The Homeless Emergency Action Team (HEAT) was announced on December 9, 2008 by Vancouver
Mayor Gregor Robertson to assist
Vancouver
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
's homeless citizens during an extremely cold winter.
["Robertson Vows To Get Homeless Sheltered Within 90 Days"](_blank)
''Vancouver Observer
''The Vancouver Observer'' is an independent online newspaper. The site was founded in 2006 by journalist Linda Solomon as an online platform for Vancouver bloggers, writers, reporters, photographers and filmmakers. Novelist Ruth Ozeki was invo ...
'', December 11, 2008. It created the controversial
HEAT Shelters.
["Mayor Robertson announces creation of Homeless Emergency Action Team"](_blank)
, '' Gregor Robertson press release'', December 9, 2008.
Composition
The team was chaired by former
Mayor Gregor Robertson, and was composed of elected officials and housing stakeholders.
Elected members
The three publicly elected members of the team were:
*
Mayor Gregor Robertson (Chair)
["Mayor announces team to fight homelessness"](_blank)
''Vancouver Courier
The ''Vancouver Courier'' was a Canadian semi-weekly local newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, by the Van-Net chain owned by Glacier Media Group. In 2007, it was Canada's largest distributed community newspaper, with a we ...
'', December 12, 2008.
*
Kerry Jang
Kerry Jang () is a Canadian politician and psychologist. He previously served as councillor on Vancouver, British Columbia's City Council between 2008 and 2018. From 2013, he also represented the city of Vancouver on the Greater Vancouver Regional ...
, Vancouver City Councillor (Council Liaison)
*
Raymond Louie
Raymond Louie (; born 16 January 1965) is a Canadian politician. He is a five-term Vancouver City Councillor. Formerly a member of Coalition of Progressive Electors civic party, Louie broke away and was re-elected in 2005, and again in 2008, 2 ...
, Vancouver City Councillor
Non-elected members
The non-elected members were:
* Janice Abbott – Executive Director, Atira Women's Resource Society
*
Jim Chu
Jim Chu, COM () is a former-Chief Constable of the Vancouver Police Department (VPD). On June 21, 2007, Chu was named as the successor of Chief Constable Jamie Graham. On January 23, 2015, it was announced Chu was planning to retire after a 36-y ...
– Chief,
Vancouver Police Department
The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) () is the police force in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several police departments within the Greater Vancouver, Metro Vancouver Area and is the second largest police force in the provinc ...
* Patricia Daly - Chief Medical Officer,
Vancouver Coastal Health Authority
* David Eby – Executive Director,
BC Civil Liberties Association
* Michael Flanigan – Director of Real Estate Services,
City of Vancouver
Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The Met ...
* Judy Graves – Outreach Coordinator, Housing Department, City of Vancouver
* Cameron Gray, Managing Director, Department of Social Development, City of Vancouver
* John MacKay – Strand Development Corporation, Board member of StreetoHome Foundation
* Shayne Ramsay, CEO,
BC Housing
* Patrick Stewart, Chair, Aboriginal Homelessness Steering Committee
References
Politics of Vancouver
Homelessness in Canada
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