Housing, Climate Change and Equality: One Speech to Vancouver City Mayor and Council October 26, 2021

[Note: Mine was just one of many, sometimes very eloquent, presentations to Council on the topic Future of False Creek South: Advancing a Conceptual Development Plan and Addressing Lease Expiries.  The meeting extended over three days because of the large number of presentation, (over 170 signed up to speak), and only very few were in favour of the plan.  The presentations may be viewed/heard on the videos of the Council here starting on Oct. 21: https://csg001-harmony.sliq.net/00317/Harmony/en/View/RecentEnded/20211028/-1.  On a fourth day (Oct. 28), following the public input Council voted unanimously to reject the plan.  They accepted it for information only and passed a number of good amendments as well.  These may be seen here: https://csg001-harmony.sliq.net/00317/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20211028/-1/18000  . Hopefully they follow through on it all.  Maybe this is a small example of people taking power and having a real influence on politicians!]

"My name is Ann Grant

Thanks for allowing me to speak to you. I am speaking in opposition to the plan under consideration today.

I am over 80 years old. I have had the great good fortune to live in a housing co-op in Vancouver for over 40 years. For many of these years I lived in this co-op with my husband and two children. Our children had the great good fortune to live in the security and companionship of the co-op from the time the oldest was 7 years old. At present I am able to age safely in place. I have been and am still an active member in the co-op community and have had a number of different roles over the years. I have appreciated the companionship and challenges of community life and the efforts to live peacefully in a democratic and respectful situation. I want to underline that the co-op I live in is not in the South False Creek area or part of the plan under consideration today. I am not speaking today as a representative of my co-op but as a private citizen.

I feel very discouraged with what I have heard and read about this plan. I have listened to quite a few of the speakers who have come forward to speak to you last week and today. Some have been very knowledgeable about the details of the plan and have spoken against the plan as professionals in the housing field. Many have talked very passionately and emotionally in opposition to the plan. I have heard this from young speakers who were brought up in co-ops in False Creek and from their parents and in fact people of all ages.

I had hoped that our municipal government would take to heart the frequently voiced talk over the COVID months that we would build back better. I am also very aware of the global threat of climate emergency that we are all living under. I believe, along with a great many others worldwide, that we must radically change how we do things if people are to survive with some decency worldwide. I also believe that housing is a fundamental human right. For all these reasons I had hoped that at every level of government we would act very quickly to do things differently. The present situation with housing in Canada and in Vancouver in particular is dire and unfair and does not respect housing as a human right. I truly hope that you who have been elected and have the power to make a difference now will have the courage to act outside the box and to take your power to make a real system change. We are lucky to live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. We need to move beyond the old ways of doing things and the old emphasis and dependence on money and the market, the old economic system. We need to have the courage to change now before it is too late both for those alive today and those yet to come. I feel I have been very lucky in my life and my housing and all I can say is that what I have for myself I wish for all.

Thanks."

I also sent the email below while I was listening to other speakers:

[Second sentence should have been: Fine, but what about all the land of Vancouver that is in large lots with single residences on it?]