#City & Town Planning
Target:
GOVERNMENT
Region:
Canada

We need to control the market rental sector. Politicians and government must be accountable for the lack of affordable housing and rental. This is about controlling the private market and force the landlords to be socially responsible to the tenants and the City of Vancouver. How is it possible to charge for things such as Stanley Park and the ocean when it has been there forever. When it is something provided by mother nature a commodity whereby you can astronomically increase the rent. We need the City of Vancouver to start buying the private rental stock and control the rents otherwise those of us who can afford an average rental that the rest of the country charges will be forced to leave the province because we cannot afford to live here. If this smacks of socialism so be it because capitalism profit driven system will always be motivated by immediate greed and money.

The argument that those who can afford it will pay the higher rents. It was affordable to those tenants before you purchased the property - if not for those gapping loopholes in the Tenancy Act this would not happen. You would not be able to do this legally and for all of you who have taken take the spirit of this legislation to increase your profits the expense of people that live in those buildings; you are all guilty and yes you have contributed to the affordability issues that we now face just because you can does it mean you should?

As I have said in the past until capitalism, human greed and profit driven systems are forced to be moral & ethical our lives as we know it will be forever changed.

The economic issues that have hit everyone is the result of capitalism and the people at the top. These people, educated, ran billion dollars empires are responsible for the economic crises we are ALL facing. These people are responsible as a result of their greed and power have caused untold damage to thousands.

So, to the Government of BC your lack of state paternalism laws and your profit based legislation has made it possible for those landlords and companies to get around the loops to the detriment of the people you purport to represent. What exactly are you representing? Good government and its politicians have to be above reproach, have a higher ethical standard and never be motivated by profit. To leave the market up to the private citizen you get what we are now dealing with evictions, dis-location and despair.

The residents of the West End are not the ones causing the problems with homelessness and rental affordability issues. It is the developers, property management companies that are the problem. They buy property and speculate and try to shove through their developments ideas down our throats.

I am lobbying hard to have a complete ban on any further development in the West End. Is it possible that we can have a capitalist system and still have social integrity?

What makes the West End unique are the low rises, the Mom & Pop shops that still exist. Developers are sucking the vitality out of the West End. Where are the people who work at the “crappy” jobs supposed to live? They will not be commuting to downtown Vancouver to work at Starbucks when it is costing them $10.00 per day in transit. If you people do not do your jobs and think about these re-zoning proposals and force social obligations you are going to lose the West End. Private companies will never think about the greater good as the motivation is to make money. They do not care how it will impact those who are affected . Why can’t the City for the first time force these developers to be socially responsible?

This may have never been done in Vancouver but it does not mean it shouldn’t be done. This process has been done in major European cities and we can do it here. Everyone is responsible for the problems in Vancouver and we cannot expect the developers to have a social conscience unless government legislation is implemented to prevent this type of exploitation - government must set the example if we expect private owners to be ethical and fair.

The City has an endowment fund of over two hundred and fifty million dollars. They have spent one hundred million on the Olympic Housing. The City could begin buying private market buildings and allow the tenants to remain in these apartments and control the rental. The city could in coloration with CHMC and tenants can create a Co-Op out of the building as well. The BC Government can close the loop holes in the Tenancy Act and give the right of refusal to tenants, shore up the rights of tenants so that property owners cannot dislocate tenants. The BC Government has an obligation to govern and represent the people in this province. They point of having a government is to ensure that those who do not have a voice, lobbyist, or lawyers, provide and create legislation to balance out the abuses and social injustice. There is the law of the land but the more important one is social justice. My personal friends are and have been going through the eviction process with Hollyburn - they are fighting it tooth and nail and so far winning. But the stress and anxiety it creates is sometimes overwhelming and this what landlords count on. We can all choose to do things different and try to come with solutions. The evictions that are taking place is the result of greed, money, and with no regard to the impact it has on the people they are evicting. The reason I and all my friends rent is simply - owing anything in the City has become unattainable. I may even have to move right out of the province in a few short years.

