Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Degree

Master of Arts

Program

Kinesiology

Supervisor

Janice Forsyth

Abstract

This thesis examines how the 2010 Olympic Games contributed to the issue of homelessness in Vancouver. Specifically, this thesis: 1) investigates how local and provincial ordinances were exploited by landlords to displace tenants and used to mobilize spaces for Olympic consumption so that unwanted behaviours related to homelessness were criminalized, and 2) documents and analyzes the arguments put forward by advocacy groups that contested what was happening to low-income and homeless residents because of Olympic development. Throughout, I argue that homelessness was exacerbated in the lead-up to the Olympic Games in two ways. First, landlords and building owners who wanted to profit from the Games exploited loopholes in housing policies. As a result, many tenants experienced adverse treatment and displacement in the lead-up to the Games. Secondly, homelessness policies harmed the homeless because the policies often involved the forceful removal of the homeless from public view.

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