Natural beauty is worth protecting. Our children not only need places to play, but also places to enjoy and explore nature. We all need places of tranquil refuge from our busy lives. The animals and birds that help make our urban lives enjoyable need places to nest and raise their young.
People and nature in balance is my vision for our parks and recreation system.
The Grinch tried to steal Christmas, but the Bright Nights
Christmas Train in Stanley Park will forge ahead for the 18th year in a row.
Thieves stole about $7,000 worth of extension cords,
probably for the copper they contain, on Remembrance Day. Despite the setback, the
seasonal attraction will be up and running as scheduled on November 26.
All front gate donations and a portion of ticket sales go to
the BC Professional Fire Fighters’ Burn Fund. More than $1.5 million has been
raised to help burn survivors and their families since 1998.
Eight hundred fire
fighters volunteer more than 8,000 hours to set up, operate and tear down three
million lights at the train and plaza.
Media are invited to learn more:
When: Monday, November 23, 1 pm
Where: Stanley Park Train, Pipeline Road
Who: Vancouver Park Board Vice Chair Sarah Kirby-Yung, fire
fighters, burn survivors, Santa Claus
What: Train ride and fire fighters setting up lights
This year, the attraction includes a new station to protect
visitors from the elements. Architectural features in the station reflect the
previous structure, which was destroyed in a fire in 2012.
Trains depart every 4.5 minutes during peak periods for the
15-minute journey. It is one of Vancouver's most popular family attractions,
carrying more than 200,000 passengers per year.
During Bright Nights, the train’s four engines and three
sets of cars travel more than 5,000 kilometres—the distance across Canada.
Bright Nights runs until January 2 and is closed Christmas Day. Visitors are
encouraged to donate non-perishable food items to the Greater Vancouver Food
Bank Society.
More information and tickets available at vancouver.ca.
The Vancouver Park Board is seeking
experienced consultants to help it dream up a new, long-term master plan
for all of the city’s parks and recreation facilities.
It’s been 23 years since the park board last
updated the master plan that governs the more than 230 public parks and
55 recreation facilities enjoyed by more than 600,000 residents and an
unknown number of visitors from neighbouring municipalities and around
the world.
And given a lot has changed since 1992 – the
year the Blue Jays won their first World Series, Justin Trudeau was an
18-year-old camp councillor and Vancouver councillors approved the
design of the central library – the park board believes it’s time for a
plan that reflects a new reality, said research and planning manager
Dave Hutch.
“Our demographics are changing, we’re becoming
an older city, and trends in park use and recreation are changing as
well,” Hutch said Monday. “It will make sure we’re investing in the
right things in the right places in the city.”
Fewer people play racquetball. Skateboarders
have sanctioned city parks. Parkour exists. Baby boomers are more
interested in walking instead of activities.
But more drastic is the change in where people
live given geography will shape where the park board focuses its
resources, Hutch said. He cited the 60,000 additional people living on
the downtown peninsula and the explosion of growth along the Cambie
corridor as examples.
The park board wants to hire outside help
because of the workload anticipated in refreshing the plan, which will
involve significant consultation with the community, Hutch said.
It’s also looking for experts that have
experience planning parks and recreation in other major centres in North
America or even around the world.
It’s a competitive bid process so Hutch could
not reveal how much the park board hopes to pay these consultants, but
there is $1.5 million set aside for planning in the park board’s
three-year capital plan.
It will take several months for the park board
to select a consultant. If all goes well, it will start the anticipated
18-month master planning process by summer 2016.
Toronto Pearson International Airport processed 38 million passengers
last year. 23 million international and transborder, so that's over 11
million arrivals per year, or 32,000 per
day, all being security screened by CBSA. That's one airport. Every
single day. Sure, screening refugees is more in depth, but it's a drop
in the ocean compared to the number of people entering Canada every
year. The suggestion that our ability to conduct security screenings is a
legitimate reason for turning away 25,000 people fleeing a brutal war
zone is a smoke-screen.
Vancouver Park Board is proposing to
spend $3 million to update the city’s Sunset Park — with new pathways, a
playground, skateboarding, and a basketball facility in the books.
