TOWARD A JUST METROPOLIS: From Crises to Possibilities

With the Winter Olympics coming to Vancouver in only a few weeks, a local action group - Pivot Legal Society - is hoping to direct some of the media attention and spotlight of the games towards the issue of homelessness in Vancouver and throughout Canada.  To do so, Pivot director John Richardson plans to strategically set up 500 bright red tents for the homeless throughout the city within the next week that will attract the notice of media and visitors. (The Supreme Court ofBritish Columbia ruled in 2008 that the homeless can camp in public parks).

"We want the media to experience the most liveable city in the worldand also see the contradiction -- that this is a city that has a chronic problem with poverty and homelessness," Richardson said. "We wantthem to ask, 'What is the Canadian government doing about this?'"

Read more about the Red Tent Campaign.