The Downtown Eastside has proven to be a goldmine for Liz Evans and Mark Townsend and other povertarians at the Portland Hotel Society. The Portland operates Insite, part of the growing medical-industrial complex eroding civil liberties on the Downtown Eastside. They also operate housing and an art gallery, and were even considering opening a daycare. The Portland Society has been accused by the Courier newspaper of 'empire building'.
But at lunchtime on Friday, the Portland Society was tossing crumbs to the poor. People lined up to get a plate containing a burger and coleslaw. It was the annual Portland Hotel Society barbeque at Pigeon Park.
The Portland knows the free food scene on the Downtown Eastside, that some people in free food line ups come back for seconds or thirds. They avoided that problem by giving out tickets which people then exchanged for their plate of food.
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