Board
commissioners are expected to vote on Monday on whether to approve the
plan after a pair of open houses were previously held for nearby
residents.
The vast majority of the feedback had suggested the
park needs more natural forest areas, particularly around the historic
stream that runs through the park, and that new paths were needed to
take park around the 3.4 hectare property.
Currently, the park has
a large area to its northeastern quarter that’s relatively unused and
being proposed as the site of the new playground, a relocated dog
off-leash area and an exercise circuit.
The skatepark and
basketball court, meanwhile, are being proposed adjacent to the
community centre along the park’s Main Street face.
The Park Board
currently has secured $700,000 of the funds it requires to make the
upgrade happen. It expects additional funding to be accessible in the
2017 budget. Construction is also expected to begin in 2017.
Year after year we wear poppies to commemorate Remembrance Day and
give thanks to all of the fallen and wounded soldiers who served their
country. First Nations soldiers played an important role in both World
War I and II and today we are honoured to bring you the story of Private
Andrew Wapachee.
Andrew Wapachee was born in 1900 in a Hudson’s
Bay trading post that later became Hannah Bay Goose Camp located about
45 km east of Moose Factory. His father was William Wapachee from
Nemaska. His mother passed away within a few hours after his birth, and
he only survived as result of the other women at the post, who
graciously cared for and fed him. Andrew’s father was a trapper and
spent his time in the bush and as a result, Andrew was raised by his
Grandmother.
At the young age of 17, Andrew heard about the Great
War and left to enlist. He left his Grandmother and paddled to Moose
Factory to answer the call to fight in the war. Andrew didn’t speak
English and enlisted with the help of a translator named Bertie
Morrison. Andrew was sent to the east coast of Canada, then to England
for training and then to the European battlefields of France, Belgium
and Germany.
During one battle, after an explosion, Andrew
found himself under a pile of bodies. After trying to crawl out he saw
the enemy advancing and shooting his comrades who were still alive. In
order to survive, he played dead and after this ordeal, Andrew was able
to flee and return to his battalion where he continued to serve. When
the First World War ended, Andrew was on the outskirts of Bonn, Germany
and when they entered the city and marched through the streets, Andrew
and his battalion were greeted with roaring cheers from both sides of
the streets.
Andrew later mentioned to his son Bert Wapachee that
he often prayed during the war and attributes his survival to this.
When the 2nd Great War started, Andrew once again tried to answer the
call to fight, however by this time, he had a family and was prevented
from leaving after his wife convinced him that he had served enough.
This is one shining story of many from the Cree Nation; if you have a
story about your family serving, please share it with us. We would love
to hear them. Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute
B.C Grand Chief says many Aboriginal veterans highly decorated
CBC NewsPosted: Nov 08, 2015 5:22 PM PT
Last Updated: Nov 08, 2015 5:32 PM PT
An veteran who attended National Aboriginal Veterans Day in Vancouver on November 8, 2015. (CBC)
Aboriginal veterans marched through downtown Vancouver to mark
National Aboriginal Veterans Day in Canada, which was first
was celebrated in Manitoba in 1994 and is now held every year on
November 8.
In Vancouver there was a ceremony Sunday morning at Victory Square. Dozens of veterans from a variety of combat missions took part.
"A lot of people don't know how many of our people have actually
gone," said Robert Nahanee who served in the Canadian Army in the 1960s
and 1970s and is from the Squamish First Nation.
Robert Nahanee, a member of the Squamish First Nation, served in the Canadian military in the 1960s and 1970s. (CBC)
Nahanee said it is important to honour older relatives who went off to fight overseas. He said a large percentage of people from his village, in the area known as Lower Lonsdale, fought for Canada.
"During that time out of 250 people the way I understand it, 50 of
our people served in the Canadian army and the American army, and the
remainder of that was at home, that were able to work in the
shipyards ... building warships. So they played a major role in who we
are as a free country, as Canada."
Nahanee says National Aboriginal Veterans Day helps create awareness
of the role Aboriginal people played in military service throughout
Canadian history.
It's something Grand Chief Stewart Phillip from the Union of BC Indian Chiefs agrees with.
