A Vancouver councillor described a video posted online by a political opponent as a “misinformation campaign” that undermined the possibility of having a constructive debate about supportive housing in the city. Coun. Rebecca Bligh put forward a motion titled “Reversing the Costly Ban on Supportive Housing” at Wednesday’s meeting but took it off the table before the lunch break. “I have no choice but to withdraw the motion based on the actions of another councillor in this chamber,” Bligh said, referring to ABC Coun. Lenny Zhou. The move came the day after Bligh and the other three opposition councillors raised concerns about Zhou’s video. In it, Zhou said opposition council members were rallying a “large number” of “drug supporters” to “speak in favour of this extreme motion” before accusing non-ABC councillors of being “drug users” who have “openly distributed drugs.” He also appealed to people in the community viewing the video, which was in Mandarin, to “stand up” and voice their opinion on the motion. Bligh suggested that Zhou’s call to action resulted in a significant number of people registering to speak at the meeting. “This issue and the broader concerns about misinformation and divisive tactics at city hall deserve a focused, constructive debate. Rushing this discussion in a polarized environment does not serve the public interest,” she said. “Many speakers—over seven or eight hours of speakers—have signed up based on misinformation that was spread, and Vancouver residents deserve facts, transparency and informed decision making,” Bligh said. Zhou has since deleted the video, issuing a statement apologizing for his remarks about his colleagues, which he said were “based on incorrect information.” He also re-iterated his opposition to Bligh’s motion. “I fully support the pause of net new supportive housing, and I do believe that there are significant issues around how many facilities operate. There are members of council who have made it clear that they support the province’s model of supportive housing and the liberalization of drug use in our city,” he wrote. “Those are positions that I fundamentally disagree with.” Bligh’s motion asked council to reverse course on a decision to stop funding or approving new supportive housing units in the city, which was approved roughly a year ago. “Many Vancouverites experiencing homelessness may require social or supportive housing, which is in short supply,” the motion said. “Restricting potential developments of supportive housing needlessly exacerbates the issues already faced by the limited supply of social and supportive housing that exists. The temporary ban on net-new supportive housing investments has not led to an increase in the supply of homelessness response supportive housing across the region.” Notably, Bligh was ejected from Mayor Ken Sim’s ABC party for opposing the motion that resulted in the so-called pause
