TES AHR eT. LLL te

On The
~ Eviction
Front

el AT ATARI

By EFFIE JONES

@* Monday, April 8, as

part of a delegation to-
the City Council, organized
by the Vancouver Housing
Associaion, I heard with

amazement Alderman Miller, _

at the end of the usual evas-
ive harangue regarding the
lack of a housing scheme,
state: “At least, we have
prevented people from be-
ing put out onto the street.’

The incorrectness of this state-
ment is well known to hun-
-dreds of citizens. During the past
winter months they have watch-
ed with an ever increasing feel-
ing of indignation the eviction
of many decent Vancouver fam-
ilies; through no fault of their
own, but, rather, because those
Same non-partisan aldermen and
their predecessors in office have
adopted short-sighted policies in
years gone by, and did not ac-
cept the responsibilities of of-
fice with the same seriousness
and alacrity that they accepted
their Salaries, and the yoke of
allegiance to their real estate
sponsors.

Ss.

The Chen case, dismissed with
Such heartless flippancy by Gor-
don Wismer, Rolston and Go., is
mot dead. More and more people
are becoming interested as they
are made aware of the fact
that signed statements by Mr.
A. Hagegart, City Building In-
Spector, and Mr: B. A. Rogers,
Chief Sanitary Inspector, were
8iven recently to prove that 540
Gore Avenue was not condemn-
€d in any way, and on that one
assumption alone the judge bas—
€d his decisicn. The records of
the city prove that injustice has
been done to the Chen family.

The enquiry into the conduct
of the late sheriff and his un-
worthy helpers by Mr. Percy
White, which was instigated by

May Day
Greetings

SHIPYARD
GENERAL WORKERS
FEDERATION

—MAINTAIN B.C.
SHIPBUILDING INDUSTRY

—CANADIAN-MADE SHIPS
FOR CANADIAN-MADE
PRODUCTS

PACIFIC PRIBUNE — PAGE 14

the late Attorney General at the
request of the City Council,
proved a political whitewash.
However, proof of the truth of
the accusations of those who
Signed the petition which mov-
ed the City Council to action
Can be seen by any who care to
examine the works of art, the
furniture and other effects of
the Chen family. This week too,
the City Police furnished evi-
dence that the late Sheriff and
his deputies had more than ade
quate protection during the

* eviction.

Onto a snowy street in Janu-
ary the furniture of Mrs. Jessie
Pogue, the widow of a merchant
Seaman and the mother of Pte.
C. Pogue, was evicted. At the
Same time, Sam Gurney, an old
age pensioner and his wife,
Shared the same treatment.

Answering the desperate ap-
peal of Pte. Pogue, home on
compassionate leave to visit his
Sick mother, for help to move
the furniture back, dozens of
indignant citizens worked with.
willing hands. Now these fam-
ilies have been informed that
they are to be @gain evicted on
April 20 from this slum dwell-
ing. Vancouver citizens will be
able to see for themselves the
incorrectness of the statement
of this non-partisan alderman.

The threatened eviction from
@2 small rooming house of a
miner in an advanced stage of
Silicosis and his wife, did not
materialize pbecause after con-
Sultation between the Tenants’
and Homeowners’ Hxecutive and
the potential evictees it was con-
sidered inadvisable due to the
state of health of the husband.
After putting up a brave fight
for ten days, husband and wife
bowed their heads to the inevit-
able, sold their furniture for
what they could get, to an auc-
tioneer, lost their rooming house
business, for which they had
@iven their life Savings, $1,800.00
two years ago, and went away
to a shack in the country. All
this because the judge decided
that the owner (who was well
and comfortably housed) needed
the house more than they did!

e@

On March 27th the deserted
wife of a Canadian soldier and
her three children aged 13, 11
and 9 years, respectively, were
evicted onto the street at 2276
East 44th Avenue. Following the
usual ethics of the sheriff’s of-
fice, the eviction was Started by
the deputies during the absence
of the mother,
through the basement entrance,
as other doors were locked.

