Amazon deadline leaves little time for assessment

Decision should be informed, writes Carmen Lansdowne.

There has been a lot of buzz lately about the potential for Vancouver to woo tech giant Amazon’s second North American headquarters, or HQ2.

When Vancouver submits its proposal to Amazon by the Oct. 19 deadline, will Vancouverites and those in surrounding communities really understand what our municipalities are promising in return for the potential to host the fourth most valuable public company in the world?

The request for proposals on Amazon.com specifically requires detail in the proposals regarding incentives offered by different levels of government as critical decision drivers. Specifically, they are seeking any or all of: land, site preparation, tax credits/exemptions, relocation grants, workforce grants, utility incentives/ grants, permitting, and fee reductions.

And they are not looking for the theoretical — Amazon wants the number and amount of each incentive.

The purpose of the incentives is to offset initial cash outlays required in building the first 500,000 square feet of what could end up being an eight-million-square-foot “campus.” With Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos being credited for sparking a $5-billion bidding war among the top contending metro areas competing for HQ2, we have to consider some sobering questions about what the reality will look like.

With a dearth of City of Vancouver land that could be leased or given to Amazon, a Vancouver proposal is likely to focus on tax credits/ exemptions, grants and permitting/fee reductions. With our Metro region facing greater and greater income inequality, a housing crisis and a poverty crisis, can Vancouver and its surrounding municipalities really afford to offset Amazon’s capital outlays of up to $5 billion solely to court the presence of a single corporation? What will be the social cost? The cost to the city’s infrastructure?

The former B.C. Liberal government tried, with a slower-than-desired start, to catalyze a Bay Area-style tech boom in the province. While one could argue Vancouver is home to the world-class innovation ecosystem touted in Mayor Gregor Robertson’s tweet last week, it is no secret that Vancouver’s sky-high housing prices and lower-than-desired wages in the tech sector make it notoriously difficult to recruit experienced engineers and other tech workers.

Yes, the presence of Amazon may lure tech sector leaders into the area. But what if Amazon poaches the best talent from our already struggling domestic firms?

And where will Amazon live? Do we plan to give them a vast tract of agricultural land outside of Vancouver proper, further reducing our food security? Or do we displace the nearly negotiated future home of St. Paul’s Hospital in the 18.4-acre site at False Creek Flats? Will a massive land assembly in the DTES force the city to renege on its commitments to the current residents in favour of a singular view of what economic development might look like?

For me the tight deadline of three weeks does not allow adequate time for informed citizens to truly grapple with the bigger socio-economic questions connected with this courtship. What of Amazon’s now globally infamous reputation for poor treatment of its employees outside of the creative class? Will it drive down wages in blue-collar sectors if allegations are true that it tends to pay 15 per cent less than median wages for non-professional jobs in the labour markets where it has operations? Will it colonize Vancouver or a surrounding city by overtaking 20 per cent of available commercial real estate as it has done in Seattle? What has been the lived experiences of communities in Seattle that have been impacted by Amazon’s exponential growth?

Maybe the overall benefits to the community and the economy result in a resounding “yes” to the courtship. Or maybe the dangers to a region already experiencing multiple convergent crises are too great. Maybe the answer is somewhere in between? Whatever answer Metro Vancouver decides, it should be an informed answer.

What if Amazon poaches the best talent from our already struggling domestic firms?