HOT TOPICS 2018
As Vancouver residents prepare to choose a new mayor on Oct. 20, seven mayoral candidates and three parties vying for council seats share where they stand on key issues facing the city, including housing, transportation and the overdose crisis.
Vancouver residents will choose a new mayor and council in the Oct. 20 election. To help voters choose among an unusually high number of candidates, city columnist Dan Fumano has compiled brief summaries on where they stand on key issues facing the city. The responses were submitted by seven top mayoral candidates and three parties running council candidates, and have been edited for clarity and length.
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
Vancouver’s current plan is 91 years old and does not allow modern forms of housing in 75 per cent of the city. Vancouver is way behind comparable cities in terms of process and technology. Yes Vancouver wants to revolutionize the way housing is planned, zoned and approved in Vancouver.
EMPTY HOMES TAX
While the tax is generating some revenue for social housing, the 25,000 homes that were apparently empty have not materialized and local residents are being trapped in complex and invasive audits. Yes Vancouver wants to review it and focus on building middle-class housing.
HOUSING DENSITY
Yes Vancouver says it appreciates the angst about the recent rezoning of single-family neighbourhoods to allow duplexes. Coun. Bremner voted for it as density was kept within the current limits for homes with basement suites and laneway houses, so this is not a big change. It allows for more affordable home ownership options in Vancouver beyond multimillion-dollar houses.
OVERDOSECRISIS
Vancouver needs to reinvest in the Four Pillars office at City Hall and Yes Vancouver will support programs that replace street drugs with safer alternatives so long as it moves people to care and long-term treatment. No-barrier housing is critical to this, therefore Yes Vancouver will ensure significant investment in this area.
BROADWAY SUBWAY
The plan must include housing and jobs along the line that can both ensure this major investment is capitalized on and funded. That includes looking to UBC and ensuring Vancouver has a plan to tap equity in the surrounding area to help raise money to complete the line.
GOVERNANCE
The electoral system is fine, Yes Vancouver says, Vancouver residents just need to stop passing decisionmaking to only two core groups: left and right, or Vision and the NPA. The city needs fresh perspectives that come from outside the standard political thinking.
WALKING & BIKING
The politics over the last 10 years have been very divisive as Vancouver was not allowed the housing forms needed to support active transportation, but good transportation and good planning are linked. Vancouver needs a city plan that people feel engaged in, in order to build a city that makes them less reliant on a car.
TAXATION
The city needs to conduct a review to ensure it’s spending taxpayer dollars wisely, to implement a new city plan that taps new revenue streams, and to split residential from commercial (small business) and non-profit property assessments. This would level out tax increases and get the city back on a healthy financial track.
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
ProVancouver would require 50 per cent rentals for all new builds, use rental-only zoning around transit corridors, build larger temporary modular housing units to accommodate families, switch co-ops to five-year automatic renewals after the first 50 years, build more co-ops and social housing. Maximum social housing rents should be set at 30 per cent of median household pre-tax income.
EMPTY HOMES TAX
Modify the tax to have a laser focus on speculators. Increase the tax on a graduated scale, heavily increasing for properties over $5 million. Credits would be graduated, so that after 20 years of living in the home, the tax would be zero for residents who have lived in their community for close to a generation.
HOUSING DENSITY
ProVancouver opposes the city’s recent rezoning of single-family neighbourhoods to allow duplexes, arguing there was insufficient community consultation and no community plan was done. Most of Vancouver’s sewer, water, and electrical utilities and street widths were based on single-family homes with low density. Increasing density without upgrading infrastructure and amenities first isn’t smart.
OVERDOSE CRISIS
ProVancouver would increase the amount of temporary modular housing and push to decriminalize drug use as in the Netherlands. ProVancouver would also employ other therapies, such as Beauty Night Society’s long-standing method of building self-esteem through wellness, life skills and makeovers.
BROADWAY SUBWAY
It should go all the way to UBC. Stopping at Arbutus is illogical. For a more affordable option, switching to hydrogen fuel cell electric buses will keep costs down and increase capacity without trolley wires. The hydrogen fuel cell can be swapped out faster than recharging times needed for battery-powered buses.
GOVERNANCE
Before tinkering with established electoral systems, ProVancouver wants to work on reconnecting city hall to the people. ProVancouver is committed to holding town hall meetings once a year in all 23 subdistricts of Vancouver as two-way, face-to-face communication between the residents and council.
WALKING & BIKING
Bike lanes are needed, but not on arterial routes. Idling cars create more exhaust than cars moving from start to destination. All future bike infrastructure would be part of the complete community plan that includes planning recommendations, community and user input.
