On Wednesday, Sept. 25, Vancouver City Council reconvenes to decide the fate of its Integrity Commissioner, Lisa Southern.

At a rare special council meeting on the morning of Aug 6, just as summer break was underway, Vancouver City Councillors were expected to vote to enact a bylaw freezing Southern’s ongoing investigations while a third party investigated her work. But that’s not quite how things worked out.

A motion brought to Council in July by ABC Cllr. Brian Montague under the title “Scoped Review for Improved Governance” stemmed from comments Southern made in her annual report in December that “the scope of the Integrity Commissioner’s role in providing oversight of the conduct of Council and Advisory Board members is not always clear.” Council passed a motion to have Southern’s office reviewed by a third-party. ABC Cllr. Lenny Zhou then proposed an amendment to shut down Southern’s investigations while the review was ongoing, but gave no timeline on how long the freeze would last.

Critics of the move were outraged, saying the ruling ABC party knowingly misinterpreted Southern’s comments and used them against her. “It was “a deft manoeuvre. And a bad, bad look,” Kirk LaPointe wrote in Business in Vancouver (BIV). An “overstep of power,” commented University of BC political science lecturer Stewart Prest. Former Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart joined in the criticisms, characterizing the proceedings as “a bit of a gong show.” Kennedy warned that “If they [ABC]in the end get rid of all the ethics oversight at the city –which they can do under the (Vancouver) Charter – then the only recourse for the public is to go to court.”

At the Aug. 6 Special Meeting of Council the only player on the stage was Mayor Sim. Fellow members of his party joined virtually, and the non-ABC Councillors, Peter Fry, Adriane Carr, and Christine Boyle, were no-shows who boycotted the meeting. Dressed in black and wearing a matching baseball cap, the Mayor announced that Cllr. Fry had left him “no choice” but to defer the vote until after the summer break. Sim said he received an email from Cllr. Fry at the eleventh hour, informing him that he (Fry) had submitted his own complaints to the Integrity Commissioner’s office against several Councillors.

“This is all about political theatre,” Sim remarked. Not according to Cllr. Fry. “This [the ABC motion and amendment] is simply a red herring to distract from the outrageous behaviour and bullying in the Mayor’s office,” he said.

To date, nine complaints (to view, scroll ¾ down the page and click “Show All.”) have been made against elected City officials since Southern, Vancouver’s first Integrity Commissioner, began her work in 2021.

Some of Southern’s more recent decisions reveal a disturbing image of the Mayor’s office. For example, Mayor Sim was slapped with a Code of Conduct By-law ruling when he excluded Park Board Commissioner Sarah Christiansen from a Dec. 5 meeting. At the time, Christiansen had a newborn at home and had requested to participate in the meeting electronically but was denied. Southern found the Mayor’s actions “discriminatory.”

Another complaint by Park Board Chair Brennan Bastyovanszky, which was ultimately dismissed by Southern, alleged interference by the Mayor’s office. Bastyovanszky accused  Sim’s office (which includes his Chief of Staff Trevor Ford and Senior Advisor David Grewal — both unelected staff and therefore not bound by the Code of Conduct) — of pressuring him to resign when he was Park Board vice-chair, and agree to who would be installed as the next Park Board general manager. Bastyovanszky also alleged that Sim’s office claimed he was under investigation by the Integrity Commissioner when he was not, and that Sim’s office attempted to disband the Park Board because it [the Mayor’s office] was “unable to control decisions” of commissioners.

Even though the complaints were dismissed (to see why, read the Commissioner’s report in the previous link), Bastyovanszky said he felt “vindicated” that Southern’s detailed report clearly highlighted a pattern of aggressive behaviour in the Mayor’s office.

Southern was appointed Vancouver’s first integrity Commissioner in 2021 for a two-year-term effective Jan. 1, 2022. She is a member of the Canadian Bar Association, the Law Society of British Columbia, and the Law Society of the Northwest Territories.

The Sept 25 Council meeting begins at 1 pm.

You can tune into the meeting live and/or Contact Council with your concerns.

Drilling for dirt and densification

Folks strolling the streets of West Broadway near Macdonald this summer couldn’t have missed the ear-splitting, earth-shaking cacophony of drills performing geological testing for the anticipated UBCx subway, just steps away from Premier David Eby’s office riding.

