Independent city council candidates slam Vancouver’s housing policies
Lauren Gill is not what some might consider a typical city council candidate.
The 22-year-old has been a participant in the Occupy Vancouver protest since October 15, spending many nights in a tent at the downtown encampment.
She’s also an activist who has been organizing and speaking out about municipal issues for the past five years, since she was 17.
Running under the banner of R.I.C.H., or “The Rent is Crazy High”, Gill said she decided to launch her bid for council to draw attention to issues such as housing and homelessness.
“I never thought I would ever run for city council,” she told the Straight in an interview at the tent city at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
“I lived on the streets for a number of years and struggled with addictions as a youth, and got clean when I was 17, and that’s when I started organizing. So for me, housing and homelessness and these issues are really personally close to my heart.”
Gill noted she first got involved in organizing with Community Advocates for Little Mountain, in opposition to the closure of 224 units of affordable housing at the complex.
Other factors that have led her to launch her city council candidacy include the condition of some single-room occupancy hotels in the city, and the proposal for a condo development at the Pantages Theatre site on East Hastings Street.
“Even if they are building some affordable housing in Vancouver, the surrounding rents of the already affordable housing that we have is going up and up and up because of condo development,” she claimed.
Gill said she’s spoken to people at the Occupy Vancouver camp who haven’t been interested in having housing arranged through the city’s homeless advocate.
“I’m going up to people saying hey, Judy Graves is offering you housing, and they’re saying I don’t want SROs, I’d rather be outside…the conditions in those buildings are just horrible,” she claimed. “We’re talking about people with disabilities, and people with mental health and addictions, and people who are really, really sick, and we’re putting them in squalor and squat.”
While Gill is passionate about the issues at the centre of her campaign, she concedes that she doesn’t expect to land a seat on council this time around. Part of the process, she noted, is generating discussion around the issues.
“Time and time again, I’ve seen the impacts that municipal decisions have on the people of Vancouver, and I’m kind of fed-up with it,” said Gill. “I’m running to inject issues into the election.”
Her running mate under the R.I.C.H. banner, Aaron Spires, views Gill’s chances more optimistically, given the positive reaction the council hopeful has received at some all-candidate meetings.
“I don’t expect to be elected,” Spires told the Straight by phone. “I think my running mate has a good chance, but that’s to the voters to decide.”
Spires and Gill have both been organizers with the housing group Vancouver Action. Spires has also been involved with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers for the last six years. The candidates both say they want to see the city implement measures including a moratorium on condo development in the Downtown Eastside, and the land purchase and construction of resident-controlled social housing.
“Vancouver’s facing an affordability crisis,” said Spires. “In the face of that affordability crisis, the response of the current government in this city has been to give tax breaks to developers in order to build more condos, and gentrify neighbourhoods, while at the same time displacing people. So that’s the reason Lauren and I decided to run.”
Spires criticized the housing policies of both the Non-Partisan Association and Vision Vancouver, such as Vision’s short-term incentives for rental (STIR) program.
“What you end up seeing is 350 square feet renting for between $1,000 and $2,000 a month, and that without a doubt doesn’t deal with the actual affordability crisis,” he argued.
“It’s going to be nearly impossible for them to achieve any sort of end to homelessness through these market-based solutions,” he added.
“I think that the way to deal with this is to create resident-controlled social housing. Until we have that in place, all we’re doing is putting a band-aid on a gaping wound.”
Vision Vancouver councillor Kerry Jang defended the STIR program, which he said was launched to “create new rental stock, period”.
“What we’re trying to do is provide a range of housing options for people,” he told the Straight by phone.
Jang noted the capital plan going before voters on November 19 includes $42 million for non-market rental housing.
“We’re also looking at ways of using land that’s already in the city’s holdings, in terms of using that to build more social housing,” he said.
The Vancouver municipal election takes place on Saturday, November 19. The ballot features 12 candidates for mayor, 41 for city council, 21 for park board and 20 for school board.
Comments
13 Comments
Joseph Jones
Nov 14, 2011 at 8:32pm
I have great respect for both Lauren Gill and Aaron Spires. There is a reason these two stood among the final three on stage at Last Candidate Standing.
