Carlito Pablo, who has been doing a great job covering Vancouver’s Rental 100 program and its shortfalls for a while, recently reported in the Georgia Straight that city manager Sadhu Johnstone is concerned that Vancouver city councillors are “causing a lot of problems” by pushing for more affordability in the program. But the problems are…
Category: Vancouver
March 15 student strikes for climate action — join the rally as an ally!
I am very inspired by Greta Thunberg. She’s the 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist who sat, alone, on the cobblestones of the Swedish parliament one Friday last August, demanding action on climate change. She’s sat there almost every Friday since — in rain, sun, ice and snow — inspiring a worldwide movement of student action. Last…
Secure housing with a heart
With the need for non-market housing becoming more and more urgent, I’m very excited about the new development at the corner of Kerr St and 55th Avenue in Vancouver. The new firehall No. 5 for Champlain Heights will be built there. Four floors of the new building will be housing for mothers and children, with…
Good news for Vancouver renters
There’s been a lot in the news lately about issues that impact renters, and I’m happy to say most of it is good news. First up is the announcement of a new resource at city hall — the creation of a Renters Office. This office, with its newly dedicated staff person and phone line, will…
New provincial budget is a breath of fresh air
All in all, the new provincial budget is good news. It’s definitely a breath of fresh air compared to what we’ve become accustomed to during the many years of the provincial Liberals. Here are some of the highlights for me. First off is child care. The provincial NDP, with the Greens, have replaced the old…
Let’s follow New Westminster’s lead on renovictions
Congratulations to New Westminster city council on their recent unanimous approval of a new bylaw to protect renters from renovictions. Landlords there will now face the prospect of fines of up to $1,000 a day or losing their business licence and, with it, the right to be a landlord if they increase rents after renovations…
UBC SkyTrain will haunt us for generations to come
I am so disappointed that Vancouver city council voted by a margin of 9 to 2 to approve the SkyTrain extension from Arbutus all the way to UBC. Even the three Green councillors all voted in favour of this very un-environmental proposal! As I pointed out in my recent blog on this topic, UBC professor…