G. Tenant Evictions/ Christ Church of China

Category: Sites from the 'Labour, Work and Working People' booklet

During the Depression, many families receiving relief (welfare) faced starvation and eviction because the government payments did not meet their basic needs. Groups such as the Workers' Unity League, Women's Labour League, and Housewives' League helped these families in their eviction struggles. In 1986, Great North told the Centennial Labour Committee how local citizens attempted to prevent the eviction of a Chinese family at this location in the 1930s: “The Chen family were evicted in spite of large-scale protest picketing. The sheriff and his crew attacked pickets when they attempted to move furniture back into the house, successfully at first.” A local resident Barbara Stewart, also remembered the 1930s: “Terrible things were happening. People were being evicted on the sidewalk, children and all. The whole gang of us would go and march everything back into the house. The sheriff would be there. It was bad enough with no food, let alone no shelter.” Vancouver rooming house operators seeking higher rents attempted to evict 300 tenants on one day alone in April 1933. The Lodging and Restaurant Keepers' Association also supported two general eviction of 150 families in 1933.