B.C. housing minister says Vancouver’s plan for Downtown Eastside could increase crime [Video]

B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon says Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim’s new plan for the Downtown Eastside will make the community less safe and lead to more homelessness.

Sim’s proposal, announced on Thursday, involves a halt on building new supportive housing in the city and what he calls a “crackdown” on gangs.

Kahlon said he supports a goal of increased safety, but criticized Sim’s plan on housing in the Downtown Eastside.

“If the goal is to increase safety, I’m all for it. We want to make sure that police and bylaw are working better together,” he said. 

WATCH | Housing minister questions Vancouver mayor’s Downtown Eastside plan: Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim has unveiled a controversial plan to revitalize the city’s Downtown Eastside, an area once described as Canada’s poorest postal code, that would halt the construction of net-new supportive housing units. Ravi Kahlon, B.C. minister of housing and municipal affairs, says …