In the hot sun, a small delegation peers up at the large tower on Beresford Street.
“There’s an awful lot of drawn blinds.”
It’s one of the first observations from Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver, after asking how many people are actually living in the new highrise.
In the next couple hours, the provincial Green Party leader and Vancouver Island MLA will tour around the Metrotown neighbourhood that’s become ground zero in the Demoviction issue in Burnaby.
All three provincial party leaders were invited to visit the area by the Metrotown Residents’ Association, but Weaver was the only one to say yes.
During Thursday’s tour, the party leader was quick to put the blame of Burnaby’s housing issues on both local and provincial politicians.
“It’s symptoms of a lack of vision in a community,” he told the NOW.
More specifically, Weaver was critical of city council and its ties to the provincial NDP, suggesting the dominance of one party at city hall is leading to what he called “collective groupthink.”
“This is what happens when people get into power too long, they start to think about issues other than representing the people,” he said, adding the NDP in opposition is not raising questions because they don’t want to criticize their own.
A number of building in the Metrotown area are slated for demolition to make way for new highrises. Changes to the current Metrotown development plan could mean the loss of 3,000 current rental units in the area.
The demoviction issue heated up in Burnaby this summer when a group protesters took over a vacant building slated for demolition at 5025 Imperial St., while at the same time the city continues to carry out consultation over changes to the Metrotown community plan.
The Green Party Leader was also critical of the relationship between developers and municipal councils.
Weaver argued there is an inherent conflict if a developer can fund a municipal party that then makes decisions on developer permits.
He said the Green Party would bring in legislation to eliminate corporate and union donations from both provincial and local governments, and also take steps to eliminate political parties at the municipal level.
Weaver didn’t let the provincial Liberals off the hook either in his assessment, blasting the government for not having a provincewide affordable housing strategy, adding his party would bring one in if elected.
Also taking part in the tour was Matthew Hunter. He lived at 5025 Imperial St. before being evicted. It was the first time the Burnaby resident had been asked to leave his home.
Hunter found a new place to live in the neighbourhood, but he’s worried about being evicted again in the future.
“Look at what’s going on here, these buildings aren’t going to last,” he said.
Hunter wants to see politicians preserve the rental housing in the area and come up with a plan for new social housing somewhere in the city to make up for the loss from development in Metrotown.
Rick McGowan, of the Metrotown Residents’ Association, said he invited the politicians because he wants to see rental affordability become a provincial election issue next May.
“I’d like to see the parties come out with some platform ideas that will work,” he said, adding each community is dealing with the issue differently. McGowan said he also wants to see some accountability with local governments, noting campaign financing as one issue.
McGowan is also hoping to see the Metrotown plan delayed until after the election so more people have a chance to talk about it.
He said both the province and cities want more density around SkyTrain, but he argued in Metrotown the density is already high.
