Vancouver votes down councillor’s motion to reverse pause on net new supportive housing

Vancouver will keep its freeze on net new supportive housing projects after a city councillor's motion was defeated Wednesday.

Vancouver city council has voted to keep the pause on net new supportive housing.

On Wednesday, Vote Vancouver Coun. Rebecca Bligh tabled a motion titled, “Reversing the Costly Ban on Supportive Housing.”

“I think it’s time to show leadership on this, reverse the ban and address the homelessness crisis,” she said.

Last February, Mayor Ken Sim and his ABC majority approved a freeze on net new supportive housing.

At the time, Sim said other cities in B.C’s Lower Mainland needed to do more to address the region’s homelessness crisis.

“We already have enough challenges in the City of Vancouver,” Sim said. “We have crumbling SRO stock that is uninhabitable – we need to repair that.”

Bligh had previously withdrawn her motion after a video posted on WeChat in February by ABC Coun. Lenny Zhou claimed opposition council members were rallying a “large number” of “drug supporters” to “speak in favour of this extreme motion.”

Zhou has since apologized.

‘Ripple effect’

Bligh said her motion was about data and evidence, and that Vancouver’s decision has created a chilling effect across Metro Vancouver.

“What it’s also done is sent a ripple effect throughout the region where we see projects being cancelled and the pressure of those elected officials having Vancouver set a tone that we’re not helping folks who need housing,” she said.

Sim said the City of Vancouver is still eligible for federal and provincial housing funding, and referenced a Tuesday meeting with the CEO of Build Canada Homes.

“And so I just want to reiterate, Vancouver is at the table and we do have projects that are under consideration,” he said.

Councillors voted along party lines and the motion failed, with ABC councillors Peter Meiszner and Lisa Dominato abstaining.

At the meeting, a number of people spoke in opposition to Bligh’s motion and identified themselves as being part of the group “Let’s Vote.”

The group has been active in organizing against supportive housing projects in Burnaby and New Westminster.

The group also lists Sim, his entire ABC party and other elected officials on a recent initiative called “Supporters of No Drug-use in BC Housing Projects.”

Jill Atkey, the CEO of BC Non-profit Housing Association, said when municipalities make blanket bans on this kind of housing, it puts pressure on the sector and senior levels of government who are willing to invest.

“They’ve said, ‘We’re really willing and able to make these investments,’” she said. “And now we’re having these debates about where and for whom. And so the implementation has been very challenging.”

Atkey added, another challenge is how divisive supportive housing has become within communities.

“There’s always been opposition to community housing,” she said. “I think a lot of that is because of a misperception.”

Atkey said the need to provide supportive housing has grown since the pandemic and the ongoing drug poisoning crisis.

“But now that we’ve seen this shift in acuity, do we require more supports for people?” she said. “I think we’ve got a sector that is saying, yes, absolutely we do. So municipalities need to be part of that conversation.”

She said there’s an opportunity to figure out what works, the challenges that exist and to ultimately ensure people are receiving community-based housing and health care.

“But the approach of, ‘Let’s just ban it,’ is not the right approach because we’ve got people suffering as a result, and it doesn’t encourage others to come to the table for a meaningful conversation,” she said.