VANDU's 'yuppie gazing tour' takes aim at Downtown Eastside walking events
Tour through Chinatown and Main Street examined neighbourhood's changes
"Yuppie gazing" tours organized by the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) were held this week in response to a neighbourhood walking event last week that was criticized as promoting poverty tourism.
Area tours organized by guide Jenn Potter of Socially Responsible Van took groups of people through the city's downtrodden neighbourhood.
Potter previously told CBC News that the tours were meant to promote social enterprise in the area, but VANDU board member Karen Ward said that's not the case.
"The bulk of the tour and what people are apparently actually looking for is walking the streets and gawking at people who are homeless," Ward said.
"Basically you're commodifying the experience of poverty and distress. It's certainly something that we felt the need to take some action against."
Yuppie gazing tour going on now in the downtown eastside. <a href="https://t.co/pbCBYgPkq8">pic.twitter.com/pbCBYgPkq8</a>
—@CCAPdtes'You're pushed along'
Ward said she has lived on the Downtown Eastside for a decade with disability payments that only cover $375 per month for rent. During that time, she has watched gentrification sweep through her neighbourhood, block by block.
"There's a couple [of businesses] that have opened up that cater to the higher-income community, selling ice cream cones for $6 and lunches for $15 and up — places that obviously exclude low-income people," she said.
"You're pushed along, either implicitly or explicitly, from those higher-income places."
Ward said about a dozen participants were guided through Chinatown and Main Street on Tuesday, ending up at the Carnegie Centre.
When onlookers took photos of the participants, Ward said, members of the group took photos of them in return.
"The idea for our members was to turn the conversation about the gaze, about looking at people, and thinking about how it feels when it's done to us without our consent."
She said most of the people the group encountered were supportive, with a few exceptions.
"Someone from one of the new buildings felt the need to give us the finger and yell at us as we were walking in our own neighbourhood," Ward said.
With files from Chantelle Bellrichard