More than 200 people came to the West Point Grey United Church on a rainy night Wednesday to hear a dozen city council candidates debate a new subway to UBC, the future of the Jericho lands and city hall secrecy.
Vision Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson’s ambitious transit plan for the West Side includes a subway along Broadway from Commercial Drive to UBC, a proposal that will likely be put to a referendum. A city report calls for rapid transit to Arbutus Street, then as a temporary measure, dedicated buses from Arbutus to UBC.
“I absolutely support this as a transit corridor,” said Vision incumbent Coun. Heather Deal. She added that the subway will stop at Arbutus because the second highest bulk of employment after downtown is in central Broadway, and the train will transport all the people who come from the suburbs to work there. “We will also have a very robust increase in buses to get those students to UBC, because if not buses they will go in cars, and you don’t want that in your neighbourhood.”
The audience applauded the subway opponents. The Green Party opposed the Vision plan, as did COPE candidate Jennifer O’Keeffe. “We do not need a subway, we do not need the upzoning and density, and the mayor does not have the funding for it,” she said.
NPA candidate Suzanne Scott did not speak out against the subway, but said her party has released a transit platform with “many diverse options.” Vancouver First party candidate Jesse Johal warned that “If you elect either Vision or NPA, you will get a subway, and a new Metrotown from Main Street all the way down.”
The audience also asked about the announcement that the 21-hectare Jericho military site will become a new residential neighbourhood. The federal government’s property arm, Canada Lands Company, formed a joint partnership with three First Nations, but it is not yet clear exactly how the property will be developed in the next decade, a fact that made some questioners uneasy.
Deal pledged fulsome community consultation. “When Canada Lands makes a proposal to the city it will be considered very carefully and you will have your say on that. We learned a lot about the consultation process from the Marpole Plan. People said they really liked it when our planners came and sat down with them in the kitchens. We look forward to engaging with you on this.”
Scott argued Vision did not listen to residents. “You cannot trust them. If you do, you will have a massive Oakridge-style development on one of the most beautiful neighbourhoods right here next to your home.
We know it will fetch over a billion dollars for developers and decisions are moving very quickly. I will watch this Jericho redevelopment like a hawk.”
Johal voiced a bleak view of both parties. “We hear a great catchphrase from NPA — ‘People need to be seen, they need to be heard, they need to be understood.’ Well, as NPA and Vision have shown, they’ll see you, they might hear you, and they definitely won’t understand you,” he said.
Panelists from all the parties except Vision also voiced strong and repeated complaints about the level of city hall secrecy. NPA mayoral candidate Kirk LaPointe said his first priority is transparency. “I have spent 35 years in journalism fighting for government openness and I cannot wait to make that our first law. It is my policy goal to die on.”
The debate was sponsored by the West Point Grey Residents Association and moderated by Courier contributor Bob Mackin.
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