OneCity's Lucy Maloney elected as 1 of 2 new Vancouver city councillors
Vancouverites chose two new city councillors in this weekend's byelection. OneCity's Lucy Maloney received the second-most votes and joins Stephen Quinn in studio to discuss her goals.
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CTV News
5 days ago
- CTV News
Motion to bring back Vancouver renter office defeated in tie vote
Vancouver City Hall is seen in Vancouver, on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck A Vancouver city councillor's push to restore the city's tenant advocacy office — and crack down on bad-faith landlords — was voted down by council Wednesday afternoon. Coun. Lucy Maloney, who was elected in April's byelection on a platform focused on housing rights, brought forward the motion, arguing the city must do more to support renters — particularly those displaced by redevelopment tied to the Broadway Plan. 'Renters don't feel like the city has their backs,' said Maloney. 'They don't feel like they're being listened to.' The tenant advocacy office was a city-run service that provided support and resources to renters. It was shut down in 2023 by the ABC-majority council. Coun. Peter Meiszner defended the decision to close the office, citing low usage. 'They were receiving less than one call a day,' he said. 'So what we decided to do at the time, was to transition the funding for that city renters office to a non-profit that can handle those inquiries more effectively.' Funding was redirected to the Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre, and Meiszner also pointed to the provincial Residential Tenancy Branch as the appropriate channel for dealing with landlord-tenant disputes. Maloney argued the city should provide additional protections beyond the province's scope, particularly in areas impacted by the Broadway Plan, where many renters are expected to be displaced through the city's Temporary Relocation and Protection Policy. 'We're going to have increasing volumes of people being moved out of their homes as the Broadway Plan progresses,' said Maloney. 'We need to make sure that we're focused, that we've got the resourcing and staff needed.' Meiszner responded that existing city staff are already working to support renters through these transitions. 'So we're building thousands of new rental units in the Broadway corridor, and there are some tenant relocations that need to happen,' he said. 'But we have staff already within the city working on that.' In addition to reinstating the advocacy office, Maloney's motion also called for exploring stronger penalties for landlords and developers who act in bad faith. Ultimately, the motion was narrowly defeated in a tie vote, with the four present ABC councillors voting against the motion. After the vote, Maloney said she will continue to fight for Vancouver renters, vowing to one day bring the tenant advocacy office back to city hall. A separate motion by Coun. Sean Orr — declaring housing as a human right — was passed unanimously.
Vancouver Sun
07-05-2025
- Vancouver Sun
'People keep coming': Plans underway for permanent memorial for Lapu Lapu Day victims
Plans are underway for a permanent memorial to commemorate the victims of the Lapu Lapu Day festival attack. RJ Aquino, chair of festival organizer Filipino B.C., said he is meeting with the city Wednesday to start discussions on a permanent memorial. 'It's clear that people are still needing to visit, reflect and grieve and the fact we are over a week out and people are still, at all hours of the day, gathering to pay their respects calls to the significance of the event and the need for a permanent fixture there.' He said the planning is still in the preliminary stage, and does not know what shape or form a memorial would look like or where it would be located, but said it needs to be 'mindful and respectful' to what occurred on April 26 when an SUV drove into a crowd at the Filipino festival, killing 11 and injuring dozens. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. He said he is not aware of any plans to remove the growing, makeshift memorial on East 41st Avenue and Fraser Street. 'The flowers will wilt and candles will melt, and people keep coming and adding to it,' said Aquino, adding the city understands people's need to grieve and gather. 'I don't see it going away any time soon.' Preeti Faridikot, a Vancouver school board trustee, said she plans to bring a motion in late June for a permanent memorial near John Oliver Secondary, but not on school grounds. 'It could be a space of healing for some people, I think we really need it,' said Faridikot. 'The design and vision should be done with the community, the city, the province and the Filipino people who are affected.' Mayor Ken Sim said the city will wait for the community to take the lead to ensure any memorial is done 'in a very respectful way.' 'I know I can speak for the council on this one, we have incredibly caring people here that feel absolutely devastated, as all Vancouverites, British Columbians, and Canadians do, and anything we can do to respectfully support the community, we will in a heartbeat,' he said. In a statement, the City of Vancouver said it is aware of the interest in a permanent memorial and 'will engage with respect to such a memorial in the future.' It encouraged people gathering at the makeshift memorial to place flowers, candles, and stuffies to be safe, keep sidewalks clear, and avoid gathering on major roads. It also asked mourners to use flameless candles to prevent any fire hazards. The last week and a half since the horrific vehicle attack has been 'emotional,' said Aquino. He had left the street party with his wife and three kids to have dinner at home and got a panicked call from an organizer. He had expected a wrap-up phone call, said Aquino. Instead, he heard the words 'mass casualty event,' and raced back to the scene. The focus of Filipino B.C. has been on taking care of the victims, their families, volunteers and attendees and tending to their immediate needs, such as providing bridge funding for child care or transportation costs or replacing lost or damaged cellphones. Filipino B.C. has set up a resiliency centre at Killarney Secondary School, which is open May 9 from 5 to 8 p.m. Due to demand, Aquino said they are planning to move the centre closer to the scene of the tragedy and are working on finding a location. 'We continue to mourn, we continue to grieve. I don't know if it's going to subside from how high the emotions have been,' he said. 'But we're trying to put in place all the things that give people a path to heal and grow stronger from this.' chchan@
The Province
02-05-2025
- The Province
Despite voters' rebuke of Vancouver's ABC party, new towers will still be higher, increase density
