B.C. failing most vulnerable amid toxic drug crisis, critics say: ‘It’s heart-wrenching’

published on March 24, 2025 by Kristen Robinson in Global News

The painful toll of the province’s homelessness crisis is on full display just steps away from the Law Courts in Vancouver, where a man has been hovering over a small steam grate on the sidewalk for weeks.

During Sunday’s pouring rain storm, the man was wrapped in soaking wet blankets while trying to stay warm atop the grate, which periodically vents steam on Nelson near Howe Streets in the city’s downtown core.

A broken walker could be seen nearby. When asked if he was OK, the man nodded ‘Yes.’

“It’s heart-wrenching,” said Dr. Paxton Bach, an addiction medicine specialist at St. Paul’s Hospital.

On March 12, Global News spotted the same individual in a sleeping bag, writhing over the grate as drivers and pedestrians passed by…