Overview (24 minutes)
Excepts from individual video interviews encapsulate details of this specific municipal project and provides some context on how the issue is perceived by some of the key political players.

Reverend Al Tysick
Interview with the executive director of Our Place, (919 Pandora Ave.) a drop-in centre that opened in 2009.

Deputy Chief Constable John Ducker – VicPD
Deputy Chief John Ducker of the Victoria Police spoke to B Channel News about some of the policing issues on the 900 Pandora block, and the VicPD’s involvement in the Good Neighbours Agreement.

Garry Darrah – Manager Park Planning and Design
Garry Darrah is the manager of Park planning and design at the City of Victoria. In this video he explains the redesign of the boulevard portion of the 900 Pandora block, and provides some context into how plans for this project were arrived at.

John Luton – Victoria City Council
Councillor John Luton of the City of Victoria discusses the city’s decision to fund a $250,000 request from the Park’s Department for the beautification project, and provides some insight into the City of Victoria’s response to homelessness.

Chief Constable Jamie Graham, VicPD
The City of Victoria’s Police Chiefs answers a question about a ticketing on the 900 Pandora Block, explaining how enforcement initiatives are used to respond to violations of the bylaw prohibiting daytime sleeping.

Charlayne Thornton-Joe – Victoria City Council
Councillor Charlayne Thornton-Joe is Victoria City Council’s liason for the North-Park/Harris Green area, which includes the 900 block of Pandora. In this interview she talks about homelessness, the beautification project and the Assistance to Shelter Act.

Brenda McBain – City Spaces Consulting
Brenda McBain of City Spaces Consulting was hired by the City of Victoria to create a Good Neighbours Agreement on the 900 Pandora block. She provides some context into how the Good Neighbour group and the beautification project.

Derrick Allen – Fotoprint
Derrick Allen is a business owner on the 900 block of Pandora Ave.

Good Neighbours Agreement Signing
B Channel News attended the signing of the Good Neighbours Agreement for the 900 block of Pandora Ave, and heard from some of the people involved in this process.

Cst. Mike Massine – VicPD
Constable Mike Massine, with the Victoria Police Department, spoke to B Channel News about a report issued in late July 2010 discussing the call statistics for the area surrounding the 900 Block of Pandora.

The Beautification of Pandora Green

A Special B Channel News Report

Reporting by Lisa Nickol.
Videography by Andrew Ainsley.
Video Editing by Chris Johnson.

In April of 2009 the City of Victoria approved plans to develop and beautify the boulevard on the 900 block of Pandora Ave., between Quadra and Vancouver.

B Channel began coverage of the issue in June of 2009, interviewing city staff, business owners, and other people effected by or concerned with this project. We spoke with some that were consulted during the process and those that were not. The following video series and articles presents the experiences and the diverse opinions of those involved. Not a clear answer or detailed time-line, but a little closer look at the human element and the politics of one small project, on one small block, in one small city.

Plans for the area included added greenery, lights, brick path ways and an outdoor performance area outside the Conservatory of Music. The City allocated 250,000.00 to the project.

The .8 hectares of proposed site is situated between lanes of traffic, with social services on each side of the street. The strip of grass is a place to stay for some of the people accessing these services during the day, as well a place for some to sleep at night; between the legislated hours of 9PM-7AM. This area has been subject to a police ticketing campaign and the Victoria Police Department recently released a report indicating their highest call volumes come from this block. The most common reports are for unwanted persons and drugs.

When the city approved the funds to beautify the area for the community, it was framed as a response to the development of Our Place and a Good Neighbours Agreement, which they were also a signatory of. The partnership and the agreement were facilitated by a consultant hired by and paid for by the City. Other signatories included some of the service providers in the area (Our Place, the Ministry of Housing and Social Development and VIHA), the Victoria Conservatory of Music, St. Andrews School, People’s Pharmacy, the Downtown Neighbourhood Association, the North Park Neighbourhood Association and the Victoria Police Department.

The Agreement states that their vision is that, ‘all neighbours of the 900 block of Pandora Avenue including residents, businesses, seniors, children, students, social service agencies, schools, churches, and the street community, will be welcome and may enjoy comfort and safety in their neighbourhood’. That, ‘social issues are a community reality and a shared community responsibility’. But that the Agreement, ‘will not address the root causes (poverty, addictions, mental illness, homelessness), nor will it address some of the law enforcement challenges related to illegal activities’. The original letter included a request to exempt the area from overnight camping by-law; prohibiting it.

Out of the 25 people we spoke with, not a single one saw the beautification as a solution to the social issues facing this community.

Though project plans began about three years ago, as of the summer of 2010, the City of Victoria has announced that the tenders received for this project all came in almost double the original quarter million budget. City staff is now left either to find ways to adapt the project, or seek more funding.

Cosmo Meens – Village Family Market
Cosmo Meens was a co-owner of Village Family Market, a short-lived business on the 900 Pandora block. Meens was a signer of the Good Neighbours Agreement at the time of this interview.

Alec Kerr – North Park Neighbourhood Association
Alec Kerr is president of the North Park Neighbourhood Association, which represents some of the residents and businesses near the 900 Pandora block. The NPNA were one of the founding members of the Good Neighbours group.

Rev. Harold Munn – St. John The Divine
Reverend Harold Munn is the rector of St. John the Divine, an Anglican Church located a block north of the 900 Pandora Block. Rev. Munn talks about the work his church does with the homeless community.

Fox – Our Place Patron
B Channel News spoke to Fox, a patron at Our Place, about what he has witnessed happening on and around the 900 block of Pandora Ave., and his thoughts on the beautification project.

Marilyn – Our Place Volunteer
B Channel News spoke to Marilyn, a volunteer at Our Place, in the courtyard of Our Place about what she has witnessed happening on the boulevard in front of the facility.

Committee to End Homelessness
Rose Henry and Phil Lyons are members of the Committee to End Homelessness, a grassroots group of poor, homeless and housed people who advocate for the rights of the poor and homeless. They spoke to B Channel News about the Beautification Project during a picnic on the Green.

Chloe – Food Not Bombs
Food Not Bombs is a collectively run volunteer organization that hosts a weekly free meal and advocates an end to militarism. The Victoria chapter, which has been operating for 16 years, has been gathering at Pandora and Vancouver every Sunday for over 6 years.