mikegraeme.bsky.social
white settler photojournalist (scottish/english/irish descent) learning to help dismantle colonialism, racism & heteropatriarchy | living as a guest on lək̓ʷəŋən land | photos in The Narwhal, The Nation, IndigiNews, The Tyee, National Observer
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A report released late last year showed that continuing to enforce #Victoria’s daytime sheltering ban would cost $4.7 million, due mostly to increased labour for bylaw and police officers.
#VicPD is currently seeking an $80-million annual budget—up $7 million from 2024—to finance new hires.
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"Why are we the ones who have our roofs torn off every day?" asked a displaced resident during the bylaw sweep.
It’s a question that cuts to the core of class divide. In a city with a housing market increasingly reserved for the wealthy, those with nothing are criminalized as they try to survive.
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“A ceasefire is simply the first step,” said Anas from #Palestine at the 67th march in #Victoria.
“Ceasefire, then lift the siege, then end the occupation, then free Palestine. As we said from week one, justice is the bare minimum.”
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In 2019, Shea cofounded The Homeless Idea podcast.
Gaarth Mullen, host of @crackdownpod.bsky.social, said Shea’s legacy will live on.
“Where once his strong voice crackled, we now hear radio silence. But the revolutionary never dies b/c we carry on his work. See you on the other side, brother.”
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In his final days, Shea called for housed people to stand with those who are unhoused.
“We need housed people out here with us fighting side by side with us,” he said, adding it makes bylaw “a lot less likely to do the things that they’ve been doing to us.”
#endhomelessness
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Shea was a lead plaintiff in a court case against Victoria’s policies targeting unhoused people. He died from an overdose in December.
Shea’s death could have been avoided were it not for bylaw’s intensifying displacement efforts, said harm reduction scholar Bernie Pauly.
#bcpoli
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You can watch the entirety of @backpackproject.bsky.social founder Niki Ottosen’s gripping speech at this link starting at 53:25:
pub-victoria.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx...
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Among the unhoused community members who died this week was housing justice advocate Shea Smith. Ottosen says his death, like many others, was not only preventable but systemically inflicted by policy, including the daytime sheltering ban, which attempt to conceal rather than fix the housing crisis.
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Over 1,600 residents of the #GreaterVictoria area are currently homeless, with hundreds living unsheltered.
Emergency and transitional shelters remain chronically full, a situation exacerbated a dire shortage of beds and the unrelenting housing affordability crisis.
#bcpoli
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The #HousingJustice demonstration follows a series of controversial actions by the #CityofVictoria, incl: ongoing dismantling of park encampments, strict prohibitions on overnight sheltering in most parks, the fencing off of Pandora’s 900-block, and closure of critical shelter spaces like Tiny Town.
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Thanks for taking the time to read it @michaeljohnlo.bsky.social!
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For more, read @brishti.bsky.social’s story in @filtermag.bsky.social
filtermag.org/unsanctioned...
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For more context see: breachmedia.ca/cbc-whitewas...
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www.thestar.com/news/insight...
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breachmedia.ca/cbc-the-nati...
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breachmedia.ca/cbc-palestin...
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breachmedia.ca/cbc-whitewas...
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The timeframe for the LNG project to show substantial progress expires Nov. 25 at which point regulators will decide whether the pipeline can proceed.