Union of BC Indian Chiefs Grand Chief Stewart
Phillip says First Nations people have willingly served in Canadian
military operations to protect values of democracy and freedom. (CBC)
"Many of our aboriginal veterans were highly decorated and we take
great pride in that fact and we commemorate this very special day, here
on November the 8th to draw public attention and to pay respects to the
families," he said.
Veterans Affairs Canada says the estimates are that as many as 12,000 Aboriginal people served in the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War.
To listen to City of Vancouver staff, tearing down the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts will be a win-win.
There
won’t be much effect on traffic, there will be a bigger Creekside Park,
and the $200-million cost of tearing down the massive structures will
be covered by a projected $300 million in community amenity
contributions, development cost levies and land sales in the
neighbourhood.
But there are skeptics, including NPA Coun. George Affleck.
“They’re
saying that the costs will be underwritten by the project in a
mysterious way,” Affleck said. “From what I can tell, it looks like they
will be raiding the community amenity contributions from across the
city to underwrite the costs of this.”
Community amenity contributions are fees the city collects from developers to pay for things like parks and daycares.
Affleck
questions whether the city will be able to squeeze the projected $300
million out of a developer like Concord Pacific, which owns a big chunk
of land near the viaducts.
“I don’t see that math
adding up,” Affleck said. “The Concord deal is a provincial deal. There
are limitations to what we can extract unless the province decides to
change their deal with Concord.”
(The Concord Pacific land was purchased from the province in 1988, when the company bought the former Expo 86 site.)
Affleck’s concerns were dismissed by Vision Coun. Geoff Meggs.
“The
staff gave assurances as well that the revenue opportunities are
significant,” Meggs said. “They come from the site. They’re not going to
be imposed on people from around the city.”
Most
of the criticism of the plan for the viaducts was levelled at the
timeline for Creekside Park, which may not be finished for another
decade.
False Creek residents have been angry at
the city and Concord Pacific for years because of delays in completing
the park — there are an estimated 1,500 green lights hanging in windows
throughout the neighbourhood as a protest.
On
Tuesday, council voted in favour of a staff recommendation to tear down
the viaducts. Green Coun. Adriane Carr tried to add an amendment that
stated the park should be finished by 2024, but was rebuffed.
“The
people of False Creek have been waiting 25 years for the delivery of
Creekside Park,” she said. “Supposedly bringing down the viaducts will
facilitate the faster development of that park, and certainly Vision has
been lauding the park delivery as a key part of the viaducts decision.
“(But)
when I put it into the form of an amendment, they said that would be a
false promise, and they couldn’t necessarily deliver it, and it was out
of our hands.”
Meggs voted against amendment.
“Coun.
Carr’s motion would have required us to complete the park, whether or
not the financial arrangements were in line with what Concord’s legal
obligations are,” he said. “The delivery of the park is triggered by
rezoning. And the rezoning can’t occur until the park configuration is
confirmed, which we did last night. (But) there still has to be
important negotiations with Carr’s Concord, and
they have to satisfy staff and council that they’re making the
appropriate contributions to the park, daycare, to whatever the other
community amenity contributions are.”
That wasn’t good enough for False Creek resident John Murray.
“They
keep saying, ‘Look, the viaducts come down and you are going to get
this outstanding, beautiful, bigger, better park,’” Murray said.
“They
don’t say that this is a park that is 25 years overdue, and actually
all we’re doing is shuffling things around, and you’re getting the same
size park except it’s going to be fragmented, and the developer is
getting more waterfront property.
“That is basically what is happening, and we’re frustrated to no end with that.”
Murray
said in 2004 the city rewrote a provision in the Concord Pacific deal
that allowed it to delay building the park. He would like to see the
city play hardball with the company and speed things up.
“Other
developers have had to come up front with a park, or cash in lieu,” he
said. “Bosa did that way back in the ’90s, and Concord has been able to
keep going on (without building a park).
“They’re actually making money off all that land and not paying any taxes, and they’ve put nothing up front.”