Douglas Todd: Even though voters elected two progressive candidates last month, council's direction is not about to change in regard to the pace and scale of mega-highrise projects. The two newcomers to council, COPE's Sean Orr and OneCity's Lucy Maloney, voted along with ABC and the rest of council on April 22 to approve the massive plan for the Jericho Lands. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO / 10107669A The dominant centre-right ABC Party was hammered in last month's Vancouver byelection, with its two candidates coming in a dismal sixth and seventh. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Despite voters electing two progressive candidates April 5, the direction of council is not about to change regarding the pace and scale of mega-highrise projects in Vancouver, the most dense city in Canada. The two newcomers, COPE's Sean Orr and OneCity's Lucy Maloney, voted along with ABC and the rest of council on April 22 to approve the Jericho Lands official community plan, which gives the go-ahead to arguably the biggest housing development in the city's history. 'It's going to be beautiful and add so much to the area. It's going to be such an amazing contribution,' said Maloney, speaking of the 65 residential buildings, mostly in the 25- to 60-storey range, proposed by MST Development Corp. for the half-empty former military base in Point Grey. A watchdog group, the Jericho Coalition, has proposed an alternative vision for the Jericho Lands: of mostly six-storey apartment blocks. But when CBC radio host Stephen Quinn asked Maloney if she would have been open to supporting a 'happy medium' of density for the Jericho Lands, she said it's too late. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Other areas have been bearing the burden of accepting all the population growth. I guess it could have been lower levels of density if we'd been building low-rise apartment buildings in every neighbourhood of the city for decades. But we haven't,' said Maloney, a self-described 'environmental lawyer' who works with the mining company BHP Billiton. Newly elected Coun. Orr, who describes himself as a Communist and dishwasher, also voted for the Jericho Lands official plan. His emphasis has been on affordability and protecting renters, including those being displaced by the 500-block Broadway highrise plan. Despite the historic significance of the Jericho Lands project, three members of ABC were absent for the vote: Mayor Ken Sim and councillors Brian Montague and Peter Meiszner, as well as Rebecca Bligh, who was recently dismissed from ABC. Stay on top of the latest real estate news and home design trends. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. How Vancouver councillors voted – or didn't bother to – on April 22. The small quorum unanimously approved the Jericho lands massive official development plan. Erick Villagomez, who teaches at UBC's school of community and regional planning, predicts little resistance from the two new councillors, or from Bligh and the Green member of council, to the 'monotonous' direction dictated by the ABC majority, particularly in regard to high density. In Villagomez's analysis, the two new council members are 65 per cent aligned on the major issues with ABC, which has been pro-tower and often criticized for ignoring citizen input and reducing demands on developers to provide community benefits. The only candidates in the byelection who do not align with the enthusiastically high-density attitudes of ABC, and who would have offered serious resistance, Villagomez said, were former TEAM councillor Colleen Hardwick and running mate Theodore Abbott. Hardwick, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2022, came in third in last month's byelection, with Abbott fifth. That's despite being endorsed by high-profile professors who specialize in housing affordability, including UBC's David Ley and Patrick Condon. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. CityHallWatch, a group of ecologists, urban designers, architects and former planners who have been monitoring Vancouver politics for 15 years, produced a scorecard before the byelection that detailed how NDP-affiliated OneCity and the Greens have backed ABC on key property development issues. OneCity was represented on council by Christine Boyle before she ran successfully in last year's provincial election, becoming the NDP's Indigenous affairs minister. She regularly lined up with ABC against developer-skeptic recommendations put forward by TEAM. The Greens' Pete Fry and Adriane Carr, who recently retired, did much the same, according to CityHallWatch. The analysis by CityHallWatch, a volunteer organization devoted to 'socially just and transparent' public institutions, shows OneCity and the Greens, and to a slightly lesser extent COPE, had in the past rejected key TEAM ideas, such as: to 'rethink city-wide towers,' 'retain public hearings,' 'pause/replan the Broadway plan' and 'pause/replan the Jericho Lands.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. As Randy Helten, an environmental activist who co-founded CityHallWatch Media Foundation, said: 'OneCity, COPE, Greens, and ABC Vancouver are generally singing from the same song sheet on development, planning, densification and towers.' CityHallWatch produced this scorecard before the April 5 byelection. OneCity, in particular, has been openly endorsed by key players in the pro-high-density movement. They include Russil Wvong, a member of Abundant Housing, a North-American wide, developer-supported organization that advocates for more housing construction. Wvong often posts calls for allies around North America to weigh in to support new highrises in Vancouver. B.C. Premier David Eby has also been strongly influenced by the YIMBY movement, including hiring some of its advocates. The NDP, as a result, has introduced legislation that forces municipalities with at least 5,000 residents to approve four- to six-unit dwellings on single-family lots, and to automatically OK extensive highrise clusters around SkyTrain stations and transit hubs. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Although centre-left politicians in B.C. were in the 20th-century known as staunch defenders of citizens' right to challenge mass property development, that alliance has faded. NDP cabinet ministers have joined left-wing civic politicians in accusing citizens who question the scale and esthetics of building projects of being selfish NIMBYs. The issue of property development has caused ideological confusion among progressives. That's partly because many on the centre-left point to data showing that North American cities that have dramatically increased housing supply, especially Vancouver and Toronto, have not lowered stratospheric prices. Condon and Ley, as well as Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley and Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West, both of whom have blue-collar backgrounds, say rapid densification is failing to produce the right kind of housing, especially for young families. It's mostly serving investors and land speculators. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Mass upzoning leads to uglier buildings, say many — since Vancouver council and others are allowing developers to build blockier apartment highrises, with less open space and fewer public amenities, in exchange for promising to make up to 20 per cent of their units 'below market.' The trouble with that is, with the real-estate cycle going into a downturn, Vancouver developers who obtained density bonuses are now signalling they need to get out of their earlier commitment to so-called 'affordable housing.' dtodd@ Read More Vancouver Canucks Vancouver Canucks BC Lions News News
