Supporters listen to guests at a rally opposing a proposal for supportive housing to be built in the Kitsilano neighbourhood in Vancouver on June 21, 2022.Jimmy Jeong/The Globe and Mail
A new piece of B.C. legislation aimed at circumventing a Vancouver community group’s effort to challenge a social housing project in court has jolted the group and prompted opponents of another massive project to question what comes next.
“There was definitely shock in the community because it’s unprecedented,” said Cheryl Grant, a spokesperson for Kitsilano Coalition, which formed two years ago to oppose a planned 13-storey supportive-housing building next to the new Arbutus SkyTrain station. “This blocks the ability to go to the Supreme Court.”
The legislation is also worrying another group of residents nearby, the Kits Point Residents Association, who are in court this week opposing the new Squamish Nation development, Senakw, at the south end of Vancouver’s Burrard Bridge.
The lawyer representing both groups is making the argument that the city acted unfairly. She said the province is taking away the rights of homeowners.
“The timing of this announcement, while we were in court over the city’s decision regarding the Senakw development, wasn’t lost on me,” said Nathalie Baker, who is arguing in B.C. Supreme Court this week that the city’s processes for approving a servicing agreement for Senakw is unlawful and unreasonable.
She said the province, which introduced the law at the request of the City of Vancouver, had other options rather than a law that essentially squelches the Kitsilano Coalition’s lawsuit.
“The province always has the right to participate in judicial review proceedings. Rather than taking the extraordinary step of wielding its legislative hammer to fix local government mistakes while the matter is before the court, the province should instead exercise its right to participate at the hearing and let the court decide whether these decisions should be upheld.”
The proposed social- and supportive-housing project, which was approved in an 8-3 vote after several nights of public hearing that drew hundreds of speakers, generated huge controversy in Kitsilano.
Kitsilano is one of many neighbourhoods in Vancouver that have never had a similar supportive-housing project like that, although they are common in the central areas of the city like the Downtown Eastside, downtown Vancouver and Mount Pleasant.
The neighbourhood anger led to the formation of the Kitsilano Coalition, which distributes its newsletter to a couple thousand homes, and was a factor in the October civic election.
B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said, when introducing the legislation Tuesday, that there is “a housing crisis in Vancouver and across the province with too many people sleeping outside. We cannot afford to wait.”
The legislation spells out that the public hearing was “validly held” and that the zoning bylaw related to the project is “validly adopted.”
While many opponents are calling the province’s move unprecedented, Ms. Baker acknowledged the province has done this before. In 2004, the then-Liberal government brought in a new law that specifically allowed the construction of the Nita Lake Lodge in Whistler, B.C., to go ahead. That law overturned a Supreme Court decision that had already been made to quash that municipality’s vote allowing the lodge.
Another municipal law expert said there are several more cases like that.
The Municipalities Enabling and Validating Act “is amended pretty regularly to fix things that have gone wrong in the local government realm,” said Bill Buholzer of the firm Young Anderson. “There are dozens of sections that are collected in the five instalments of the legislation.”
The legislation doesn’t automatically stop the lawsuit from proceeding but a judge would have to take the new law into account.
The city provided a statement through its communications department about why it requested the province change the law.
“Vancouver is in a housing crisis and more than 2,000 people across the city are experiencing homelessness. Creating warm, safe homes with supports for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness in our communities continues to be a top priority for the province and the City of Vancouver,” said the statement.
“To prevent further delays on the project and to expedite the delivery of much-needed affordable housing, the city asked the province to use the Municipalities Enabling and Validating Act. The city is thankful for the partnership with senior government partners.”
The project, which will house 129 people, half of whom are deemed to be at risk of homelessness and are needing social supports, was at risk of being “significantly delayed,” according to the city. It is in the development-permit stage.
The development is in Premier David Eby’s riding.