Provincial
Transportation Minister Todd Stone weighed in on the viaducts issue
from Victoria, where he told reporters it has been “a number of years
since the city took meaningful steps to reach out to PavCo, which owns
and operates BC Place (Stadium).”
It is unclear
what Stone’s issues with the city’s plans were. The proposed Georgia
Street extension would go over top of Griffiths Way, a street that
trucks use to load equipment at the stadium.
“What
we have said to the city is any of these changes must take into account
our load-in,” PavCo’s Duncan Blomfeld said. “The city came back to us
and told us it won’t affect the load-in and load-out of the stadium.”
One of the Community Centre Associations I am Commissioner Liaison to is RayCam. This issue has been very important to the community. I am sharing this press release from Guy Wakeman and Judy McGuire for information purposes.
For Immediate Release: October 30, 2015
In
what can only be described as a nasty trick to play on Downtown
Eastside children and families, the City of Vancouver has just given
approval for a brewery and tasting room to open across the street from
the Ray-Cam Community Centre.
Ray-Cam
is a well-known and respected centre which offers numerous programs for
local families and seniors, daily childcare and after-school programs
for over 100 children, sports activities for young people, and evening
programs for local teens. Located adjacent to the Stamps Place Housing
Complex and the Strathcona neighbourhood, it is widely regarded as the
community living room by families with few other resources
.
Raising
children in the Downtown Eastside is a daunting challenge. Parents,
already stressed by trying to provide for their families, also face
trying to protect their children from witnessing the activities of local
drug dealers and sex trade workers, to say nothing of having to
constantly guard against them finding discarded needles and condoms.
Local
families were relieved when City Council implemented restrictions on
marijuana shops which will prevent them from operating within 300 metres
of schools and community centres. The two located half a block from
Ray-Cam and Stamps Place will now have to move. This decision fits well
with the City’s Health City Strategy which, among other goals, aims to
ensure that Vancouver’s children have the best chance of enjoying a
healthy childhood.
The
City’s seeming care for the well-being of children is now being
questioned by local families facing the prospect of having a brewery
serving alcohol on-site located right across from the community centre
they considered a refuge for their young
.
On hearing of the decision, Guy Wakeman, president of the Stamps Place Tenants Council, was extremely upset. “I
do not understand why the City would agree to a brewery opening here. I
have two young children who will now be exposed to the open promotion
and consumption of alcohol every single day. It’s right beside our bus
stop. They will not be able to avoid it. I’m very upset and worried
about how this will affect my children and my neighbours.”
The
City has acted responsibly in restricting the location of marijuana
shops. Residents are hoping they will quickly take similar steps to
protect children from the promotion and open consumption of alcohol, and
direct this proposed brewery to move to a more suitable location.
For further information, contact:
Guy Wakeman, President, Stamps Place Tenants Council
Okay, not about Vancouver parks today. But I thought an important post nonetheless. Thank you to Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada for this list:
We need a stock-taking. A “to-do” list. Some of what the Harper
administration broke will be easy to fix; much will be very hard indeed.
What
we must do is insist the damage be reversed. There is an equally long
list of steps to take moving forward – but we need to repair immense
damage to nearly every aspect of federal law and policy.
Here’s a start:
1) Fixing security law:
Repeal
Bill C-51. As a compromise, the Liberals could amend part 2 (No Fly
lists) while repealing Parts 1 (info sharing), 3 (terrorism in general
propaganda), 4 (the most dangerous, unleashing CSIS as covert
disruptors) and 5 (allowing evidence obtained by torture).
Repeal C-44 – allowing CSIS agents to operate over-seas.
Repeal C-38 – with a section eliminating the Inspector General for CSIS.
Repeal C-3 (2007 legislation that introduced unconstitutional security certificates).
Instead – build security law drawn from advice from the Arar and Air India Commissions of Inquiry.
2) Rebuilding our criminal law system:
Reinstate the Law Reform Commission and Court Challenges programme.
Repeal C-10 and other mandatory minimum provisions.
Repeal C-2 (Insite).
Repeal C-14 (NCR).
Repeal C-25 (Truth in Sentencing Act).
Repeal C-309 (Preventing Persons from Concealing Their Identity during Riots and Unlawful Assemblies Act).
