We have to demand the housing we need.

Sean Orr at Car Free Days on Commercial

What I learned from Woodsquat 20 Years Ago 

by Sean Orr, candidate for City Council

Twenty years ago on this day, housing activists began occupying the decade-long vacant Woodward’s department store on Hastings Street. The provincially-owned building became a flashpoint in the struggle for affordable housing, social justice, and Indigenous rights. At its height the occupation swelled to 300 hundred people, many in tents lined along Hastings and Abbott.

The actions kicked off on Sept. 12, 2002 became known as the Woodsquat - and they completely transformed the political discussion at the time in the city and the province. Then, like now, there was a housing crisis. Then, like now, people were living in tents on Hastings Street. But back in 2002, the fact of this bold direct action changed the way politicians and the public thought of the crisis - and who they blamed. The activists were successful in shaming the provincial and municipal authorities, and action was taken in response. 

Then, like now, it was a civic election year, and in 2002 the right-wing NPA was defeated as COPE swept to power, winning 8 of 10 council spots, with Larry Campbell becoming mayor. 

City council purchased the building from the province and would develop the site with 200 non-market units and 536 market units - an outcome that was far from the initial demands made in September 2002. 

Critics of the project pointed to the existence of “poor doors” that segregated the poor onto the Hastings Street side. It also kicked off a wave of displacement and gentrification in the area as at least 442 privately-owned SRO hotel rooms were lost and by 2015, rents in many of the surrounding SRO hotels have almost doubled, while shelter rates have remained frozen at $375. 

The Woodsquat was a formative experience for me, as I got to see firsthand the power of activism. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56UHhnT5lmI 

I was on welfare and living in a recovery centre called Central City Lodge a few blocks from Woodsquat. I remember the scorn heaped upon the campers by the media, particularly Jon Ferry and the Province. In one of my first forays into the political arena, I wrote back to Jon, calling his demonization of the poor stigmatising and dangerous. 

Vancouver has a long and proud tradition of housing activism. As a city councillor, I will honour this tradition and amplify the demands of grassroots groups. Woodsquat also showed that activists can’t rely on politicians, even progressive ones, to do what needs to be done. If I’m elected, I’ll use my seat to amplify the demands from the grassroots. Elections are just one tool for making change, and we need to elect people who won’t forget where they came from and where real power lies. 

The Woodsquat helped teach me about class struggle, and which side I’m on. The wealthy and the powerful know which side they’re on, and they never miss using the power of their vote. If renters, unhoused, and marginalized and precarious people vote this October, I’ll have a chance to occupy one seat at City Hall which we can use as a megaphone for movements.

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To arrange an interview with Sean Orr, please contact media@votesocialist.ca.