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With forecasters saying this weekend’s warm weather could be a preview to one of the hottest summers on record, one Vancouver councillor is pushing for the city to reinstate a program that supported people who are vulnerable to heat.
OneCity Coun. Lucy Maloney is tabling a motion on Wednesday to bring back the recently discontinued cool kit program.
The kits, handed out to at-risk residents in the Downtown Eastside, included things like spray bottles, cooling towels, reusable water bottles, hats and gel packs.
“It’s a preventative program,” Maloney said Friday. “And if we’re just responding to an extreme heat event and we start scrambling to put together and distribute cooling kits, then it could be too late for some people.”
The councillor’s concerns were echoed by First United executive director Amanda Burrows.
Speaking with The Early Edition host Stephen Quinn on Friday, Burrows said the city’s vulnerable residents need more support, not less, when it comes to dealing with extreme heat.
“In this community, the first thing that comes to my mind is the heat dome of 2021. We can all remember where we were…. I was on the front lines with colleagues trying to keep people cool, and [I just really] fear that this summer is going to be even hotter,” she said.
The cool kit program began in 2022 in response to the heat dome. Burrows said she knows of many community members who accessed the kits. She said it’s “alarming” that the city is rolling the program back due to budget restrictions.
Members of the Powell Street Festival Society hand out popsicles in July 2023 to help residents in the Downtown Eastside stay cool. (Justine Boulin/CBC)
“We’re already coming together to try and procure items to build our own kits, to start to distribute,” she said.
“But what we’re starting to prepare for is going to happen more this summer. We have the weather reports. We know it’s going to be bad and we’ve got to have all hands on deck about this frontline work. We need more of this, not less of this support.”
When Environment and Climate Change Canada issues a heat-related warning, the City of Vancouver, according to its heat response plan, will “add services to help protect health and safety.”
These measures can include activating cooling centres with extended hours and providing additional outdoor cooling locations, such as water misters and irrigation systems.
Maloney’s Wednesday motion is also pushing for the city to extend cooling centre hours through the summer months.
A person cools off at a misting station outside of Uprising Breads in East Vancouver during the heat dome in June 2021. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
In a statement Saturday, the City of Vancouver said it prioritizes the safety of all residents, and has “assessed the most effective use of resources for heat mitigation during summer months.”
The city said it would improve access to water, misters and other cooling infrastructure as part of a plan to “maximize” its impact during hot weather.
“While the City is no longer directly distributing kits with personal household items through community organizations, the City will continue to provide robust information and practical guidance on preparing for hot weather, staying cool at home, and creating cool kits and DIY air cleaners.”
The city added that non-profits that offer cooling services are able to submit grant applications for funding.
Burrows warned that if extreme heat is not addressed properly, the ramifications for vulnerable people can be catastrophic.
“It’s not just heat related illnesses that can occur. Deaths can actually occur from this, as we saw from the heat dome.”