3) Reverse trend to slippery citizenship:
Return Canada’s embassies to aggressively act for Canadians abroad in trouble – including on death row.
Repeal C-24 (only one citizenship exists – unless obtained by fraud, citizenship is citizenship).
Repeal FATCA (found in omnibus C-31).
Restore citizenship for Lost Canadians.
4) Immigration and refugee law:
Repeal the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act from Fall 2011 that puts refugees arriving by boat in jail for a year (C-31).
Return to principles of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act – create a predictable path to citizenship.
Prioritize family reunification.
Create a sponsor-friendly refugee support process. Restore health, housing, language and other supports to refugee claimants.
Appoint board members to Immigration appeal board to deal with backlog.
5) Restore evidence-based decision making:
Restore Long Form Census. Rehire Munir Sheik as Chief Statistician of Canada and give him the Order of Canada.
Repeal
C-38 sections that wrecked environmental assessment (EA). Eliminate any
EA role for energy regulatory agencies (NEB, offshore petroleum boards,
CNSC, etc) and return EA to the Canadian Environmental Assessment
Agency. Repeal C-38 destruction of CEAA, and further amend the Act to
remove the conflict of interest found in the pre-2011 CEAA. A good model
can be found in the Liberal 1993 Red Book (never implemented).
Repeal C-38 elimination of the National Round Table on Environment and Economy.
Re-hire scientists.
Restore funding to the Canadian Climate Forum (formerly the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences).
Restore funding to Polar Environmental Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL).
Restore the Marine Mammals Contaminants Programme.
Restore testing of smokestacks for air quality.
Restore ozone layer testing.
Restore freshwater science. Resume funding and DFO work in Experimental Lakes Area.
Restore research funding and monitoring for ecological integrity to Parks Canada.
6) Repair environmental laws and policy:
Repeal C-38:
I.
Damage to Fisheries Act (restore habitat protection, reverse
administrative changes in interpretation of “deleterious to fish” as
meaning acute toxicity at LD50, as well as removing the equivalency
provisions for provincial down-loading); II. Section that amended
NEB also damaged Species at Risk Act, Navigable Waters Protection At,
Fisheries Act exempting these acts – as not applying along route of a
pipeline; III. As above in decision-making section, restore CEAA as sole agency to oversee environmental reviews.
Repeal C-45:
I.
Restore Navigable Waters Protection Act (NWPA), and repeal the 2009
omnibus bill that re-defined “navigable waters” to a matter of
ministerial discretion. Return NWPA to its pre-2006 condition. Navigable
waters are any and all waters that can be navigated.
Restore funding to Canadian Environmental Network.
7) Climate action:
Ratify the Kyoto Protocol.
Work
with other Kyoto parties and support the information sections and the
mechanisms, especially the Clean Development Mechanism. No new targets
need be established within the KP as our new targets will evolve in the
new comprehensive COP21 agreement.
Restore ecoENERGY Retrofit – Homes program.
Consider the other actions in place in 2006 that the Harper administration cancelled.
8) Repair Official Development Assistance:
Restore funding to MATCH, KAIROS, Canadian Council for International Cooperation, etc.
Consider re-establishing CIDA as its own agency, but at a minimum reverse funding cuts and restore goal of poverty alleviation.
9) Service Canada:
In
what was described as an effort to save money, the Harper
administration created a new department to house administrative, IT and
finance roles. Call for a full audit by the Auditor General and
determine if Service Canada has in fact resulted in savings, or, if, as
many suspect, it has been a boondoggle. Consider restoring functionality
in the public service.
10) Reverse monumental mistakes:
Cancel
any federal funding to Canadian Memorial to the Victims of Communism
and cancel plans for its current location. Allow it to proceed in
another location with a more modest and reasonable design as a private
charitable project.
Restore land from Green Cove in Cape Breton
Highlands National Park to the park, reversing private give-away to
private sector interests. Allow the so-called Mother Canada statue to be
built on an appropriate site in industrial Cape Breton.
11) Repair national parks:
Cancel any and all plans to further privatize within national parks.
