Vancouver Housing Stories is a podcast mini-series where each episode takes a different approach to stories about renting in Vancouver. The series features six Vancouver-based storytellers and artists using pre-recorded tenant interviews to develop their own storytelling and audio practices, while considering the topic of housing.
Could changes in Vancouver’s municipal housing policy make a difference in a city of people battling skyrocketing rents and constant evictions?
In this episode hosts Maddi Dellplain and Melissa Roach feature stories of tenants who stuck together to fight against evictions and landlord harassment in an audio documentary titled, ‘Who’s Got the Power?’ We hear from members of the Vancouver Tenants Union and follow the organization’s work to strengthen the City’s Tenant Relocation and Protection Policy (TRPP), aimed at helping to keep tenants in their homes.
Main segment produced by Maddi Dellplain and Melissa Roach; Music by Nicolas Camacho-Logan; Episode Produced by Helena Krobath ; Additional scripts and commentary by Sydney Ball
Thanks to VIVO Media Arts Centre, BC Arts Council, Vancouver Tenants Union organizers, and tenants who shared their stories.
Further Resources:
1. Vancouver City Council Expands Tenant Relocation Policy
2. Does the TRPP Have Teeth? Seeking Office (podcast)
3. Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre (TRAC)
4. Links to Residential Tenancy Branch - Disputing a Notice to End Tenancy Calculator
5. The Mainlander Scare Tactics: What the Landlord Lobby Doesn’t Want you to Know about Swanson’s Motion to Ban Renovictions
6. Eviction Self Defense Handbook
About the Hosts
Maddi Dellplain is a freelance journalist who moved to Vancouver from Maui in 2011 to study International Relations and Spanish at UBC. Nowadays, Maddi writes for Megaphone Magazine, where she typically reports on the work of community members in Vancouver's downtown eastside, First Nations issues, and local art and activism. When not writing, Maddi enjoys obsessively binging political podcasts, mapping out future travel plans, and checking out live music shows.
Melissa Roach is a mediamaker, communicator, and freelance writer and editor based in Vancouver — unceded Coast Salish territories — who is interested in social justice, urban issues, non-profits, and community-building. She holds a B.A. in English from Simon Fraser University, and completed an extended minor in linguistics. When Melissa’s not creating content, she enjoys puzzling, crafting, and thrifting up a storm.
About Vancouver Housing Stories
After learning more about the fight for secure housing at a Real Rent Control meeting, VTU member and local artist Helena Krobath started gathering audio recordings in the late spring to tell people’s everyday housing stories through sound.
The project grew and became part of a mentorship and skills development program led by Helena that took place in summer 2019 in Vancouver at VIVO Media Arts Centre. Read about the project and other mentors on VIVO's website.
The Vancouver Tenants Union provided oral history support and Steering Committee member Sydney Ball worked on supplemental scripts and commentary. The BC Arts Council provided financial support.
Thanks to Maddi Dellplain and Melissa Roach for written transcripts and extra resources for this episode