, if you cannot give us housing, give us a park,'' she said.
"Shelters are temporary Band-Aids, give us some homes.''
One man told Kothari said his sister was killed because of being homeless.
Robert Pickton is currently on trial for the murders of Mona Wilson and five other women, most of whom sold sex on the streets to feed their drug addictions.
In stepping up to the microphone on Tuesday, Jayson Fleury says his sister's death could have been avoided.
"Too many of our people are dying on these streets,'' Fleury said. "Society expects us to clean up your mess. I say this because discrimination is a lack of understanding that takes place when judging other people. And the answers are simple: dialogue, which creates honesty, respect and healing.''
Kothari said his mission through Canada was to explore housing issues through four lenses: homelessness, indigenous people's housing and land rights, the issue of affordability and land speculation and women's rights with respect to housing and land.
"I think there is a crisis across the world, I don't think Canada is immune from that,'' Kothari said.
He said in many countries, Canada included, more government intervention is needed, including policies governing what he called the ''housing continuum,'' which would allow people to make the transition from shelters to boarding houses to hostels and then finally to their own homes.
A spokesperson for Monte Solberg, minister of human resources and social development, said under the current government, federal spending on housing has never been higher.
"We're delivering on our commitment to helping Canadians have access to safe affordable housing by making direct investments to help people get back on their feet,'' the spokesperson said.
The Conservative government announced a Homelessness Partnering Strategy in 2006, committing $270 million over two years to finding ways to get more people into homes, including funding the creation of new and existing shelters.
But advocates say shelters are not a solution to the problem.
"A shelter is not a home,'' said Carol Romanow, who spent years working in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside before moving to Victoria where she became involved with a needle-exchange project.
"A home is a place where you use your own toilet. A home is place where you plug in your own kettle to make your own tea, to put your own coffee pot on. It does not exist in a shelter.''
The federal government also said that the cut they made to the GST is helping make homes more affordable.
According to the B.C. Real Estate Association, the average price of a house listed on the multiple listing service will hit $437,000 this year.
According to StatsCanada, the median family income in B.C. in 2005, the last year for which figures are available, is $58,500.
A recent report from the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership, suggested that homelessness costs Canada more than $4.35 billion 2006 GST tax cut and entire environmental plan on climate change.
The Alberta-based foundation says Canada spent more managing homelessness in 2007 than it did on international development or debt reduction.
Kothari was scheduled to spend the rest of the day touring the Downtown Eastside and was expected to meet with city and Olympic organizers on Wednesday.
He is set to deliver a report to the federal government next week.
