Broadway Plan debate misses the point: Vancouver needs public housing now

Draft land uses and heights of the Broadway Plan, previous March 2022 version. (City of Vancouver)

*For immediate release*

June 23, 2022 

Broadway Plan debate misses the point:
Vancouver needs public housing now

After Wednesday’s vote approving the plan, building tenant power and demanding public housing in every part of Vancouver is more important than ever 

Vancouver, B.C., unceded Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh territories - The City’s newest political party, VOTE Socialist, has sided with renters in the Broadway corridor, who now face an increased risk of housing speculation and displacement after City Council approved an amended version of the Broadway Plan on Wednesday.  

“Now, more than ever, we support the Vancouver Tenants Union and all efforts by renters to assert their collective power. Renters make up the majority of households in Vancouver, and yet this months-long debate over the Broadway Plan was dominated by voices promoting the interests of corporate developers and wealthier homeowners,” said a media spokesperson for the VOTE Socialist municipal election campaign. 

VOTE Socialist, which launched with a grassroots rally on May 1 and is set to nominate candidates in the coming weeks, has vocally supported the principles and recommendations of the Renters' Plan for Broadway released by the Tenants Union, including real rent and vacancy control tied to units and the guaranteed right for tenants to organize and collectively bargain with landlords. VOTE Socialist also backed the dissenting opinion of two Vancouver City Planning Commissioners who objected to the lack of accessibility guarantees in the Broadway Plan. 

Although some amendments were made to strengthen the right of current tenants to return at affordable rates, on the whole, deliberations regarding the Broadway Plan have reflected the uselessness of a City Hall beholden to for-profit and corporate interests. For example, with respect to accessibility, no clear provision was made to guarantee displaced tenants the right to return to units of the same square footage.

“Instead of relying on and catering to private developers, or caving to the interests of private landowners, the City of Vancouver must prioritize public housing in order to build the homes that we need and deserve,” urged Poursartip.

With debate on the city-wide Vancouver Plan coming up this summer, VOTE Socialist will campaign for drastic policies to expand public and coop housing in every neighbourhood. 

“The City can and should demand the right of first refusal to acquire properties for sale, enforce real rent control, crack down on housing speculation, and transform the Affordable Housing Authority so we can use City-owned land to build genuinely affordable and accessible co-op and public housing,” added Poursartip. 

Poursartip concluded with a message to voters: “If you’re a landowner or a developer in Vancouver, you already have a half-dozen vaguely-named establishment parties catering to your every whim. VOTE Socialist will provide everyone else — our city’s renting and working majority — with a no-nonsense alternative this October.”

For all press inquiries regarding VOTE Socialist, please contact election campaign <media@votesocialist.ca>