TAXATION
Lower taxes without lower expenses leads to deficits, borrowing and increased liability on the taxpayer. A complete audit of the finances, programs and private contracts review is needed, plus a switch from in-kind development amenity transfers to cash-only development fees to normalize finances, then lower taxes if possible.
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
Vancouver 1st is committed to building affordable rental housing on city-owned land that will be targeted at costing the tenants monthly rents of $400, $900 and $1,300, for a bachelor, one- and two-bedroom unit, respectively.
EMPTY HOMES TAX
Vancouver 1st has pledged to remove the empty homes tax, saying it is ineffective and punishes those it was not intended to tax. Vancouver 1st has also pledged to file a lawsuit against the NDP government to fight and end the new school tax surcharge on properties valued at more than $3 million.
HOUSING DENSITY
Density must be undertaken carefully. Vancouver 1st is pledging to revoke Vision’s misguided mass rezoning policy to allow duplexes (in singlefamily neighbourhoods). Vancouver 1st has also committed to developing a comprehensive official city plan so that there is a clear and transparent plan with a new core of density to be established in south Vancouver.
OVERDOSE CRISIS
Vancouver 1st will focus on treatment and rehabilitation. It intends to build a state-of-the-art mental care facility on city property with more than enough beds for today and tomorrow, because so much of addiction and street living is caused by an inadequacy in mental health services. Vision and the NDP have failed these people.
BROADWAY SUBWAY
Vancouver 1st wants the subway to go all the way to UBC. The party wants a bored tunnel; not cut-andcover. Because it will extend to UBC, which will benefit greatly from it, it should pay a suitable portion of the final bill.
GOVERNANCE
Vancouver 1st wants more voices added to the debates. The province’s new election finance laws have stifled discourse by handcuffing candidates. Vancouver 1st wants more millennials out there participating, not just voting.
WALKING & BIKING
Vancouver 1st believes cycling routes on the side streets should remain, and that all other cycling routes should be seasonal, with two exceptions: the West 10th Avenue cycling route in front of the hospital should be removed and the Adanac Overpass should be reopened to all traffic.
TAXATION
Residential property taxes for seniors would be frozen and reduced. An ombudsman for business will be set up to address taxes paid by shopkeepers. Vancouver 1st aims to significantly cut property tax as Vancouver’s fiscal situation is turned around.
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
Vancouver needs solutions to immediately relieve pressure on limited supply. The NPA would immediately allow two secondary suites in every detached home, of which there are around 40,000 in Vancouver. The NPA would also build dedicated rental buildings on city-owned land, fasttrack housing for those who need it most, and clean up the development approval process.
EMPTY HOMES TAX
The idea that Vancouver can tax its way out of this housing crisis is wishful thinking. A much better approach is to bring new units to the market quickly — which the NPA will do by allowing two secondary suites in every detached home — while working on further increasing supply in a way that does not destroy neighbourhoods.
HOUSING DENSITY
The NPA agrees in principle with adding more housing for the “missing middle.” But the move by a lame-duck administration to mass re-zone much of the city to allow duplexes in singlefamily neighbourhoods isn’t just bad for democracy, it’s bad policy. A proper city-wide plan is needed that respects individual neighbourhoods. And decision-making at city hall needs to be more transparent.
OVERDOSE CRISIS
An NPA working group is seeking new ideas to tackle homelessness, the opioid crisis and mental health. People want needles off our streets and out of our parks. Three hundred dirty needles a month are picked up at Andy Livingstone Park, which is also a playground for Crosstown Elementary School.
BROADWAY SUBWAY
The NPA is 100 per cent in favour of the Broadway subway. It should go all the way to UBC. A solid plan with UBC and TransLink will get us there. Too many billions are wasted because politicians make big promises before the details are ready.
GOVERNANCE
The NPA says it is worried about the impact that secret money has had on this election. Labour groups paid for 100,000 flyers promoting Kennedy Stewart, and four full-time union staff are working to support Stewart and the rest of the labour council’s endorsed candidates, without being required to count it as part of their campaign expenses. The new electoral finance rules need to be re-thought.
WALKING & BIKING
Over the past 20 years Vancouver streets have become more congested, even though the number of cars hasn’t changed much. The NPA supports bike lanes, but says there are some cases where bike lanes may be in the wrong places, such as near hospital entrances. The NPA will also review barriers to traffic flow because all residents are suffering from poor planning decisions.
