Mayor's promise to Vancouver renters slammed as unrealistic, opportunistic
Critics of Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart's proposal to usher in what he calls the “strongest renter protections in Canada” are slamming the move, questioning both the plan itself and the motivation for bringing it forward now.
On Tuesday, Stewart announced he wants to include renter protections in the Vancouver Plan, the same as those that were built into the Broadway Plan.
Stewart’s plan would focus on renters displaced by redevelopment. Tenants would have the first right of refusal to return to the newly developed property at the same, or lower, rent and builders would also front relocation costs.
Coun. Lisa Dominato, who is running for re-election with the newly formed ABC Vancouver party, said she didn’t see the mayor’s announcement of the proposal until the last minute.
“It caught us all by surprise," she said. "I actually don’t know how realistic that is, to be making that kind of policy application city-wide for all rental developments.”
Stewart did admit that his proposal made some builders nervous and could end up leading to developers needing more density in order to recover building costs. Something Dominato said she had also discussed.
“I’ve heard similar concerns from the building community. While we’re talking about wanting to make the city more affordable, we want to make housing more affordable -- this might layer on more costs and make it less affordable,” she said.
NPA mayoral candidate John Coupar also questioned if the idea would have the desired outcome, or make things worse.
“Usually when there’s rent controls it tends to constrict supply, rather than help supply,” he said, adding that he believed Stewart was making a last ditch effort to win votes ahead of the fall.
“I think it’s funny, he seems to have come alive a few months before the election,” Coupar added.
The Vancouver Plan has been in the works since 2018, when Kennedy Stewart was first elected. Wednesday was the first session where council heard directly from members of the public about the proposal and more than 80 people signed up to speak.
Many speakers in the early session were against the plan - one person calling it a “D-minus at best.” Another told council it was “the shameful, rotten cherry on top of the decisions of late.”
The CEO of Landlord BC also criticized the plan, calling it a “solution searching for a problem.”
“Nobody was asking for it except anti-development neighbourhood groups and certain members of council because they saw the process as a perfect tool to be used to halt efforts to denssingle-familymily neighbourhoods, which since 2019 is exactly what it did,” David Hutniak told CTV News in an email. “So mission accomplished for those folks at the expense of the community, the economy, and renters in particular.”
The Vancouver Plan will be back before council on July 22 which will be the last opportunity for it to be passed before the summer break.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.