Anti-poverty group accused of using rent subsidy money to pay its own costs
Darah Hansen
Sun
BC Housing has reached a deal in its lawsuit against the anti-poverty group, the Downtown Eastside Residents Association, the province confirmed Friday.
“As long as the parties abide by the terms of the agreement, no further court proceedings are anticipated,” an e-mail sent to The Sun from Housing Minister Rich Coleman’s office stated.
Details of the settlement are confidential, but former supporters say it likely spells the end to DERA as a housing provider for the poor.
“I don’t think they’ve done anything to deserve to continue on,” said Jim Green, a former Vancouver city councillor who led DERA in the 1980s.
A statement of claim filed in March in B.C. Supreme Court by BC Housing alleged a housing society run by DERA improperly used rent subsidy money provided by the provincial government to help pay for the group’s administrative costs.
BC Housing also alleged that the DERA Housing Society used provincial housing money to help cover the rent of ineligible tenants, including directors of DERA and its housing society.
Three government-owned social housing buildings run by DERA — Solheim Place on Union Street, Tellier Towers on East Hastings Street and Pendera Place on Pender Street — are now being managed by a court-appointed receiver.
“The appointment of the receiver will allow for proper day-to-day management of the three properties, and to ensure the safety and security of the tenants. It will also serve to protect the province’s investment in these subsidized housing assets,” the e-mail from Coleman’s office stated.
The province plans to issue a proposal call this summer to find nonprofit housing societies to manage the buildings in the long term.
Among the allegations listed, the statement of claim filed by BC Housing in March accused the DERA Housing Society of failing to pay $500,000 in property taxes and rents from the three housing towers.
No one from DERA returned phone calls from The Sun on Friday.
In its early years, DERA helped create a sense of community in the impoverished and drug-afflicted neighbourhood. It fought to close some of the worst beer parlours, lobbied for the creation of the Carnegie Centre, sought funding for social housing and organized demonstrations against city council, then dominated by the centre-right Non-Partisan Association.
Green said he was proud of the early work accomplished by the association. But, he added, “The organization was being turned into something that was the absolute opposite of what we started. I’m very sad that it still carries the name DERA.”
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