PLATFORM

Building an equitable, affordable, and ecological city.

As Vancouverites we want to enjoy affordable, healthy, safe lives, and a good standard of living, surrounded by the rich, natural beauty of our province. We want to give our children and grandchildren the same opportunity. We want a future we can believe in. We want a city where people flourish and thrive.

Our economic systems have prioritized the wealthy while failing to cater to even the most basic human rights of housing and meaningful work. While we, the people, feel the pressure of inflation and increased unaffordability, large corporations continue to experience record windfall profits. Our economy needs a healthy recovery and a new normal.

We need to build housing for people, not investors, We need to invest in local businesses and ensure they thrive, and we need to build resilience by divesting our portfolio from fossil fuels into alternate green energy.

A city that works for the Many, not just the Money

Protect renters by reopening the Renters office and pushing for Vacancy control.

Pet friendly living by fighting to remove the no pets ban in purpose built rental housing, and pushing for more off leash spaces, and use of transit for dogs.

Remove the monopoly of big money from a basic human right such as access to food by piloting city owned supermarkets

Save the democratically elected Parks Board to preserve public access to our beaches, parks and community centers. Let ensure no more cuts to lifeguards and limit fees for access to community centers.

Make those who created the problems, fund the solutions

Fix the Empty homes tax loophole and increase rate

Institute a Mansion tax to fund climate safe affordable housing

Implement improved inclusionary zoning - min 30% affordable units for all income levels, this includes housing for seniors, youth, and units at $500/mth

Invest in Infrastructure for all

Fully fund our Libraries which also act as heating and cooling centers.
Fast, affordable, accessible, and safe Transit for all. Shelters and benches at every bus stop. Prioritize bus lanes on major routes. Transit signal priority for buses
Invest in our Core city services - ensure our roads, sidewalks, street lighting and sewage are maintained to meet accessibility and density needs. Invest in Public Safety through Fire-rescue, and emergency planning. Ensure that our Utilities like Waste collection, water, and sewer services are meeting the growing needs of the city.

Transport

Transportation affects every aspect of our lives, where we live, how we connect with others, and whether we can access opportunities. Fast, affordable, acecssible, and safe transit will shift how people move, reduce household costs, and enable a giant leap forward on meeting our climate goals.

Active Transportation

Advance cycling by:

Connecting Vancouver’s cycling network including neighbourhood greenways and traffic-calmed residential streets.
Active Transportation:
Ensure Vancouver’s Transportation 2040 Plan not only achieves at least two-thirds of trips by walking, cycling and transit, but that greenhouse gas emissions are significantly reduced.
Increased funding for protected bike lanes, pedestrian infrastructure, and safe infrastructure, particularly in underserved areas.
Ensuring Clr Carr’s successful motion for cycling education in every Vancouver school is actually implemented.
Funding a bicycle program that gifts bicycles free of charge to Vancouver school children for community service work ($1 million could fund up to 10,000 bikes)

Reliable & Safe Transit

Transit signal priority (TSP): Program sensors so that if a bus is behind schedule, the light stays green longer for them.
Bus Lanes: Dedicated 24/7 bus lanes on arterial routes.
Bus Bulbs: "bus bulbs" (sidewalk extensions) so buses don't have to pull out of traffic to pick up passengers, significantly speeding up routes.
Parking Regulations: By removing street parking, the City can create "Queue Jumpers" (short lanes that let buses bypass a line of cars at a red light).

Reduce Vehicle miles traveled

dog on buses pilot
other options
bike share

Public Services

Invest in local Businesses

As larger corporations are taking in record profits, small businesses are suffering. BC is well-placed to be a hub for high-tech careers like software development, research, engineering, film, and more. We need to support local innovators with big ideas, by making funding pathways available and encouraging business models like cooperatives that put local workers first. We must also invest in BC owned businesses, especially clean energy projects.

Build Resilience, Measure success

Our economy should prioritize local solutions to our needs, and the local jobs that come with them. We We need to rethink how we measure success and health of our economy.

GDP was an accounting tool that originated in the 1930s to measure the size of the US economy. Somewhere along the way, governments started to treat it as a measure of the health of our economy and human wellbeing—a purpose for which it was not intended.

Adopt health and wellbeing budgets with genuine progress indicators focused on economic, health, social and environmental factors, and require Ministries to justify spending in accordance with measurable progress on these indicators.

Clean, Sustainable Jobs

British Columbians should be able to take advantage of the countless opportunities for meaningful, secure jobs that a low-carbon economy can create. The Just Transition to an ecologically sustainable future need not disrupt the livelihoods of those in extraction industries. We must fund and aid these transitions in a manner that is just and equitable to power our future economy.

Develop a clean jobs program
Create a Youth Climate Corps
implement a Just Transition program for workers in the energy industry - set up funds for skills development, re-training, and early retirement.
Partner with colleges, technical institutes and private organizations to develop training programs to expand employment in the green retrofit space.