TAXATION
The NPA goal is to cap property tax increases to the rate of inflation. Right now, residents are experiencing increases that are too high, without a corresponding increase in services. The NPA says it will do a review of all the programs and policies at city hall to find efficiencies.
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
Stewart’s platform includes building 85,000 homes over the next 10 years, including 25,000 affordable, non-profit run rental units, 25,000 market rental units, and 35,000 new condominiums, coach houses, and townhouses. He wants to streamline the development process for purpose-built rental, and create a new renters’ advocate office.
EMPTY HOMES TAX
Stewart would triple the empty homes tax, arguing the city needs to take tough measures to fight the speculation that is common in Vancouver and protect the local housing market from global financial forces and speculators. Homes need to be used for housing people, not sitting empty as speculative investments.
HOUSING DENSITY
Council’s recent decision to rezone single-family neighbourhoods to allow duplexes was of such magnitude that it should have been left for the next council. That said, building duplexes brings more affordable options for first-time homebuyers while retaining neighbourhood character. Stewart would expand opportunities for ground-oriented housing in our least-dense neighbourhoods.
OVERDOSE CRISIS
Stewart would form a task force to work with the community to improve the health and quality of life of Downtown Eastside residents. It would focus on preventing more deaths from fentanyl, on negotiating a new Vancouver Agreement to foster greater co-operation between all levels of government, on supporting front-line workers and on identifying drug-substitution programs.
BROADWAY SUBWAY
Stewart wants SkyTrain all the way to UBC. He says Vancouver needs to invest in transit infrastructure, but needs partners to make it happen. He says he would work hard to secure federal, provincial and UBC funding to extend SkyTrain along the Broadway corridor to the university.
GOVERNANCE
Anonymous advertising needs to stop, Stewart says. Candidates and third parties need to disclose donations. The current at-large system lacks community representation. He promises this election will be the last under this system. Voters need to have confidence that city staff and politicians don’t have conflicts of interest. He wants to ban elected officials and key staff from accepting government contracts or lobbying for 12 months after leaving.
WALKING & BIKING
Stewart supports separated bike lanes as a way to encourage more people to cycle, while keeping them safe. Ensuring people can afford to live close to where they work is the best way to promote walking and biking. When infrastructure is expanded, he says, the city needs to do it in a way that keeps all modes of transport moving.
TAXATION
Stewart says tax policies would remain about the same if he were mayor. Stewart says he has met with local business-improvement associations and understands their concerns. He is promising a review of policies that affect small business, including taxation and permitting, to support and grow the neighbourhood-based economy.
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
Sylvester says the city can’t rest until it has a three per cent rental vacancy rate and the price per square foot for housing is a better match with typical wages. She would support more purpose-built housing to create thriving neighbourhoods for children, working professionals, seniors and businesses by using city resources, renewing leases for co-ops, and encouraging purpose-built housing through faster permitting and fee waivers.
EMPTY HOMES TAX
She would triple it. Housing is more than an asset class, and she says the city can’t afford to let desperately needed real estate sit unused because someone wants to park their cash here without contributing to the community. Tripling the tax would help ensure homes are used to house people, not to make a speculative investment.
HOUSING DENSITY
While Sylvester says she supports gentle densification, she says any changes must have the support of the people who live in that area. Homeowners who want to add affordable units should get faster permitting and fee waivers. Neighbourhood plans must be completed for the 75 per cent of neighbourhoods that don’t have one.
OVERDOSECRISIS
B.C. has allowed the opioid poisoning crisis to get worse by failing to apply a comprehensive public health approach. She supports the proven Four Pillars approach, community support models, comprehensive care access, and collaboration with senior levels of government. Empathetic and effective responses are needed to counter the misinformation, discrimination, stigma, and fear.
BROADWAY SUBWAY
Sylvester is committed to working with all levels of government and partners to ensure construction of the Broadway subway all the way to UBC rather than creating a choke point at Arbutus. UBC represents a key economic centre and a major employer. Once digging begins, it must keep going to UBC.
GOVERNANCE
Sylvester proposes a new hybrid ward system where five councillors are elected to represent specific wards and five are elected to represent Vancouver at-large to ensure council pays attention to local communities while deciding on larger city-wide issues. She says she will use her experience with facilitation to build a culture of collaboration and co-operation on council.
WALKING & BIKING
She supports expanding the city’s bicycle infrastructure. Having separated bike lanes makes people safer. She supports making cycling infrastructure safe for children, families, and seniors who may not feel comfortable using it. She would update the Mayors’ Council Transportation 2040 Plan to increase the target for share of trips by bike from 12 per cent to 25 per cent.
