08) COPE STRENGTHENS VANCOUVER HOUSING STRATEGY
PV Vancouver Bureau
Debates this summer over a proposed ten-year housing and homelessness strategy for Vancouver highlighted both differences and points of agreement between the city's Coalition of Progressive Electors and the governing Vision party. The two groups have adopted an electoral cooperation agreement heading into the Nov. 19 civic election, hoping to block the right-wing Non-Partisan Alliance from regaining control of City Council and School Board. If they succeed, it would mark the first time in nearly 30 years that the NPA has been defeated in consecutive elections.
Housing remains a critical issue facing the Metro Vancouver region. The most recent homeless count, conducted in March 2011, found that 1872 homeless people were in the "sheltered" category across the region, up from 1086 on the same day in 2008. Another 731 were "unsheltered", down from 1532 in 2008. The overall total dropped slightly, reflecting efforts by local governments to increase temporary shelter spaces, but the underlying problem has not been resolved.
Homelessness advocates were encouraged by the recognition in a July staff report to Vancouver city council that housing affordability needs to be tackled from the supply side. The report notes that while about 30,000 market rate rental units were built in the 1960s, only 6160 units were built in the past decade. The report calls for the creation of 40,000 new rental units by 2021, 8900 of which would be subsidized housing.
This would help address the reality that Vancouver is one of the most unaffordable housing markets in the world. Housing ownership now takes 60-80% of an average household's income, far beyond the means of most working people in the city.
Responding to the staff report, COPE City Councillors Ellen Woodsworth and David Cadman warned that key parts of the plan must be strengthened.
"This report represents a good first step," said Woodsworth, adding that key initiatives to drive affordability were lacking. "Working class families, seniors, and young people just can't afford to live in Vancouver any more. Where's the discussion around policies and measures to find solutions for them?"
"If this is going to be an aggressive plan to return real affordability to our city, we need to know how tools like inclusionary zoning and a city‑run housing authority could work here," said Cadman. "Imagine a Vancouver without families, without a working class, without artists, and without seniors. That is exactly where we're headed unless we do something bold today."
Woodsworth called for Vancouver to lead a charge with other large cities to call for a joint federal, provincial, municipal campaign on housing issues. "This is the biggest homelessness and affordability crisis seen since the great depression. We need to treat it with all the urgency this situation demands."
On July 28, City Council passed two key amendments to the ten-year plan, put forward by Woodsworth and Cadman.
"We needed to see a real commitment to investigate innovative policies that drive affordability," said Cadman. "We've done just that today with Council agreeing to look at inclusionary zoning, a city run housing authority, and increased funding for land purchases."
Cadman's amendment also directs staff to compile best practices for dealing with the preservation and creation of affordable housing from other jurisdictions, such as Toronto, New York, and London.
Woodsworth successfully called for Mayor Robertson as newly elected chair of the Big Cities Caucus to take a leadership role on a national housing campaign.
"We've been hearing for years how we as a city cannot get this job done without long‑term Federal and Provincial funding commitments," said Woodsworth. "This amendment is the first step in seeing that happen."
Both councillors said the July 28 meeting shows the strength of cooperation and thoughtful discourse that has become the hallmark of COPE's approach to major challenges facing the city.
However, NPA councillor and mayoralty candidate Suzanne Anton voted no to the strategy. "First it was `no' to bikes, then `no' to the environment," said Woodsworth, commenting on Anton's voting record. "Now it's `no' to affordable housing. It's shocking."
(The above article is from the September 1-15, 2011, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)