Pete Fry

January 1, 2022 saw the introduction of Vancouver’s new bylaws and fees designed to reduce the use and waste of single use items and very specifically plastic bags and disposable cups.

Following catastrophic loss of life across the Lower Mainland during June 2021’s heat dome, this resolution directed staff to look at opportunities to better support distributed BC Ambulance Services in Vancouver.

As the city defines it, a building is considered 100 per cent social housing if it’s rental housing that includes a minimum of 30 per cent low-market rents.

A fanciful promise to “make it easier to build social housing than mansions” failed to win support at Vancouver council last week.

Unanimous support from my colleagues at Vancouver CIty Council to encourage the province to update BC’s Wrongful Death Law. We are the only Canadian province who have not updated our wrongful death legislation – which currently fails “non-breadwinners” children, elders, the disabled, and disproportionately high number of indigenous peoples.

Tragically, hundreds of British Columbians will experience the loss of a loved one each year, and in the event of a wrongful death many will discover they cannot access legal representation or recourse.

Finally we have a coordinated response rolling out for Strathcona Park; with City, Parks and new provincial government at the table.

Emergency Operations team (led by City Manager, Deputy City Manager and our Fire Chief) powers to react more swiftly to issues as we need to keep our city safe: ie shutting down unsafe situations, thwarting hoarding and price gouging, procuring emergency supplies and even temporary expropriations.

The City is preparing to declare a State of Local Emergency.

While that sounds scary, it’s no reason to panic. SOLE is a legal tool that allows us to shut down risky establishments, mitigate price gouging & hoarding, and keep our City COVID-safe.

What started as a quixotic quest that earned me the ire of fireworks aficionados, some friends and neighbours, and a few councillors resulted in a tremendous outpouring of public support. The motion to ban consumer fireworks went from no support at council to a commanding endorsement at a remarkable change for our city.