Keefer Street development fight gets personal
While city councillors prepare to decide on Tuesday the fate of a proposed development at 105 Keefer St. in Vancouver’s Chinatown neighbourhood, advocates on both sides of the debate are starting to get personal.
Over the past week, several statements from both sides have been sent to media outlets detailing or responding to unsubstantiated allegations involving such things as chartered bus rides to protests, free tickets to casinos, and harassment and bullying. At least two press conferences have been held in the hopes of swaying Tuesday’s decision.
The rezoning application for the 12-storey residential complex has divided community members who want to see a strengthened Chinatown but disagree on how best to do that.
Scores of seniors came out to show support for the project Sunday at Floata Restaurant. Among them was Eric Szeto, an advocate for seniors and cultural issues in Chinatown.
“During the public hearing, there was a lot of things happening. The supportive members from our group have been bullied, abused and harassed by people from the opposition,” said Szeto, who added that he plans to lease space for a seniors’ centre in 105 Keefer if the project proceeds.
Szeto was joined by a trio of other seniors who said — in Chinese, with Szeto translating — they received negative attention due to their positions on the project.
Not all seniors say they have been harassed, however. Ming Ming Zhu, the president of the Seniors Chinese Society of Vancouver and a supporter of the project, said she had not.
More than 300 people spoke on the rezoning application during four days of public hearings. For comparison, a contentious downtown casino proposal drew 141 speakers in 2011, the Rize development brought out 160 in 2012, and a bike lane on Point Grey Road drew 118 in 2013.
Last week, NDP member of Parliament for Vancouver East Jenny Kwan — an opponent of the project — said she was “saddened and dismayed to learn that some Chinese seniors are being misled in this heated debate.”
She said at least one senior attending a days-long public hearing last month was approached by someone who asked her to wear a red T-shirt in support of the MLA and her position, they said. However, red shirts are being worn as a show of support for the project, which the MLA opposes.
In an interview, Kwan said she relayed the story “so that people are not confused about where I stand.”
“We need to work hard to preserve and protect historic Chinatown, and I stand with many seniors and many community leaders in opposition to this rezoning.”
Meanwhile, Szeto said some supporters of the 105 Keefer project had signed up to speak but changed their minds because they did not want to do so in “such an unfriendly and hostile environment.”
He called on the city to “give a fair chance to those seniors who have not been able to speak and let them speak freely, with no fear, in a peaceful environment.”
City staff did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The supportive members from our group have been bullied, abused and harassed by people from the opposition.