This Day in History, 1986: Olaf Solheim's tragic death after being evicted for Expo 86 tourists

Olaf Solheim in his room in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside on March 26, 1986. Photo by Bill Keay /Vancouver Sun

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The 40th anniversary this summer of Expo 86 is sure to evoke lots of warm memories among British Columbians.

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But there was a tragic side as well — the eviction of poor people from SRO (single room occupancy) hotels so that their rooms could be rented for more money to tourists.

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Olaf Solheim was one of the first to be evicted in early March, 1986. The 88-year-old retired logger was kicked out of the Patricia Hotel at 403 East Hastings, where he had lived for over six decades, and it seemed to crush his will to live.

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“He lies on his bed, fully clothed, with a bedspread pulled over him for hours every day,” wrote The Vancouver Sun’s Bob Sarti in a March 27, 1986 story. “His hot lunch sits uneaten — and cold — on a table nearby.”

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Patricia Hotel manager Max Mitchele said his staff used to “fuss over” Solheim. But they were now too busy, getting ready for Expo.

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“We’re not a nursing home,” said Mitchele.

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Solheim had lived in the Patricia since he moved to B.C. from his native Norway.

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“I don’t know how long I lived there,” Solheim told Sarti. “I worked in the beer parlour when I was 26.”

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For decades, “Old Olaf” was a fixture in the Downtown Eastside. He had a chest-length white beard, liked to watch children play at Oppenheimer Park, and would go to the 44 Centre on East Cordova twice daily for low-cost meals. He often offered chocolates to the staff there.

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But his health quickly deteriorated after being evicted, and he died on April 18, 1986, six weeks after he was tossed out of the Patricia.

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“Honestly speaking, I don’t believe Olaf had the will to live anymore,” his friend Jim Harvey told Sarti for a Sun story. “After he was evicted, his equilibrium was upset. He couldn’t get himself back in the old groove.”

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Vancouver’s chief medical health officer John Blatherwick said Solheim’s death was directly attributable to his forced relocation.

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“The spark went out of him after the eviction, and he just said, ‘That’s it,’” Blatherick said. “This was a man whose way of life was completely disrupted. He was conscious of what he was doing. He just stopped living.”

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In a news release, then-B.C.’s Human Resources Minister Jim Nielsen said that while Solheim’s death was regrettable, you couldn’t blame his death on Expo.

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“I can only conclude that those who would do so have ulterior motives,” said Nielsen.

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Am Johal (right) and Jim Green (holding a poster remembering Olaf Solheim in 2002). Photo by Mark van Manen /Vancouver Sun

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Jim Green of the Downtown Eastside Residents Association disagreed. Green told Sarti that Premier Bill Bennett and other politicians “have said Expo benefits everyone, and all this talk of evictions is just media hype. Olaf Solheim proves differently.”

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Andy Yan of Simon Fraser University has been researching Expo 86 for a project. He said at that time it was thought 500 people were evicted from their SROs for Expo, but later estimates say the number may be closer to 1,000.

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Solheim was one of several who died after being evicted.