TAXATION
She would call for the appointment of a small business ombudsperson. She also plans a financial report to the public on where tax revenue has been spent, within 100 days as mayor to open a discussion about taxation. She wants to work with B.C. Assessment and the provincial government to create new assessment categories for small businesses.
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
Coalition Vancouver would not sell one square inch of city land. To reduce shortages, it would allow one additional rental unit per home. Longer term, it would focus on purposebuilt rental buildings and co-ops. It also plans to build entry-level homes intended to be within reach for millennials.
EMPTY HOMES TAX
This was a poorly designed tax, poorly implemented. But simply repealing it would be reckless at this delicate stage in the housing market cycle. Coalition Vancouver is promising a find a third, better way.
HOUSING DENSITY
Coalition Vancouver is against the decision to allow duplexes in singlefamily neighbourhoods and would repeal it. There is not a housing shortage, there is an affordable housing shortage. This policy perpetuates the problem. It would ensure every neighbourhood is consulted before “reckless policies” like this one are passed. It would focus on purposebuilt rental housing and co-ops.
OVERDOSE CRISIS
This is a heartbreaking issue and affects many more families than most people understand. Wai Young notes she lost a son to this very crisis. Coalition Vancouver promises a plan, to be released soon, to approach this from a perspective that has never been tried before.
BROADWAY SUBWAY
Coalition Vancouver is in favour of the subway extension to UBC. It says it is committed to helping businesses get through the construction phase, especially when cut-and-cover building techniques are used. It also wants to cut the number of cars on the road, to reduce pollution and to reduce congestion.
GOVERNANCE
Coalition Vancouver says big money must be ousted from politics. Unions, developers and big business have been shaping policies for years and it continues into this election. Coalition Vancouver says it has no ties to special interest groups and will ensure that our electoral system is fair and operates in a way that benefits the people it is meant to serve.
WALKING & BIKING
Coalition Vancouver will not build another separated bike lane unless one is removed from some place else. But the party says it loves intelligent bike lanes, just not bike lanes intentionally placed to obstruct traffic. It would audit all bike lanes for use and effectiveness, promoting commonsense solutions.
TAXATION
Coalition Vancouver would immediately cut city taxes and fees. It would order an in-depth review of the city’s books and would require all departments, except sanitation, to cut spending by five per cent.
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
Over the past year, COPE, including council candidate Jean Swanson, has been seeking a rent freeze. COPE would use all available city powers to protect renters and small business tenants, and will tax mansions over $5 million to end homelessness in one year and build city-owned non-market rental housing in subsequent years.
EMPTY HOMES TAX
COPE was the first to propose the empty homes property tax in the 2014 civic elections. Other parties said it wasn’t possible, but COPE says it’s now common sense. COPE’s proposal included extending the tax to vacant commercial properties and empty lots. It supports increasing the tax and targeting all revenues toward city-owned non-market housing.
HOUSING DENSITY
COPE opposed allowing duplexes in single-family neighbourhoods because there’s no city protection for tenants in these areas, some of which include a majority of renters. The duplex zoning doesn’t provide housing for people earning under $50,000 a year, and will likely cause more speculation. COPE supports density in neighbourhoods that have not taken their fair share of rental and social housing.
OVERDOSE CRISIS
COPE will push senior governments to decriminalize drugs and to ensure access to safe, clean and free drugs so people who use drugs don’t have to die. The city can also put oxygen tanks in community centres to help revive people who overdose and can fund community groups who support harm reduction and ending stigma.
BROADWAY SUBWAY
COPE has a plan for a “U-Pass for the working class,” which includes free transit for kids and low-income transit users and a $41-a-month pass for middle-income Vancouverites, taking 40,000 cars off the road. It says this program could be fully funded by Vancouver’s portion of B.C.’s recently announced carbon tax increase.
GOVERNANCE
COPE has long fought for a ward system, arguing the current at-large voting system benefits parties with big-money funding and makes it difficult for neighbourhood activists to be elected. Wards can be introduced by a simple majority vote at city council. It may also be possible to introduce proportional representation in Vancouver, especially if November’s referendum supports pro-rep provincially.
WALKING & BIKING
The expansion of bike lanes increased dramatically starting in 1998 under the advocacy of COPE city councillor and climate scientist Fred Bass. COPE will continue to strongly support expansion of cycling and pedestrian safety infrastructure because these measures get people out of cars and are essential components of fighting climate change.
