Vancouver Sun panel on housing

Plus upcoming council decisions.

An illustration of what Gordon Price calls the Grand Bargain, from Burnaby.

This looks interesting: the Vancouver Sun’s Dan Fumano is moderating a panel with David Eby (provincial minister responsible for housing), Joy MacPhail (chaired the recent provincial-federal expert panel on housing), Bob Rennie of Rennie Group, and Bernd Christmas of Squamish Nation.

It looks like the video from the event will be streaming on this page:

A debate rages over how to build our way to affordability. What is the role of governments, developers, and non-profits? Can our cities attain affordability through increased density while maintaining liveable neighbourhoods?

The Vancouver Sun is bringing together four key players in the housing affordability discussion for a live event on Tuesday, June 21, at 7 p.m.

You will be able to watch the conversation live on this page and submit questions to the moderated panel we are calling, The Affordability Puzzle: Who has the Answers?

Personally I’m very curious what measures David Eby is considering. Municipal governments are creations of the province, so the provincial government has full power to override them. Would he go as far as New Zealand has? (Story from December 2021.) The recent Globe story on West Van shows how difficult it is to get permission to build more housing.

But my guess is that he’ll want to keep it under wraps until after the October municipal elections. So maybe I’ll ask if he’d be willing to lobby his cabinet colleagues for funding to build new schools in neighbourhoods where the population is growing.

Other news on the housing front:

• The Broadway Plan amendments and debate continue on Wednesday June 22, starting at 9:30 am. References.

• There’s a public hearing on Tuesday June 28 for the social housing at Arbutus and 8th.

• There’s a public hearing on Thursday July 7 for the high-rises at Commercial-Broadway Station.

• The Vancouver Plan will likely go to council some time in July.

• Sounds like the Jericho Lands proposal won’t go to council until after the October 15 election.