A sad and tragic death at Tim Hortons
‘People now are on the front lines of homelessness who weren’t before’
DERRICK PENNER
The death of a homeless senior inside a Vancouver Tim Hortons illustrates how much 24-hour restaurant workers and ordinary citizens are increasingly finding themselves on the front line of homelessness.
Known only as Ted, the man was believed to be in his 70s, suffered from cancer and had nowhere else to go other than the all-night coffee shop at 856 West Broadway. He died in the early hours of May 31 before anyone noticed he was in distress.
“People now are on the front lines of homelessness who weren’t before,” said Jeremy Hunka, spokesman for the Union Gospel Mission. “This includes restaurant staff, it includes customers at the coffee shop.”
Retired Vancouver homeless advocate Judy Graves said the homeless have looked to 24-hour-restaurants for respite “for as far back as I can remember.”
“It’s just that more people are homeless now, there are more people with no place to go at night,” she said.
A 2017 Metro Vancouver report estimated that 21 per cent of the region’s homeless were seniors over age 55, compared with 18 per cent in 2014.
Graves said she had chatted with Ted previously, but didn’t get to know him well. He had worked all his life in “working-class” occupations, but his employment didn’t come with a pension, so upon retirement he relied on the basic federal government pension, Graves said.
Ted wasn’t always homeless, Graves said, but with changes in the housing market “it is not unusual for seniors to be displaced and have nowhere to go.”
Graves knew that Ted was also sick and receiving treatments for cancer at the B.C. Cancer Agency, just blocks from the Tim Hortons where he died.
She added that it highlights an urgent need for more housing that is affordable for seniors who rely on the Canada Pension Plan and Old-Age Security.
“We need enough that when somebody is at the cancer agency and the social worker suspects homelessness, they can refer them immediately to housing and not put them on a waiting list that is years long,” Graves said.
As for staff at the Tim Hortons, no one at the location would speak with Postmedia News on a visit Wednesday.
In a statement emailed by a PR firm, Tim Hortons’ head office offered that “we were saddened by (the situation),” and that “our restaurant owners and their teams have full discretion to take any steps necessary to help guests who require medical assistance, as was done in this case.”
Hunka said that he isn’t aware of another case in B.C. where someone died unnoticed in a 24-hour restaurant. However, he said it wouldn’t surprise him if other situations had gone unnoticed since people do regularly die on the streets.
“We know 70 people passed away who were homeless in 2015,” said Hunka.
“That’s the last data we have and we know it’s grossly under-reported, and the number has likely risen.”