In his summer newsletter, Eby said that once the geological samples have been tested and traffic and population projection studies completed, his government will develop a provincial business case for the subway extension to UBC that sets out station locations and routing for the project. At last count, the extension is anticipated to cost taxpayers $3-4 billion; however, as in the case of the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension(and large transportation projects across the country), whose cost has escalated by 50% to $5.99 billion up from an estimated $3.94 billion in December, it could end up costing far more.

Some doubted whether a business case could be accomplished anytime soon due to escalating costs, competing Metro Vancouver SkyTrain stations, and a lack of federal funding.

However, two initiatives taken earlier this summer now makes the provinces’ case for the subway far more attractive. The Province committed $300 million to build new housing on UBC campus for more than 1,500 students (mainly graduate students), including five new residential towers and dining hall.

Shortly after, the Province approved the UBC Board of Governors’ plan to drastically increase the university’s existing (non-student) residential population.

UBC will now be able to double the population of six residential neighbourhoods: Chancellor Place, Acadia-East Campus, Hampton Place, Hawthorn Place, Stadium, and Wesbrook, that currently house a total of 14,900 residents. By adding residential towers of up to 39 storeys (the maximum height will vary by neighbourhood) the resident population is estimated to increase to 35,700 by 2050. Many have criticized UBC’s extreme densification plan for reasons of cost, fairness to access, lack of amenities, and environmental degradation.

The University Neighbourhoods Association (UNA) chair Richard Watson doubted the plan would “enable the building of livable neighbourhoods, with ample green space, ecological integrity, effective transportation corridors, and services that are the basis of thriving communities,” as stated in the plan.

UNA director Bill Holmes told the publication, The Campus Resident, that the approval isn’t surprising since the provincial government had recently given the green light to the massive Musqueam development on the University Endowment Lands (including five 34-storey residential towers) at leləm, that follows University Boulevard. But Holmes said, “(It is) “disappointing that the government is not concerned by the excessive density and building heights in the amended plan which, I understand, UBC considers necessary so that it can meet its monetary targets.”

Half of the 8,000 private condos and homes on the Endowment Lands and UBC are not owner-occupied but rented out by investors (see link below). This story in The Tyee explains how speculation could have been avoided had former Premier John Horgan, and now current Premier David Eby, closed property tax loopholes that continue to benefit real estate investors.

Members of UBC faculty and staff recently signed a petition requesting the university use its land holdings to build more affordable housing instead of adding it “to the speculative land inflation inferno.”

Broadway Plan and Provincial Bills

Meanwhile, plans for hi-rise towers are underway in the eastern portion of Kitsilano as part of the Broadway Plan, which covers from Vine Street to Clark Drive and from 1st Avenue to 16^th Ave.

The online publication, CityHallWatch, reported that speculators and land flippers are “aggressively pursuing land assemblies.” One hundred projects are currently in the City’s planning pipeline. Read this informative update which also includes photos by Stephen Bohus of land massing photos.  

You may recall that under NDP Provincial Bill 18, the City is prohibited from allowing public hearings on developments that comply with Vancouver’s Official Community Plan This muzzling of community input prompted a letter from the Coalition of Vancouver Neighbourhoods and a petition by the Kitsilano community group — KitsPlan —that has collected over 2,000 signatures to date. The petition asks the City of Vancouver to “rethink” the Broadway Plan.

Amendments to the Broadway Plan

During the next few months, Vancouver City planners will be working on amendments to the Broadway Plan that are expected to allow even higher towers in certain neighbourhoods. Last November, Premier Eby brought in Provincial Bills 44, 46, and 47 to increase housing in transit-oriented areas (TOA). Bill 47 forced most municipalities to designate 52 interim TOAs, and determine the minimum allowable density to be built within specific distances from transit stations.

Where’s the Affordability?

Elizabeth Murphy, private sector project manager and former employee of the City of Vancouver’s Housing & Properties Department, BC Housing, and BC Buildings Corporation, argues in this CityHallWatch article that the provincial bills will not achieve affordable housing and therefore should be rescinded.

Provincial Election

Mark your Calendars for Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024.

To date, candidates in our riding of West Point Grey are: BC NDP David Eby, BC Conservative Paul Ratchford, and BC Green Party Devyani Singh (see photos below). Candidate nominations close Sept 28.

Six days of advance voting are on October 10 – 13 and October 15 – 16, 2024, from 8 am to 8 pm. See Elections BC for more information.

UKRA will provide more information about the candidates as the campaign progresses.

Photo above: Crews testing soil for the UBC Subway Extension on West Broadway. Courtesy of David Ferman.