Ottawa missed affordable housing opportunity: mayor
Robertson criticizes federal decision to sell off lands
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson called the federal government’s recent decision to sell off its Jericho and RCMP lands in the city wrong-headed, saying they should have been used to ease the city’s affordable housing crisis.
Speaking to the Urban Land Institute on Wednesday, Robertson said the sale was yet another decision by the Stephen Harper government to ignore the country’s pressing housing needs.
“My opinion is that I think it is very short-sighted to take these out of public lands, for governments to sell off assets like that for the long term,” Robertson told a packed audience of largely developers, architects and builders. He said the province’s plan to divest public lands adjacent to Jericho also needs to be reviewed. “This should not be a cashout for federal or provincial governments. There should be a reinvestment into our city in creating a range of affordability.”
Robertson’s comments are his first significant statements on the sale of the lands since Ottawa’s property arm, Canada Lands Corp., announced in October that it had formed a joint partnership with three First Nations — the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh — to develop the 21-hectare Jericho Garrison and 8.5-hectare site of the former RCMP provincial headquarters.
The parcels are among the last undeveloped large parcels in the city. Jericho stretches on the city’s west side from near Alma between Fourth and Eighth avenues and is prime water-view real estate. The RCMP lands stretch from 33rd to 37th avenues at Heather.
Robertson said he doesn’t want the properties to become “an enclave for only wealthy people” and will insist that they are developed for a mixture of incomes and a range of housing types.
“It is going to be really important to have a mix of housing on those lands,” he told the meeting.
When the sale was announced, both the partners and the city said it is too early to say exactly what is planned, but pledged the properties would be developed in accordance with Vancouver’s overall development objectives. Calls to First Nation representatives were not returned.
Robertson’s political comments came as he said Canada’s big cities have a role to play in this fall’s federal election.
As the chair of the Big City Mayors’ Caucus, Robertson has argued Ottawa needs to pay more attention to the country’s urban centres. In his speech, he said federal parties seeking election ignore those cities at their peril.
“They need to come to the table to talk about housing and affordability and to ensure that this is a national issue. This should be a priority in the federal election,” Robertson said.
Robertson said NDP leader Thomas Mulcair and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau had developed strong housing and city policies for the election. While the Harper government has also made some efforts, they could do more, he said.
Brian McCauley, the president of Concert Properties Ltd., one of the city’s largest developers, said he welcomed the mayor’s comments. He said the city has long had a policy in large land assemblies of making sure there is a range of housing, including demands for 25 per cent to be devoted to family and social housing.
McCauley said the city has to get a grip on the development fees it charges, and the city also has to help people understand there has to be densification in order to accommodate city growth.