Neighbors rushed to the busi-
ness district to find the tenant
who almost collapsed when told.
Had advance enquiries been
made by those responsible, they
would have found that, if the

uncivilized’ job had been delayed .

for one day, the tenant would
have been able to go into an-
other suite. As it Was, neighbors

sneaking in‘

EFFIE. JONES
President, Tenants and Home-
Owner’ League, Vancouver.

accommodated the family and
furniture was stored for the
night in various nearby base-
ments. 3

The authorities were Pparticu-

larly callous in their conduct of
the eviction of Mrs. Bertha Du-

puis and her sub-normal son
from 173 West 6th Avenue. In
this case the Federal “freeze”

Was proved a farce when up
against the dictates of the out-
moded “Landlord and Tenant”
Act, by an astute lawyer and a

provincial minded judge.

Mrs. Bertha Dupuis, a pioneer
citizen of Vancouver, and a wi-
dow, fell Toughly 22 days behind
in her rent last June, whilst the
law allows only fifteen days
lapse. The back rent and rent
for the month ahead was tend-
ed to the landlord by Post Office
order. However, Mrs. Dupuis, her
son and roomers were evicted
onto the street, and her furni-
ture remained there, at the
mercy of the children of the
district and the weather, until
dusk when an officer of the
League requested the City Po-

lice to provide storage for it. ;

Meanwhile all efforts proved
fruitless to find shelter for Mrs.
Dupuis by the Emergency Shel-
ter Administration. However, a
kindly friend, mother of eight

children, came forward and of-
fered this, after every effort had
been made by executive officers
of the League to find shelter.

In March a delegation of Tea-
gue members and Trade Union-
ists waited upon the late At-
torney General in Parliament
Buildings, asking him to revise
and bring up to date, to enable
it to meet the conditions preya-
lent in 1946 the old Landlord -
and Tenant Act. However, he
informed the delegation that no
revision was contemplated as it
was a “Federal” Act and out of
his jurisdiction.

This subterfuge, however, did
not delude the delegation who
were well aware that it was 2
Provincial Act and under juris-
diction of Provincial Authori-
ties.

@

Experience has proved that
the local daily press is loath
to give publicity to any truth
which will reflect adversely
against the work of cur non-
partisan aldermen and our
Coalition governments. Readers
should understand that free
dom of the press does not by
any means signify freedom for
all sides as for example in
one instance where our local
press gave full Coverage to the
findings of the White Com-
mission, but could not find
Space for the opinion ef hun-
dreds of citizens who saw be-
hind the Political whitewash,
and are not afraid to expreéss
the truth. The profits of big
real estate firms derived from
Vancouver slums muzzies the
“freedom of the daily press,”
which cannot afford to offend
these back Page advertisers.

And in conclusion, what can
the League do in the future to
prevent eviction and increase
“housing”? Under regulations in
effect at Present, eviction is ord-
ered for non-payment of rent or
for being an obnoxious tenant.
*And this word “obnoxious” can
be and is stretched to cover any
ordinary habit of daily life of
a tenant whom a landlord de-
Sires to evict.

The League has petitioned Mr.
Donald Gordon, WPTB, Ottawa,
to appoint a legal adviser to
each local board to investigate
the “obnoxious” complaint be-

May Day Greetings to P.T.
from

Chinese
LPP, CLUE

May Day Greetings
from

Sea & Shore

LPP. CLUB

May Day Greetings to P.T.
from

Ginger Goodwin
LPP. CLUB

fore 2 landlord is allowed to
bring a tenant before Rentals
Court on this charge. The Tea~
Sue is of the opinion that this
action would materially reduce
eviction as at present Many ten-
ants are hauled into court on
flimsy pretexts.

Realizing that the govern-
mental authorities are the main
bottlenecks to increased housing,
we propose to start immediately
te work to evict all non-partisan
aldermen back to their reali
estate firms in December. Tet
us put good politics (Gyhich
means good policies for. the
Homeowners and small business
people) back into our City Hall
for the first time in its history.

Towards this end the Ten
ants’ and Homeowners’ League
will in future use its monthly
Public meeting, held the first
Thursday of each month in the

Hastings Auditorium, 828 East
Hastings Street at 8:00 pm. as
an open forum to educate our
eitizenss on Civic and Provincial
and WFPederal problems as they
affect the ordinary people. At
the first forum, Thursday, May
2nd, John Stanton, lawyer and
barrister, will speak on “The
B.C. Electric Question,” a sub-
ject of vital importance to every.
citizen.

May Day Greetings to P.T.
from

Michel Natal

LPP. CLUB

CANADIAN
SEAMEN’‘S UNION
Extends

Greetings and Support
pee oe
Organized Labor

in their
Fight
for the

40-Hour Week

FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 1946