Housing activists stage sit-in at Burnaby mayor’s empty office
Protesters opposed to residents being ‘demovicted’ from affordable rentals
A small group of housing activists occupied the mayor’s office at Burnaby City Hall on Thursday.
Eight to 10 people from the Alliance Against Displacement’s Stop Demovictions Burnaby Campaign gathered outside City Hall around 10:15 a.m. to hold a news conference about development-related evictions in the Metrotown area. About 10 minutes later, they headed up to Mayor Derek Corrigan’s office and settled in for more than two hours.
Dave Diewert, an organizing member of the alliance who par- ticipated in the sit-in, said the protesters initially asked to speak to the mayor, but were told that Corrigan is out of town.
They were then asked to leave his office and they asked to speak with a city councillor, or someone “who can make a decision about policy.”
As they occupied Corrigan’s office, the activists hung posters in the windows, drummed and sang. Diewert said their spirits were high.
“We’re doing good,” he said. “It’s a peaceful protest — that’s the plan.”
The city’s director of public safety services, Dave Critchley, repeat- edly asked the protesters to leave, and when they refused the RCMP were called. Diewert said police officers told the activists they were trespassing and could be arrested at any time, although in the end, no arrests took place.
About an hour and a half into the sit-in, Coun. Colleen Jordan and a city planner agreed to meet with the protesters.
The protesters are concerned about people being “demovicted” — evicted from their affordable rentals so the buildings can be torn down and redeveloped — in Metrotown.
Last week, the alliance held a news conference to ask the city to make sure its Tenant Assistance Policy is applied equally to all people who are being evicted in the area.
The Residential Tenancy Act requires that tenants be given two months’ notice and the equivalent of one month’s rent if they are evicted because of demolition.
Burnaby’s policy ups that provision to three months for developers who are tearing down multifamily buildings.
However, the activists say the policy is not being applied equally in two low-rise apartment buildings on Silver Avenue, which will be replaced with condominiums. Those who moved in after that developer’s tenant assistance plan was submitted in 2015 are not covered by the policy. Stop Demovictions wants all renters to be covered, and gave the city a week to respond.
“At that time, we said we would wait for the city’s decision to rectify the situation,” Diewert said. “This is the action we’ve taken a week later.”
We’re doing good. It’s a peaceful protest — that’s the plan.
DAVE DIEWERT