Gill and Spires manifest a good grasp of issues, quick minds, remarkable verbal facility, honest humor, and hearts fixed on goals greater than extension of personal power and financial self-advancement.
James G
Nov 14, 2011 at 9:12pm
I voted for these two committed young activists too. I had three votes left after choosing the COPE and NSV candidates. Chris Shaw got the other nod.
GZLFB
Nov 14, 2011 at 9:25pm
I said that in 2008, even before. It was my contention that it would be better to be on the street as well. Nice to know that Psych Jang wants people to be STIR crazy. Could ban the use of condo boards and demand sales agreements like rental and lease. Maybe some buildings are built in hopes to control people after they own something. Some places are bought unrentable because of condo board rules, are then dropped in value and maybe can be and are used as sets. Gill has a point or two, however I am not sure how well some of these housing critics understand the market. But when you do have condo boards, I am not sure you have a free market. Plus the density. The cramped closet they are allowed to build, do people realize they might be buying SROs one day?
Joseph Jones: What is greater than extension of personal power and financial self-advancement. Or at least the right to? Maybe things greater than wonton desire.
- Vancouver's Scourge of God.
GZLFB
Nov 14, 2011 at 9:41pm
Oh, technically they aren't Independent.
John S
Nov 14, 2011 at 11:45pm
"the current government in this city has been to give tax breaks to developers in order to build more condos"
I'd like to learn more about this. What are these tax breaks, and which developers are getting them?
james green
Nov 14, 2011 at 11:55pm
It is time this city elected smart, caring and honest candidates.
Laurin Gill fits the bill.
Anton
Nov 15, 2011 at 1:08am
I know it may sound crazy, but I feel sometimes that, in order to vote, it should be obligatory to hear from every candidate.
Bill G
Nov 15, 2011 at 7:49am
Will absolutely be voting for these two, alongside Sandy and Tim Louis.
Walter S
Nov 15, 2011 at 8:15am
Nihilists! F$#! me. I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos.
Peter Dimitrov
Nov 15, 2011 at 10:12am
RICH indeed - rents are crazy high in Vancouver for a variety of reasons. First, most homeowners who have some living space to rent have a mortgage where the banks/credit unions make a considerable profit - far far in excess of 20% profit over the term of the mortgage. That affects rent. Secondly, City of Vancouver, and most municipality taxes levied against home owners, and many are seniors on fixed limited incomes, have increased on the average 4/5% per year during the last ten years - that cost affects rent. Third,electrical energy costs have gone up approximately 40% over the last several years. Fourth, we have other taxes, such as Translink taxes, Carbon taxes on gas utility bills.Fifth, then we have the profit margins of corporations who own many of the multi-level rental buildings in Vancouver and the various costs I have just mentioned. Sixth, with a few modest exceptions, we have the virtual absence of the Provincial and Federal governments from the low cost/social housing scene in British Columbia. Seventh, municipalities, under the Canadian constitution do not have legal responsibility to build low cost housing or social housing - neither do they have the taxation base or revenues to do so - that responsibility is provincial and federal. Municipalities derive most of their revenue by taxing home owners and business owners - and in my opinion, homeowners and many tiny small businesses are taxed to the max by the City of Vancouver. While I support the allocation of City lands to build publicly owned low cost and social housing I do NOT support the City of Vancouver intending to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build said housing, those monies should be coming from the Province and the Federal government - that is where pressure should be applied. Lastly, indeed, there are many vacant condos in Vancouver and someone needs to investigate the legal and economic possibilities of the City taxing absentee owners. The fact is, as I have written about for ten years now, the system of governance and taxation is highly dysfunctional municipally, provincially and federally, and the result is that the Canadian comprador class which favours elitist democracy and corporate capitalistism is dominant. We need a new provincial constitution that balances rights/responsibilities and taxation powers between the Province and Municipalities, that curtails and checks the power of Executive branch of governance- with significant meaningful input by BC First Nations as is mandated by law. Otherwise the current meme will continue to deliver the results we see, or, "if you always do what you have always done you will get the results you have always got". Regrettably, IMO, while the Occupy Movement has provided somewhat of a forum for ordinary people to speak their minds I do not think it has gained much support from the broad base of the public, working class, youth, seniors, first nations, etc. - rather than camping out on a lawn - neighbourhoods where people live still need to be engaged and empowered.