March 2024 update from the Councillor’s desk

As we slowly bid farewell to winter and welcome the promise of spring, our city has been enlivened with scenes of vibrant cherry blossoms and glimpses of radiant sunshine during the month of March. Over the past several weeks as I have had several opportunities to engage with organizations and individuals who strive every day to make Vancouver a better city.

The old adage is that March begins like a lion and ends like a lamb, and so it was in Vancouver with rain on the first day of the month and clear skies during the last. On March 1st, Mayor Ken Sim and City Councillors toured Amazon Canada’s new offices located at the The Post on West Georgia Street. The former Canada Post mail processing plant with its iconic exterior has been given new life as a stunning office space for thousands of employees, as well as a new grocery store.

Later in the evening, I joined Mayor Sim and Councillors Sarah Kirby-Yung and Peter Meiszner for an informative set of presentations organized by the Living with Pride Society. The group’s aim is to grow support for a queer-friendly housing development for community elders. As someone who launched the similarly oriented “Aging with Pride” initiative with BC Care Providers Association, I welcomed the opportunity to hear more from the organizers and was pleased with the strong turnout by council and community leaders.

A few days later Jenny Konkin, President and Co-Founder of Whole Way House based in the Downtown Eastside, hosted councillors at Shiloh Place and Veterans Manor — buildings operated by her organization. Councillors Dominato, Zhou and I heard amazing stories of resilience and recovery from WWH’s elderly resident population.

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Community concerns have been raised over pedestrian safety in the Lord Byng Secondary and Jules Quesnel Elementary school zone along West 16th Avenue. I’m grateful to VSB Trustees Victoria Jung and Preeti Faridkot for inviting me to join a walking tour of the area organized by Lucy Maloney of Vision Zero. City staff are fast-tracking new crossing signal beacons and expanding the School Slow Zones on Arterials Pilot to include these schools, which will reduce the speed limit on arterial and collector streets in the two school zones to 40km/hour. A dialogue is continuing with school PAC representatives on these safety initiatives.

On March 11, Chilliwack Mayor Ken Popove and members of his social services team kindly consented to my meeting request to learn more about the city’s local wellness centre. Like dozens of other cities and towns affected by the mental health and addictions crisis, Chilliwack has established an indoor facility where people can receive support during daytime hours. They indicated that the model — which relies upon funding from the province and Fraser Health — seems to have had a positive impact on their city and led to individuals getting into recovery programs. In the absence of larger coordinated efforts by senior levels of government, cities are increasingly required to manage programs like Chilliwack’s.

My Acting Mayor duties during the month had me chairing both the March 12th council meeting and public hearing. During March a motion I jointly tabled with Councillor Dominato on allowing recycling centres in commercial zoned areas received unanimous support.

The future of housing in False Creek South was the subject of a motion by Councillor Kirby-Yung, which proposes to expand efforts around coop housing in that neighbourhood and across the city. According to the most recent census data, about 36% of False Creek South residents are aged 65-plus, demonstrating a clear need for age-friendly housing and health services. I put forward an amendment to Sarah’s motion to prioritize independent living and long-term care during the community planning process, which also received unanimous support from council.

The last day of the month was a sunny Easter Sunday, and a time to spend with family. I hope that you also had an enjoyable time together with loved ones during the long weekend.

Other March highlights

  • Visiting the Centre for Digital Media on Great Northern Way – and taking a virtual reality demonstration
  • Touring TransLink’s Vancouver Transit Centre and learning about the incredible logistical and mechanical work to keep our bus fleet on the road and running on time
  • Meeting with Little Saigon Vancouver Foundation leadership to discuss their goal of creating a cultural centre
  • Attending the Emperor of Japan’s birthday celebration as a guest of the Vancouver Consul General
  • Bringing greetings from Mayor and Council at Leungs Benevolent Association 36th Anniversary celebration
  • Meeting with Mabuhay House – key stakeholders in Vancouver’s dynamic Filipino community and proponents of a cultural centre
  • Attending the reception for Ireland’s National Day with Deputy Prime Minister
  • Being invited by hosts Joe Leary and Aaron Chapman to Tyrant Studios (Sportsnet 650) to record a podcast segment at the storied Penthouse Cabaret
  • Touring Riverworks in Marpole — a newly opened stacked industrial building in Marpole
  • Attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony at The Aster — an innovative social housing development in Mount Pleasant
  • Joining councillors and community members at City Hall to proclaim the start Nowruz in Vancouver
  • Proclaiming Two Spirit Day in Vancouver at a flag raising ceremony at City Hall
  • Hearing speakers at the Breaking Bread, Building Bonds banquet at Fraserview Hall
  • Listening to student delegates and participating as a judge at the Building Safer Communities Program: Empower Vancouver Youth Action Forum for Violence Prevention at Van Dusen Gardens
  • Attending the latest Urbanarium City Debate (#16): on Reducing Building Code Regulations