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“Under international human-rights law, if the City of Vancouver is non-compliant with international human-rights standards, that impugns the country as a whole, because it’s national-level governments that report back to the UN about their compliance,” Farha said. “So the feds have a real stake here, and I would think they want to show they are working with the city … I believe the national-level government understands there’s some role for them to play here, but I want to know what they think it is.”

Photo by Chris Roussakis / PNG

Canada’s Office of the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development sent an emailed statement Wednesday saying: “We empathize for those facing a shortage of safe and affordable housing in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.”

As part of Canada’s new homelessness strategy, Reaching Home, the federal government is investing $85 million in fighting homelessness in Greater Vancouver, the statement said. Details weren’t immediately available about how or where that money would be used.

In the weeks before the eviction notice was posted Monday at Oppenheimer, outreach workers from the city and B.C. Housing had been working with park residents, and had moved 35 people into social housing throughout Vancouver, B.C. Housing said. Between Monday morning and Tuesday afternoon, another 50 homeless Oppenheimer residents had accepted offers to move into social housing, according to an update from the city. B.C. Housing officials acknowledged Tuesday there might not be enough permanent homes for everyone in the park, and said they were looking to shelters for temporary housing.