In this Housing Myth series the Vancouver Tenants Union digs into prevailing social, cultural, and economic myths about housing. Join us and see just how flimsy these capitalist-derived myths really are.

In this Housing Myth series the Vancouver Tenants' Union digs into prevailing social, cultural, and economic myths about housing. Join us and see just how flimsy these capitalist-derived myths really are.

The following piece was written by VTU member Nathan Crompton.

On December 7th, 2022 recently re-elected OneCity councillor Christine Boyle celebrated the unanimous passage of her motion “Reducing Barriers and Deepening Affordability for Non-Profit, Co-op and Social Housing in Every Neighbourhood”. It was her second time bringing the motion to council, this time with lively support from non-profit housing developers, the Vancouver & District Labour Council and Women Transforming Cities.

In case you haven’t heard, David Eby is running to be the next premier of British Columbia, and there’s a buzz of excitement from commentators about what that could mean for BC’s housing unaffordability policies. But does Eby’s record and proposals match the progressive veneer he’s cultivated for himself?

They say you can’t fight city hall - but in the wake of the 2018 municipal elections, our newly formed tenants union took an aggressive tack to do just that - to bring tenant voices and tenant-centred policies into Vancouver’s city hall and to test a new politically fractured council.

The following article was researched and written by member Dianne Varga, an organizer and life-long tenant currently living on the unceded territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation.

Background:

It’s been three years since the provincial government’s Rental Housing Task Force delivered their report calling to “Stop Renovictions”. Since then, the government has been slow to make this happen.

As pandemic-era eviction bans have expired in jurisdictions all around the world, tenants who have been unable to pay rent during a time of crisis are getting evicted en-masse.

The B.C. government allowed evictions to resume back in September 2020, attached to a requirement that landlords must offer tenants a punishing 10-month repayment schedule for their rent debt. VTU members have demanded that the eviction ban remain in place for the duration of the pandemic - allowing people to lose their homes during this time is inhumane and dangerous for public health.

***For Immediate Release***

January 28, 2021