Editor:
Re: Bainbridge Urban Village proposal by the City of Burnaby
As a regular council watcher, it was rather disappointing to hear the latest Bainbridge East delegation to council on Monday night generate division with the following comments: “someone from China could fill out the survey.”
Our fellow Burnaby neighbours, who may have immigrated to Canada “from China” over the past 150 years I might add, who now live in the area, pay their fair share of local taxes, and should not be singled out in the often rough and tumble debate over possible land-use changes in the community.
This episode painfully reminds me of when our family moved to the west side of Bainbridge very long ago that generated similar commentary about the perceived desirability of the foreign newcomers.
Fast forward to Monday’s council meeting: apparently the perception exists by some that if council does not stop outright the legitimate dialogue about the future of Bainbridge East, the area will be ravaged by foreign speculators.
Where do we go from here? The City of Burnaby has long been a proud founding partner of the Burnaby Intercultural Planning Table (https://bipt.ca/), which proudly encourages diversity and helps to reduce the hurt caused by the dis-courteous or even worse. These efforts should provide us comfort that our locally elected officials are willing to hear all voices, not just the loudest and most self-interested, especially given the risk of pitting neighbour against neighbour as we tackle the housing crisis. The solutions are complex, and we must avoid the simplistic view that the fault lies with one group, or shout out loud do nothing in our neighbourhood, also known as NIMBYism.
And let’s be clear, the Bainbridge East delegation did exactly this with “we ask that you compel the Bainbridge planning committee to remove the area that we identified.”
So should our democratically-elected council shut down the local area consultations, based on the claim of a “strong majority”? Are we to just accept that the remaining one-third of residents in Bainbridge East should forcibly be silenced? It is worth noting that council has a statutory obligation under provincial law to broadly consult, especially important in Burnaby given the blessing of diverse cultures we have here. This means we need a broader dialogue, not less.
And yes, to my Bainbridge East neighbours, you have every right to voice your perspectives. But when you call for shutting down debate, who now is being “autocratic”? And when in your own words some of your immediate neighbours do not share your view, the might of the majority in Bainbridge East does not necessarily make your view right. Plus, when you reference “property rights,” you absolutely ignore that your neighbours have them too, which includes the provincially-enshrined legal right to be heard in all civic public forums that affect them.
Instead, let’s expand the debate on how to improve housing choices across Burnaby that can accommodate the many more immigrants to come, especially for the refugees from those parts of the world not so privileged as us.
Joe Sulmona, Burnaby
