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
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.