COMMENTARY | Vision government changes position on housing jurisdiction but remains firm on land-owner profits

For five years, Vision councillors have argued that the City of Vancouver can’t use its own powers to build and protect affordable housing. Councillor Geoff Meggs has reiterated to The Tyee this week that threats to affordable rental housing are “beyond city hall’s control.” Despite their refusal to publicly criticize the provincial government, Vision has maintained that social housing and rent control are each the sole jurisdictions of senior governments.

Critics have often cited municipal housing authorities and rent control boards in cities like Toronto, New York and Vienna. It has often been pointed out that Vancouver too has a housing authority – something few people know about because city council has allowed it to remain dormant since being elected in 2008.

In response to these criticisms, Vision councillors have played the “jurisdictional” card, passing the buck to other levels of government. According to Vision, “the city gets blamed for the problem when the powers to fix it lie with the provincial government.” Yet the Mayor has been supportive of the BC Liberal government since being elected in 2008. Not once has Robertson or council publicly called on the Province to increase funding for housing or change the Residential Tenancy Act. At the end of the day, the main financial backers of Vision also control BC Housing and are the main BC Liberals donors.

RALLY | Homes not Jails

“For three years the DTES community has fought an ongoing campaign to end the discriminatory ticketing of low-income people. Last year 95% of all vending tickets and 76% of all jaywalking tickets across the city were handed out in the Downtown Eastside. In response VANDU and Pivot Legal Society filed an official complaint with the VPD. The complaint was officially dismissed by the Mayor and police board in September 2013.

An independent police watchdog, the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner, has rejected the reasons given by the Vancouver Mayor and Police Department for dismissing the complaint of discriminatory by-law enforcement in the Downtown Eastside. Since then VANDU has requested a meeting with the Mayor on this important issue, but he has refused to respond. We have no other choice to but to march for justice.”

REVIEW | Yellow Ribbons: The Militarization of National Identity in Canada

Most Canadian intellectuals ask too many questions. They seem to love posing the kind of rhetorical query that hides a vicious truth-claim behind the innocent-looking interrogative form, flaunting a political mediocrity that masquerades as academic objectivity. Perhaps it is only the Socratic method at work. Perhaps it is a manifestation of that elusive Canadian politeness I’ve heard so much about. Or it could be an instinctual political caution that prohibits so many Canadian intellectuals from taking a firm and outspoken stand. Thankfully, A.L. McCready is not in their camp.

Born out of a 2012 dissertation at McMaster University, McCready’s newest book, Yellow Ribbons: The Militarization of National Identity in Canada, retains its objectivity while stating exactly where it stands. Yellow Ribbons charts recent changes in Canadian concepts of national selfhood, following in particular the state’s altered military role after September 11, 2001.

McCready demolishes the myth that “peacekeeping” is a major element in Canada’s foreign policy. This fiction is primarily for internal consumption anyway; it has not really been exported. As she points out, Canada actually plays a rather insignificant role in peacekeeping operations, with the bulk of UN peacekeeping roles borne by countries of the global South. McCready provides a highly instructive reading of the peacekeeping narrative as the “‘white man’s burden’ of managing global civility and creating order.” She likewise exposes the Canada-led “responsibility to protect” doctrine as permitting imperialist nations to “cloak their own interests and objectives in humanitarian rhetoric.”

The Displacement of Chinese Seniors at 439 Powell Street

The demolition of a historic building on 439 Powell Street that was initially scheduled for Monday morning has been put on hold until at least tomorrow. The owner of the building, the Ming Sun Society, has been requested by the City to repair one wall and a chimney. However, the the threat of the demolition is far from resolved and the future of the building remains indeterminate. The latest notice by the City also raises question around why the building was condemned in the first place if only these minor repairs were required.

This is the second “emergency” demolition within the last 5 months on the 400 block Powell street. The first impromptu demolition was the Philippine Women Centre on 451 Powell, destroyed in July of this year.