The notorious Sahotas. Photos via The Globe and Mail’s BEN NELMS AND RAFAL GERSZAK
The Globe and Mail just published a piece of journalism that will hopefully win some awards if not just the attention of anyone who has a heart and is at all concerned about the most vulnerable citizens of our city.
Roughly 5,000 words in length, it's an in-depth feature about the Sahota family who you probably recognize from headlines over the decades. They've been noted as 'notorious' many times; 'notorious' for being 'slumlords' (which is also usually in quotations) as the people who have been calling them that are residents, politicians and activists.
They're known for running SROs which the downtrodden inhabit, and are constantly violating the basic rights of their tenants.
Nearly ten years ago, in 2008, The Tyee published a special report called "A City Soft on ‘Slumlords’" that pointed to the family who had then been operating for twenty years. Now in their third decade of providing sub-par housing to people in need, the Globe has renewed the call to - at the very least - regulate these extremely rich businesspeople and take them to task.
After doing a ton of digging they've laid out what these people have done, why they're still being allowed to do what they do, and what may lie ahead for them and our city.
The piece also offers hope about what might be happening on a governmental level, after years of inaction from multiple levels.
Written by Mike Hager and Wendy Stueck, it is a must-read for anyone who gives a shit in Vancouver. Read it now.
