We had an opportunity in Vancouver and we wasted it. We could have shown the world what a progressive government could do, but we were not bold enough. We didn’t have the courage of our convictions, nor the wherewithal to carry through with the promise. And so, we have retreated to the regressive, ‘I’m all right’ kind of government that led us to the problems we face today.
It started as a revolution with the election of Gregor Robertson in 2008, with bold goals and visions of an equitable city and a leader in climate and reconciliation. But it fizzled out and was replaced by weak leadership when Vision left a void in the progressive movement.
From 2018 to 2022 only the COPE/Green/Vision-led Park Board showed the kind of leadership the whole city needed. From equity to homelessness, reconciliation to sustainability, the Park Board led in a compassionate and progressive way.
Unfortunately, the same kind of leadership needed at City Hall was absent. A weak mayor and a disparate Council, more concerned with re-election than leading, with only COPE’s Jean Swanson and One City’s Christine Boyle bringing real progressive ideas to the table.
Into this void came the election of Kim Sim’s ABC City Council. With no real policy or direction, the city waited with anticipation on what they would do. What we got was a hard right, uncaring city hall.
Homelessness and addiction are being swept under the carpet again, with folks retreating to the alleyways, doorsteps, and parks, where they can be ignored and unseen. We might have gotten the 100 cops promised but not the 100 nurses.
With the ABC majority scrapping the ‘living wage policy’, the stage is set for other employers to ignore the reality of the cost of living in Vancouver, forcing low-wage workers to either leave or become homeless themselves.
Mayor Ken Sim says he wants Vancouver to be a ‘World Class City’. If that means unaffordable, he’s the right person for the job. ABC has cherry-picked from the Vancouver Plan leaving low-wage earners and the ‘missing middle-class’ with nowhere to live. Families can no longer afford housing and abandon the city for the furthest reaches of the suburbs. Seniors are left destitute. Ken Sim wants density but not affordability. Vancouver becomes a city for the rich and no one else. Monaco on the Pacific.
Can Vancouver endure 3 more years of this recklessness? It has endured previous weak mayors, but this is an agenda not based on weakness but on callousness. I despair for Vancouver, the city I once called home. As the planet warms, Vancouver City Hall chills to the realities of its residents.
We started with so much promise, but it was wasted on the way.