TAXATION
COPE believes in progressive property tax, with a higher rate for more expensive properties. The mansion tax is a progressive tax whose revenues will be targeted to build modular and non-market housing. COPE will protect small neighbourhood businesses by seeking to establish progressive tax brackets for small, medium and large businesses.
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
The Greens would seek to amend Vancouver’s Charter to recognize the right to housing, and redefine affordability in bylaws to be 30 per cent of income. It would set a goal of 50 per cent below-market-rate housing for new multi-residential developments and launch a city-funded, city-built housing program on city-owned land. It would change bylaws to encourage secondary suites and fast-track permits for affordable housing.
EMPTY HOMES TAX
The Greens would not remove the empty home tax, but would further clarify exceptions. Depending on a full report after the first year of implementation, the Greens might consider increasing it. The party would consider expanding the tax to include commercial storefronts to reduce vacancies and prevent the hollowing out of commercial streets.
HOUSING DENSITY
Green Coun. Adriane Carr voted against rezoning of single-family neighbourhoods to allow duplexes because of the lack of public consultation and fears the simplistic focus on one housing form could escalate land prices, increase teardowns and destroy existing affordable housing. Greens support a comprehensive city-wide plan, co-developed with residents.
OVERDOSE CRISIS
The Greens would call on Ottawa to decriminalize drug possession in order to treat addiction as a health issue. This means displacing the poisoned drug supply with clean drugs to be administered under medical supervision as the first step to treatment. Greens would push for more treatment beds and a comprehensive long-term strategy.
BROADWAY SUBWAY
The Greens would not seek to change the plan for the Broadway subway to Arbutus, which has support from regional mayors and significant funding from senior governments, both of which are hard to get. Greens would push to protect businesses, heritage buildings and rental housing along the route.
GOVERNANCE
The Greens would require more transparency in budgeting and negotiations with developers, and more efficient permitting processes. It would increase access to council with regular open-mike sessions. It wants the province to close loopholes in local election financing legislation, cap donations and ban corporate and union donations all the time, not just in election years.
WALKING & BIKING
The Greens want to make Vancouver the most walkable city in North America. It wants more bike lanes, better connecting routes to increase efficiency, the promotion of safe cycling at public schools, a clear cost reckoning of the city-subsidized bike-share program, and slower, safer residential streets with a 30 km/h speed limit.
TAXATION
With the Greens, residents can expect taxes to stay about the same. They can also expect more transparency, with detailed line items on city budgets, so that taxpayers know their money is being well-spent. Greens also would seek to lighten the tax load for business through targeted property tax reductions for long-term independently owned small businesses.
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY
Vision will speed up permits, change zoning to allow more housing options and deliver more city-built affordable housing, including co-ops, as part of a comprehensive plan for 88,000 new homes over 10 years. Vision’s school board candidates are working on a pilot housing program for teachers.
EMPTY HOMES TAX
Vision wants to triple the empty homes tax to three per cent, to get more people into vacant homes, to crack down on speculation that’s driving prices up, and to put more money into affordable housing in every neighbourhood.
HOUSING DENSITY
Vision supports duplexes in singlefamily areas. Vision is committed to implementing the Making Room initiative and creating more affordable housing options, including opening low-density neighbourhoods for townhouses, low-rise apartments and other forms of housing that support affordable options for renters and families looking for affordable ownership opportunities.
OVERDOSE CRISIS
Vision will build on the city’s integrated opioid response plan by championing new overdose prevention sites in supportive housing and a crisis fund to support first responders. Vision will focus on mental health and addiction issues and support the decriminalization of drug possession in small amounts while getting tougher on trafficking.
BROADWAY SUBWAY
Vision will fight to get the Broadway subway built all the way to UBC to improve commutes and reduce congestion. Vision will make sure Vancouver seizes this once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve our transportation infrastructure, boost our local economy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.
GOVERNANCE
Vision will improve inclusion by giving priority to engagement with people who are under-represented in decision-making, including millennials, newcomers and urban Indigenous people.
WALKING & BIKING
Vision supports protected bike lanes that keep people safe. Under Vision, Vancouver has seen tremendous growth in cycling in our city, especially among women and children. This is good for people’s health and the environment. Vision will continue to lead on active transportation by widening sidewalks and by expanding bike share in Vancouver.
TAXATION
Under Vision, council invested in priorities and public services that matter to people while balancing budgets. This approach has served people well. One provincial tax Vision wants to address is the way small businesses are assessed at the much higher rate of a potential condo development. This is unfair to small businesses.