Security guards not guilty of discriminating against homeless downtown

February 08, 2012

The B.C. Human Rights Commission has dismissed allegations filed nearly four years ago that the security guards hired by the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association to patrol the business district have systematically discriminated against the homeless.

“They’ve indicated that there’s a lack of evidence to prove systemic discrimination,” said DVBIA executive director Charles Gauthier. “It’s what we’ve been saying all along.”

The complaint, filed by the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users and the Pivot Legal Society, alleged the Downtown Ambassadors, who are contracted from Genesis Security, were targeting homeless people by forcing them to move along, following and photographing them, and restricting them from certain places. Read more