Amend
the Sable Island National Parks Act to remove the role of the
Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board as a regulator within the
park. Ban seismic testing, drilling and any industrial activity in the
park.
Amend the Rouge Valley National Parks Act to restore ecological integrity.
Re-affirm the guiding principle of the National Parks Act to protect ecological integrity.
12) Repair legislative damage to First Nations rights and title:
Amend the NWT devolution act to restore the water boards and other agencies created by treaty.
Repeal
C-27 (First Nations Financial Transparency Act) and S-2 (Family Homes
on Reserves and Matrimonial Interests or Rights Act).
Restore funding and re-open the National Aboriginal Health Organization and the First Nations Statistical Institute.
13) Women’s rights:
Restore purpose of Status of Women Canada to include achieving equality for women.
Restore funding to Canadian Association of Women and the Law, National Action Committee, etc.
Institute an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women.
Implement pay equity for women in federal civil service.
Repeal manipulative laws that contort women’s rights creating increased risks to women:
I. S-7 (Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act) II. C-36 (Sex trade worker law)
14) Restore funding to CBC-Radio Canada:
Cancel sale of assets
15) Reverse cessation of home delivery by Canada Post
16) Re-engage with international sustainable development:
Restore funding to CIDA.
Halt sales of diplomatic residences.
Ratify the Convention to Combat Desertification (from which we withdrew under the Harper Conservatives).
17) Investor State agreements that cannot be undone:
Canada-China
Investment Treaty was signed and ratified without any hearings in
Parliament, without a ratification vote in the House or Senate.
The
earliest Canada can be out from under this treaty is 2045. To protect
Canadian interests and sovereignty, we need a law requiring immediate
public disclosure of any and all complaints by the People’s Republic of
China against Canadian legislation, regulation or policy changes,
pending or concluded, at all levels of government. This notification
includes any diplomatic pressure from the PRC in the six month window
for conflict resolution prior to the lodging of an actual arbitration
claim. Canada must be prepared to pay damages to the People’s Republic
of China if our environment, labour or safety laws require it. The
Canada-China Investment Treaty is the worst of the changes wrought in
the Harper era. It could operate to stop the needed repairs. All we can
do now is ask to re-negotiate while ensuring our domestic legislation
guarantees transparency.
This week, Vancouver City Council is expected to vote
on removing the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts—although as many City
Hall watchers suggest: It is already a done deal.
The proposal to remove the viaducts has been an ongoing issue for
several years now; one that has piqued concern and activism in
neighbouring communities.
As many of us have been advocating for years: if we are going to remove the viaducts, let’s do it right.
(*Full
disclosure: my political genesis was viaducts removal. After losing a
close friend and neighbour to unsafe Prior Street traffic conditions,
I’ve been advocating for safety improvements east of Main to be included
in the viaducts planning.)
The
removal of the viaducts is supposed to open up some 2.5 million square
feet of residential and commercial development, provide new green space,
and add thousands of new residents. More importantly, the development
of Northeast False Creek is key to the eastward migration of Downtown
Vancouver—an inevitability that urbanists and realtors have been
describing for decades.
At his 2015 Urban Development Institute address,
Vancouver's pre-eminent real estate marketer Bob Rennie described "big
game changers" that will trigger the movement of the city centre east.
Bold moves like the relocation of St. Paul's Hospital to the False Creek
Flats, and the removal of the viaducts are two of those game changers.
But in any game changer, there are winners and losers.
The
winners, of course, will be the developers and landowners who stand to
immediately benefit from viaducts removal. Concord Pacific who own and
will develop much of that land; the Crown Corporation PavCo and the City
itself have significant holdings that will open up; and Ian Gillespie's
district energy company has inked a deal with the City to provide heat for all new development in the area.
Optimistically,
Vancouverites could be big winners if this project is done right—but
the losers might well be the most vulnerable in our population,
particularly as development puts the squeeze on housing affordability
and new road networks bring more traffic.
Here are some caveats I outlined before council at first reading of the city staff report on October 21.
First, the City must commit to traffic management east of Main Street as part of the viaducts' removal.
One of the biggest concerns expressed by commuters and businesses is that viaducts removal will exacerbate congestion.
