ORR Report: One year of fighting for Vancouver, six months to ABC’s eviction day

One year ago, you elected me to fight for Vancouver. It’s been quite the year. There have been ups and downs, but I’ve been putting in the work doing that I was elected to do. I’ve put forward a whopping 26 motions! Here is a good round-up of all them. 

It's not always fun under Ken Sim's dysfunctional council, and a lot of my favorite motions get voted down by the right-wing majority, but we're getting results by listening to the people and pushing for what is really needed.

Even in opposition, we’ve managed to get some wins. Now imagine how much we could get done with a progressive majority.

Speaking of which, we signed a deal! After months of negotiations COPE, OneCity, and the Green Party of Vancouver announced an agreement for the upcoming October municipal electiona imed at ensuring limits on the total number of progressive candidates on the ballot. 

In council this week, however, it was a bit more sobering. We were presented with data from the 2025 homeless report which showed homelessness is up 12% with “an increasing proportion of those identifying as women and continued overrepresentation of people identifying as Indigenous.” 

Seniors account for 22% of respondents, with nearly half experiencing homelessness for the first time in their senior years. Not surprisingly, the primary cause of housing loss, cited by 38% of respondents, was a lack of income to cover housing costs and for the first time, the 2025 survey asked about evictions with 42% of respondents reporting that their most recent housing loss was the result of being evicted.

I asked some tough questions about our shelter capacity, our pause on supportive housing, moving SROs off Granville just so club goers don’t have to see poor people, and the province’s low social assistance rates. I asked if we could pressure the province to raise the rates and staff said if council so chooses. As I was writing up an amendment I got a message from councillor Dominato who was also planning to amend the report, which I seconded.

It was later cheekily amended by Pete Fry to include “and housing with supports” at the end and astonishingly it was approved unanimously! Perhaps ABC didn’t know housing with supports is the same thing as supportive housing, which they just voted down!  

This council meeting was also significant because it was the first since the ODP was passed and this meant that we’re doing rezonings … adopted on consent. What this means is that we have to pull the reports from the agenda at the start of the meeting in order to ask questions and debate the rezonings. 

I was the only one to pull these applications. One that I felt was particularly egregious was a social housing project that reverted to 100% market. I was kind of stunned that this change in use doesn’t automatically trigger an ODP amendment and therefore a public hearing. It felt like a bait and switch and I was the sole vote against the application. 

Pete Fry also noted that staff now “interpret the general tone” of public comments without posting them on the agenda like they used. I’m certainly going to look into both of these as possible amendments to the ODP.  

Pete also marked the sombre 10-year anniversary of the government declaring a public health emergency around the toxic drug “crisis” with a personal story that debunked the narrative that this primarily affects the unhoused/people living in SROs and those with substance use disorders. It can happen to anyone. 

This month I attended several events to mark the anniversary of the unspeakable tragedy that occurred after last year’s Lapu Lapu Festival. 

I also marked the death of Dennis Rouse, the Commercial Drive Sweeper. He was a steady, hardworking presence on The Drive who helped local businesses day in and day out, from setting up patios to clearing snow.

Later that day was a public hearing to consider a floating hotel north of the Convention Centre. Normally a project that obscures public views would come with significant trade-offs, but other than a semi-public dock, I didn’t feel like it was measured and I was the only vote against.

This week the Standing Committee is an interesting one. I’ve got two motions: one to pause bylaw enforcement of people sheltering in RVs during FIFA, and one to reconcile the fact that the Community Housing Fund was paused by the BC government while housing targets remain active. It’s a bit wonkish, but it’s something that many communities find confusing and so I hope it gets added as an urgent motion at LMLGA, which I’ll be attending at the end of the month.  

Also on the docket is the mayor’s motion to bring Major League Baseball to Vancouver. Now look, I actually like sports, but this feels like an election ploy. The vast majority of Vancouver sports pundits agree. Our lack of corporate headquarters and dwindling corporate sponsorship, our 72 cent dollar, the massive payrolls, the lack of a suitable stadium for MLB - all make it seem pretty unfeasible. As I was quoted on CBC, it’s like bread and circuses, without the bread. 

And then there’s the mayor’s campaign promise (on city letterhead). The motion, put forward by Councillor Kirby-Yung, differs significantly from the Park Board’s request of $1.35 billion. The capital projects identified also differ from the Park Board’s list of community centres that need replacing. Raycam and Britannia seem to be deprioritized. 

Finally, there’s a motion by Councillor Fry (which should have been an urgent motion but was rejected by the chair) to restore lifeguard service at key Vancouver beaches. Councillor Maloney and I made a cute little video about it but it’s a serious issue, as highlighted by this CUPE petition. 

Phew! Made it all the way through this week but I didn’t even touch on the Standing Committee from earlier in the month. I passed my Elect Respect motion which was very emotional, Council passed the festival support fund, and we funded Vaisaikhi (which was an honour to attend). Council said no to taxing the rich, creating a comptroller position, strengthening FIFA’s human rights action plan, and upheld our pause on supportive housing. 

While I’ve been busy with my Council job, COPE has been ramping up for campaign season. We’re just under six months out from Ken Sim’s Eviction Day. Canvasses are already being organized out of our field office in East Van, and we have amazing candidates coming forward to seek nominations for City Council, School Board, and Park Board. The nomination meeting will take place May 11th.