Mayor Sim and ABC Vancouver keep huge chunk of central Vancouver reserved for multi-millionaires, as rents climb ever-higher

VANCOUVER (Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Territories) - Following ABC Vancouver’s unacceptable move to kill Councillor Chirstine Boyle’s effort to add badly needed housing in the central neighbourhood of Shaughnessy, Councillor Boyle released the following statement:

“Today’s vote is another piece of evidence that ABC Vancouver just does not take housing affordability seriously.

They talk a big game about adding to Vancouver’s housing supply. But when offered an opportunity to add desperately-needed supply close to transit and jobs, while minimizing displacement of current renters, another message comes through: ‘Not next to multi-millionaires. Not in their backyard.’

In Shaughnessy, we had an opportunity to build much more housing, close to transit, while creating little to no displacement of renters, on land that is some of the least-expensive per square foot in the entire city. It was a win-win that attracted support from the non-profit housing community, Vancouver Coastal Health, housing advocates and the development community alike.

Ken Sim and ABC chose to reject this opportunity. Instead, they chose to keep Shaughnessy off limits to the majority of Vancouverites.

In a housing crisis, instead of opening the gates of a neighbourhood literally set aside for mega-mansions, they chose instead to act as gatekeepers, and keep those gates shut.

Vancouver is the front line of Canada’s housing crisis. And on ABC’s watch, that crisis has just gotten worse. In Ken Sim’s first year, the price for a home on the eastern side of Vancouver increased by eight per cent, and the price for a vacant one-bedroom rental increased by 10 per cent.

To make Vancouver affordable again, we need serious and bold action.

What we see from ABC Vancouver is an unwillingness to go beyond the bare minimum. They are content to do only what the provincial government has forced on them - while fighting hard to reserve huge chunks of land for the wealthy.”