Daphne Bramham: Housing crisis eating away at heart of Metro Vancouver

The Balmoral Hotel was a disgrace, a slum no better than those in some of the world’s most unlivable cities.
It was quite rightly described as “a human rights crime scene” by housing advocate Wendy Pedersen, while anti-poverty activist Jean Swanson noted that Vancouver’s homelessness problem is now “life-threatening.”
Yet even if the Balmoral’s owners, the city and other levels of government suddenly decided to make things right, all will not be well. Ev