City Hall sides with greed, greenlights 105 Keefer

Meanwhile, B.C. government feels the heat over failure to provide Air Conditioners

Local

City Approves 105 Keefer Development Despite Promises and Public Opposition

In 2017, Chinatown citizens and community supporters proved the power of collective action in defeating Beedie Development Group’s proposed 12-storey development at 105 Keefer, in the heart of Vancouver’s Chinatown. In no small part due to the organizing of groups like Chinatown Action Group and the Chinatown Concern Group, the City of Vancouver rejected the tower that threatened to transform the character of the neighbourhood. 

Beedie filed a lawsuit against the City to overturn the decision. In December 2022, Justice Brongers of the BC Supreme Court ruled in favour of Beedie, finding that the board’s decision was “unreasonable” because it was “a departure from past practice that violated Beedie’s legitimate expectations. The Board had an obligation to explain and justify, which they did not do. Therefore, the application was returned to the development permit board for reconsideration. Significantly, however, the court did not agree with Beedie that the board’s decision was outside their legal authority - simply that it was not adequately explained in the public record.

On June 27, following two days of impassioned public hearings, the City of Vancouver’s development permit board decided to approve the developer’s proposal for a nine-storey “mixed use” tower that includes no commitment to social/low-income housing and minimal commitment to public amenities for the Chinatown community.

In an emailed statement, the Vancouver Tenants’ Union characterized the decision to approve 105 Keefer as an act that,

severely undermines the legitimacy of its leadership and the democracy it claims to uphold. In one stroke, an unelected panel of City functionaries overpowered years of democratic process, hard-won by residents of Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside who fought to be heard before a hostile City Council. Today’s conclusion marks a singularly appalling moment in Vancouver’s long history as a city governed by and for elite developer interests.

The development permit board appears to understand its role as rubber stamping projects based on technical requirements set by City Council. According to Theresa O’Donnell, the city’s head planner, “the board has no authority to require social housing or below-market rental, [and] no authority to deny this project based on the zoning.” But, as the BC Supreme Court decision confirmed, the board does possess the authority to reject proposals on the basis they do not comply with external design elements particular to the specific neighbourhood, as the board did in 2017 - provided the reason for such a rejection is adequately explained. The failure to reject the project now is a failure of will.

The City Council of Ken Sim and ABC Vancouver is ultimately responsible for this lack of will. Council possesses the power to amend and pass laws to expand the jurisdiction of the board to more directly respond to social needs and to drive the development of significantly more social and co-op housing. Instead, Sim’s Council has taken measures to increase market condominium development, just as at 105 Keefer, enabling developers’ rent-seeking behaviour. The people of Chinatown - and Vancouver - deserve better.

Provincial

B.C. government feels the heat 

A week of actions and protests marking the second anniversary of the 2021 B.C. Heat Dome has turned up the political heat on the B.C. government for their woefully slow response. 

On Sunday a memorial action marked the 619 heat-related deaths that occurred in early summer 2021 – the worst weather-related disaster in Canadian history. Other actions have followed throughout the week, bringing a spotlight on this issue and making specific demands on the B.C. government to fund and/or distribute air conditioners to all low-income residents in need, to regulate maximum temperatures, and to expand cooling centre hours and accessibility. 

The government did announce a plan for 8,000 air conditioning units to be provided through BC Hydro over the next three years, which advocates called “grossly inadequate.” Many groups and individuals are continuing to demand measures be taken to save lives during future heat waves. 

As with COVID, the climate crisis has demonstrated the lack of priority given by establishment politicians and the dominant economic system to poor, disabled, racialized and other at-risk communities. 

National

Independent Media more important than ever

Threats to journalism continued to multiply across Canada this week. First, news broke that Postmedia was in talks to merge with the Toronto Star – which would further consolidate right-wing control of major daily newspapers in the country. 

Then, today, Google announced it was stripping Canadian sites from its news feeds. The CBC reports: “Google said Thursday it will remove Canadian news content from its search, news and discover products after a new law meant to compensate media outlets comes into force. The move to pull news from the world's most popular search engine could have a devastating impact on Canadian media outlets, which often depend on third parties like Google to get content into the hands of readers.”

It’s never been more important to support and expand independent media in Canada. 

International

Hugo Blanco (1934-2023)

Hugo Blanco, a significant historic leader of Indigenous and social movement struggles in Peru and Latin America, died in Sweden at the age of 88 earlier this week.

An obituary by UK writer Derek Wall describes Blanco as “an almost mythical Peruvian revolutionary leader … He led a peasant uprising in the 1960s, which while successful in achieving land rights, saw him spend many years in prison, often in very difficult conditions and for much of the time on death row. He was at the time a leading member of the Fourth International and maintained warm contact with the FI up until his death. In recent decades, inspired by the Zapatistas and other indigenous movements, he published the newspaper Lucha Indigena (‘Indigenous Fight’).

There are three things, at least, which are important about Hugo Blanco. Firstly, he was a continuous active revolutionary militant from his student days right up until final illness. Secondly, he took an open comradely approach to this militancy, working with others and being flexible as to appropriate tactics. Thirdly, he was a pioneering ecosocialist, promoting an ecological approach to revolutionary activism before many of us were conscious of this element.” (Read more) 

Upcoming Events

Book Club is back Tonight!
Next meeting is Thursday June 29th 7pm at Trout Lake Park Beach (weather dependent) discussing Huber 'Climate Change as Class War'. please read the introduction. (Approx 33 pages. 12,500 words. 90 minute reading time est.)

Surrey Vigil // Thursday June 29

This Thursday, in association with Dogwood and the Padma Centre for Climate Justice, Force of Nature Alliance will be holding a vigil to remember the 619 people who died in the 2021 heat dome. The vigil will provide a space for collective remembrance, healing, and reinvigoration. It will be an opportunity for us to stand united in solidarity and recognize that our shared vision of sustainable, healthy and fair communities unites us. We will share personal stories, light candles and observe a moment of silence. Join us on June 29th at 8 PM until 9 PM. Meet at Surrey Civic Plaza in front of Surrey City Hall. A one minute walk from Surrey Central Station. You can register for the event on EventBrite here