VANCOUVER—Near a busy corner of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, a Mello Donut Shop employee rings through a customer, while outside the window a stooped-over man stands on the sidewalk. A few metres away, three people gather to exchange items outside a shuttered apartment building.
“We only accept cards, just to avoid any problems, and the washrooms are only for customers,” the employee told The Epoch Times on Aug. 28, asking not to be named due to privacy concerns.
