Vancouver activists seek to prevent demolition of housing project

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Little Mountain Housing Project at the End

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The future of Little Mountain, Vancouver's oldest public housing project, has been up in the air since the government decided to redevelop it into a mix of private and social housing in 2007. Various housing advocates have expressed opposition to the plan, which would be centered around profitable upscale housing, as inappropriate in light of rising homelessness and the lack of affordable housing in Vancouver. 

Members of the public have protested the project in a variety of ways, including weekly silent protests at the corner of 33rd Avenue and Main St every Saturday since October 2007. Despite the opposition, BC Housing applied for permits to demolish the housing project on May 29.

The decision has provoked a strong reaction among housing advocates who criticize the municipal and provincial governments for seeking to demolish livable housing units when homelessness is on the rise. To date, in spite of a sustained protest on the part of the Citywide Housing Coalition, Community Advocates for Little Mountain, and many citizens, no public consultation has occurred. Moreover, no timeline is in place for the redevelopment project and it is likely that reconstruction would not occur for many years.

On June 7, Tommy Thomson, an advocate for the preservation of Little Mountain, sent out an urgent message to all members of a supportive Facebook group asking them to write to the Mayor and Council of Vancouver asking them not to issue permits for demolition without putting public consultation or a timeline for redevelopment into place. 

As the future of Little Mountain hangs in the air, it also highlights important questions facing Vancouver, where homelessness has increased substantially in recent years despite the fact that Vancouver is regularly ranked as one of the best cities to live in in the world. Are the governments priorities in the right place? If not, what should they be doing?