‘ENOUGH is ENOUGH’: Vancouver mayor pleads for Eby's help as downtown chaos and street disorder intensifies

PENTICTON — Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim has written Premier David Eby demanding the province immediately establish at least 100 involuntary care beds in the city, with the mayor saying the BC NDP's inaction has left Vancouver carrying the heaviest load of the province’s mental health, addiction and street disorder crises..In a letter posted to X, Sim told Eby the situation has reached a breaking point. “Enough is enough,” he wrote, attaching the three-page letter that calls for resources “in the form of, at a minimum, 100 involuntary care beds in Vancouver.”Sim reminded Eby of the premier’s September 15, 2025 announcement that the province was advancing involuntary care to tackle the mental health and addictions crisis. Nearly two years later, Vancouver has received none of the new beds, while facilities have been announced or placed in Maple Ridge, Prince George and Surrey..“This lack of action is increasingly difficult to explain to Vancouver residents, business owners, frontline workers and those who come to visit our city,” the letter states. Sim noted Vancouver accounts for roughly 25% of Metro Vancouver’s population yet holds about 78% of all supportive housing in the region.He criticized ongoing provincial decisions that, in his view, worsen the problem: the health minister’s push for a new drug injection site at 900 Helmcken Street and the housing minister’s failure to close single-room occupancy buildings in the Granville Entertainment District that he said remain a root cause of street disorder, despite earlier promises to act before summer.The city, Sim wrote, has already poured significant resources into the issue. It fully funded Vancouver Coastal Health-requested mental health workers, invested $5 million in the Granville Pedestrian Zone, spent another $5 million on Task Force Barrage targeting gangs and street disorder in the Downtown Eastside, and absorbs roughly $100 million annually in downloaded costs from provincial programs..“What we are seeing on the streets of Vancouver is not compassionate,” Sim wrote. “Leaving people in severe mental distress, deep addiction, and repeated crises to cycle between the street, emergency rooms, and brief interventions is not care. It is a system failure.”Videos documenting open drug use, public disturbances and mental health crises on Vancouver streets have become a near-daily occurrence on social media in recent months. .Many focus on Granville Street, a corridor that played a central role during the 2026 FIFA World Cup as a pedestrian entertainment zone packed with fans, patios and activations. Post-tournament, longtime business owners and residents have pointed to the return of visible disorder, often linking it to supportive housing and SRO buildings the province had pledged to address.One recent Global News report featured a Granville business owner describing the chaos that has reappeared and blaming provincial inaction on the SROs. .Separate clips circulating online show tourists reacting with shock to open drug use near major venues, with some comparing scenes to a dystopian apocalypse..Sim closed the letter by rejecting further studies or plans. “We don’t need another study. We don’t need another plan. We need meaningful action now. We need everyone, including you, to stand up for Vancouver and take action now.”He copied Health Minister Josie Osborne, Public Safety Minister Nina Krieger and all Vancouver MLAs.The letter continues a years-long pattern of municipal pressure on Victoria over involuntary care capacity, bail reform and the concentration of complex social challenges in Vancouver. Eby’s office had not issued a public response by Thursday evening.

‘ENOUGH is ENOUGH’: Vancouver mayor pleads for Eby's help as downtown chaos and street disorder intensifies

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