Former Vancouver mayor laments ‘normalcy’ of Downtown Eastside ‘despair’

By Canadian Press on March 31, 2026.

VANCOUVER — Former senator and Vancouver mayor Larry Campbell says he’s shocked at the “normalcy” of people stepping over others sprawled on the sidewalk in the city’s Downtown Eastside without anyone calling for help.

Campbell says he needs another six months to complete his work as a provincial adviser on how to help those in the troubled neighbourhood.

He was appointed by the provincial government in September, but Housing Minister Christine Boyle says his contract is being extended to continue working to “address systemic challenges” in the Downtown Eastside.

Campbell, who’s also the former chief coroner of B.C., says the first two months into the job caused him “despair” as he saw people unconscious on the sidewalk while passersby offered no help.

He says he thought it would take a couple of months to talk to people and liaise with organizations to gather information, but the number of service groups in the Downtown Eastside has grown “exponentially.”

Campbell says the issues he’s exploring, such as severe mental illness and addiction aren’t new, but the problem of brain damage suffered by addicts wasn’t something he had seen before fentanyl and other mixed chemical drugs were introduced into the illicit supply.

He says there’s a “fragmentation” of funding allocated to various support groups in the neighbourhood and he hopes that his report will spur “concrete” action on improving an area that has been rife with problems for decades.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2026

The Canadian Press