Strathcona advocate says NPA loss is bad news for inner city

Patricia Canning, the cochair of the Strathcona Revitilization Committee, attended the NPA party at the Renaissance Hotel in a jaunty pink beret. Before the offical results were announced, she knew it was bad news for the party.

And not just for the party, she said, but for the entire inner city. Strathcona, according to the SRC's definition, encompasses Chinatown, the swiftly-gentrifying residential neighbourhood adjacent, and much of the Downtown Eastside.

"When I email the councillors about safety issues, food security issues in the area, Peter Ladner is the only one who would respond," she said. "The new council is going to turn Strathcona into a social services precinct. I've seen this coming. I've been talking to people about this for four years."

Some issues the new council with have to address for the area include the future of Project Civil City; policing and the expansion of the Downtown Ambassadors program into the area; crime; where to move the Strathcona library branch; and support for the Four Pillars, among many others.