According to the report, however, the proposed viaducts replacement
road—a new at-grade “grand boulevard”—will accommodate viaducts and
existing Pacific and Expo traffic streams, while actually increasing
road capacity.
The City’s report offers no commitment to address
that traffic flow beyond Northeast False Creek, however. To the east:
the communities of Strathcona, Grandview–Woodland, the Downtown
Eastside, and Chinatown lack the road infrastructure to accommodate the
traffic from the new post-viaducts street network and millions of square
feet of new development.
As the plan currently outlines, the new
Pacific Boulevard will connect to Prior Street. Prior, a narrow
neighbourhood street without the setbacks and width expected of an
arterial road, is the unfortunate legacy of the proposed freeway system
that citizens managed to stop in the 1970s. Prior Street.Wayne WordenAn
In-Service Road Safety Review of Prior and Venables (prepared for the
City in September by Urban Systems and Morr Transportation Consulting)
concedes: “the collisions occurring along Prior Street are involving a
higher number of vulnerable road users than other comparable corridors
and are potentially more severe.”
Of course, locals recognize the
inherent danger for vulnerable road users outlined in the road safety
review, and seemingly everyone knows someone who has been touched by
reckless commuters racing through our neighbourhood. In Strathcona,
parents won’t allow children to cross the busy street to the park as
unsafe speeds and the running of red lights are all too common; in
Grandview–Woodland, the same sort of situation manifests itself along
Victoria Drive north of First.
The report before council does
acknowledge the need to secure a new east-west arterial route, but
defers that to an indeterminate plan to be considered in 2016 and
contingent on securing senior government funding. In the meantime,
uncertainty over the how or where of a new arterial is cause for concern
among residents and businesses. We ask that the wording of the report
reflect that those details be established before the viaducts are
removed.
Second, delivery of affordable and social housing must be guaranteed.
Proponents
of viaducts removal point to this as a great opportunity to build
affordable housing, and indeed it could be—but the delivery of social
housing relies on a complicated shell game.
Concord’s land
development is contingent on former landowners (the province of B.C.)
removing contaminated soil. In turn, if the City of Vancouver awards
significant and sufficient densities to developers Concord, some degree
of profit will be shared with the Province, which the City hopes will be
directed to social housing.
If you aren’t confused yet, consider
that profits will have to factor in the Developer Cost Levies and
Community Amenity Contributions (CACs); the latter, paid by the
developers, is negotiated behind closed doors and will be expected to
help cover the cost of viaducts removal, parks, seawall, and a new road
network.
At a recent SFU City Conversations on the subject, noted
urban planner Lance Berelowitz questioned whether the math could work to
deliver all the promises via CACs. One thing is for sure: if we are to
extract maximum public benefit, these as-yet-to-happen negotiations need
to be transparent.
Among the parcels for redevelopment,
city-owned land is being considered for sale in order to finance
viaducts removal and housing. The city has previously shown leadership
in advocating for a housing land trust—and these locations would be a wonderful opportunity to build leasehold public housing on city-owned land.
On
the blocks flanking Main Street in particular, the City could further
honour the black community of Hogan’s Alley who were displaced to make
way for the viaducts, by embracing the idea of retaining public
ownership of the land rather than selling it to the highest bidder.
The
future of the viaducts land, St. Paul’s Hospital, and the Flats,
together with development in Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside, are
putting extraordinary pressure on housing. We need to advocate at all
three levels of government to ensure that we are protecting residents
from displacement and be much more proactive in the building of
affordable and social housing.
The city knows they cannot build
this housing alone, and the staff report details the negotiations that
must happen with senior governments. However, the City must ensure that
their plan includes real and achievable targets in writing, along with a
meaningful commitment to delivering affordable housing, lest we end up
with more Olympic Village-style broken promises.
If we do it
right: with comprehensive traffic management for the East End and a
commitment to social and affordable housing; honouring the displacement
of the black community at Hogan’s Alley and the diversity and struggle
of the area’s low income community; and delivering existing residents
their overdue and long-promised Creekside Park; viaducts removal could
be a great opportunity for our City.