Maybe we need to stand in the millions as they do in Europe in order for the government to listen….

We are opposed to the development on Pendrell and Denman Street. The developer has offered 10 units to the City. There is a fundamental flaw with this offer: the people that currently live in the units would not qualify for the subsidy because they do not meet the criteria for housing as set forth by the City nor can they afford the market rents that Holly Burn charges.

The housing issues are not just about building affordable housing, it is also about controlling the escalating costs of the private market rental stock. Both the City and the province must control the private market rental industry. The capitalist free market system that we revere is failing the distribution of wealth is not evenly shared to the masses. The current way of doing things has failed as evidenced by the increase in homelessness, increases in rent.

There is a severe and desperate lack of affordable rental units in the City. Developers must recognize that they have a moral and social obligation NOT to contribute to the homeless and affordability issues that we are facing. The developers and property management companies must be compelled into a social contract with the City and Province. There is no room for the rich and privileged to live in the West End. Nor should the people that rent be forced out because of the greed of developers. This developer will make more then enough money in sales and for each rental unit that is affected the same number of units must be replaced.

If developers want to build condos then they must be compelled to offer the same number of rental units that existed prior to the development at the same rate of rent that existed prior to the development. We simply cannot afford to pay anymore then what we are paying right now. It’s not possible or realistic based on the reality of what we earn. The residents of the West End are primarily made up of service industry workers who make at best minimum wage earning a gross weekly salary of $8.00 x 44 hours a week $352.00 x 4=$1408.00 per month. The average one bedroom apartment has exceeded $900.00 a month. What are people supposed to live on? You are educated people yet you voted no to minimum wage increases? Wwhere are they supposed to go if you do not take a moral and ethical stand?

The developer wants to build yet another condo that I will never be able to afford to gain financial profit for a view that is provided free by mother-nature. I stand here to accuse the city of not looking after its residents. Why are you allowing this developer to destroy the lives of 19 people? It’s your greed and lack of wherewithal to do the right thing. Have anyone of you thought this through and taken it to the next level?

1.Where are these people supposed to go while this condo is being built?
2.Will the City and the developer off set the rental costs that these tenants will incur because they are not be able to afford the current market rental costs?

SOLUTIONS:
•The City and Province must control the rent and determines the amount to be charged for rent based on Canadian national averages for bachelors, 1 bedrooms, & 2 bedroom apartments (eg. Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnpeg etc)
•Any developer who wishes to build a condo must provide a percentage for purchase by the City at below market value to be sold to people at below market value. BUT, when the person who purchased the condo sells they must sell to the next person at below market value so it allows for others the opportunity to own (eg. City of San Francisco)
•All property management companies must set aside a percentage of rental income in a maintenance fund for renovations thus avoiding the yearly increases.
•The City and Province to create a National Housing Fund for the landlords, property managers to off set their operating costs and cover the differences
•Closing the loop holes in the Land Lord Tenant Act and fortifying the act so that Property Management companies cannot evict people for "frivolous" renovations in order to increase the rent. Any renovations deemed necessary must not cause the tenant economic hardships, loss of rental unit and be approved by government.
The City of Vancouver to begin purchasing private rental buildings to protect the rental stock;
Create Co-Operatives from the purchases of rental buildings

LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD! THE WEST END IS NOT FOR SALE! PLEASE FORWARD TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS OF THE WEST END!

SIGN THIS PETITION SO WE CAN SEND AN ANGRY AND CLEAR MESSAGE TO THE CITY AND PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT THAT THE CONDO DEVELOPMENTS ARE CONTRIBUTING TO THE ESCALATING RENTAL COSTS AND CONTRIBUTING TO THE HOMELESS PROBLEM!

GoPetition respects your privacy.

The West End Vancouver Not For Sale petition to GOVERNMENT was written by dmorency and is in the category City & Town Planning at GoPetition.