Rally to 'take back' Little Mountain packs political punch
Credit to Author: Nick Eagland| Date: Sun, 01 Dec 2019 01:55:48 +0000
The people fighting to “take back” Little Mountain from a developer have at least two levels of government in their corner.
About 100 people showed up Saturday morning for a rally outside Little Mountain at Ontario Street and 33rd Avenue, in the heart of Vancouver, where they found the support of a federal member of parliament and two city councillors.
The protesters called upon the B.C. government to take or buy back the mostly vacant lot from developer Holborn and replace social housing torn down in 2009, while adding hundreds more units. They also want the province to add new homes with below-market rents and create affordable ownership options.
“The reason for us to act is clear: The deal with Holborn is destroying the social fabric of our community,” Norm Dooley of the Riley Park–South Cambie Community Visions group told the crowd. “They have prioritized profit over compassion and common sense.”
Holborn struck a deal in 2008 with the province to buy the six-hectare site and develop several buildings of market condos on the property, plus non-market homes, to replace 224 social housing units that would be torn down. But the development has been repeatedly delayed.
Dooley pointed to a Postmedia News investigation last year that revealed the company still owed the province $233 million of the reported $334 million purchase price, because of the complicated but still largely secret deal.
“There are lots of ways the government could take back Little Mountain,” said speaker David Chudnovsky, a former MLA who has since 2009 pushed government for action on Little Mountain and answers on the deal behind it.
“They could appropriate the land. They could buy it back from Holborn for the small amount the developer has already paid for it … they could introduce legislation that could bring back the site to public ownership. Options abound. What’s really important is that the government take action now.”
Holborn, whose office is closed weekends, could not be reached for comment before deadline.
People listen to former NDP MLA and housing advocate David Chudnovsky at a rally near the former Little Mountain housing site in Vancouver on Saturday, Nov. 30, to mark 10 years since the residents of the site were evicted.
Don Davies, MP for Vancouver Kingsway and NDP health critic, told reporters he would “push Ottawa” to help Victoria buy back the lot. Davies said he wants it used for affordable housing in the city.
“If we’re going to have a real chance at taking this land back — which is what, I think, the call of the community is for today — then I think it’s going to take the efforts and maybe the resources of all levels of government, including the federal government,” Davies said.
Vancouver councillors Christine Boyle and Jean Swanson both came to support the Little Mountain protesters. Boyle said the large turnout showed people’s deep, continuing disappointment with the “failure” to use the land.
“It’s a key example of the previous B.C. Liberal government letting down regular Vancouverites and people across the province, particularly by selling critical public assets,” Boyle said. “That’s not how we’re going to get affordable housing.”
Boyle said she has been looking into how city hall can help but said her understanding is that “the city’s tools are pretty limited” unless the province can reopen the deal.
People rally near the former Little Mountain housing site in Vancouver on Saturday, Nov. 30 to mark 10 years since the residents of the site were evicted after the provincially-owned land was sold to an investor, who has since done little with the land.
In response to a Postmedia News request Thursday about whether it was possible for the government to “take back” Little Mountain, Housing Minister Selina Robinson said in an emailed statement that it is “disgraceful that the old government threw away the potential this site represented” by giving control to a private owner.
“Instead of a vacant lot, we could today be building hundreds of affordable homes,” Robinson wrote. “Our government is making different choices and responding to the housing crisis by investing in the affordable housing that people need.”
—With files from Dan Fumano and Lori Culbert
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