A group of about 60 Chinese seniors gathered Thursday on the front steps of city hall to show their support for a controversial development proposal for Chinatown and raise concerns about a public hearing they say saw supporters harassed by those against the project.
Eric Szeto told the Courier that he organized the demonstration to ensure city councillors, who will vote on the project June 13, understand that more seniors would have spoken at the public hearing in favour of Beedie Development Group’s 12-storey condo development for 105 Keefer St. but were harassed by some opposed to the project.
“We just want to show to the council that a lot of our supporters were not able to speak because of the unfriendly environment in city hall,” said Szeto, noting the first day of the hearing in May included a protest against the project that intimidated many seniors.
In several cases, he added, seniors wearing T-shirts that indicated their support for the project were accused of not knowing anything about project and only showing up to receive free food from the developer, which Szeto denied.
“That’s an insult to our supporters, especially for seniors,” said Szeto, who stood Thursday with other seniors in the rain and held signs in English and Chinese that read “stop bullying seniors,” “our voices matter,” “seniors have rights too” and “105 Keefer!!!” Many wore the same red T-shirts emblazoned with “support 105 Keefer” that they were dressed in during the four rounds of public hearings.
Beedie has proposed to build a 12-storey condo building at Keefer and Columbia streets. The project includes 25 social housing units for seniors, a recreational and activity space and 106 strata residential units. The ground floor will be for businesses. Szeto said the seniors’ housing, the activity space and more shops for Chinatown are reasons he and other supports the project.
City hall security initially didn’t allow the group inside the lobby. At the time, Mayor Gregor Robertson was concluding a news conference in a room near the steps to announce the city had been certified as “living wage employer.” Details of that event were not related in any way to Beedie’s proposal.
Robertson left the news conference through a separate private elevator that connects to his third-floor office. The mayor, like other members of council, have refrained from speaking to media about the proposal or those invested or interested in the project, since the public hearing concluded May 29.
The group’s attendance at city hall was not announced to the Courier or other mainstream media, with reporters only learning of the demonstration once a crowd gathered on the front steps. Szeto said the developer had nothing to do with the gathering. (The Courier left a message with Houtan Rafii, vice-president of residential development for Beedie, but did not hear back before this story was posted).
Szeto said the seniors gathered at city hall were all from Vancouver, some of whom from Chinatown. The Courier asked three seniors, all of them carrying English signs, why they were at city hall. All responded saying they couldn’t speak English.
But Ming Ming Zhu, president of the Seniors Chinese Society of Vancouver, echoed much of what Szeto said about the support for Beedie’s project, specifically mentioning the activity centre and the seniors’ housing (which B.C. Housing agreed to pay for).
“It’s very good for the seniors and it’s very difficult for us to find a place for activity,” said Zhu, whose organization represents 1,000 people in Metro Vancouver.
City council heard during the hearings from 150 people opposed to the development and 46 in favour. Council also received 151 pieces of correspondence and three petitions with 1,693 signatures from the “yes” side. The “no” side submitted 542 pieces of correspondence and two petitions with 3,092 signatures.
Council will meet June 13 at 2 p.m. to decide on the project.
