Editor:
Re: City signals Metrotown shift, Burnaby NOW, July 25
Mayor Derek Corrigan and his council's proposals present as addressing head-on massive rental unit loss to the invasive developments in the Metrotown community. So much so, the Burnaby NOW highlighted these proposals as "Metrotown shift" and Murray Martin, ACORN's spokesperson, was taken to - if only with some necessary skepticism - welcoming Burnaby city council's initiative of "starting to seriously address the issue of displacement" in the renter sector.
Whatever cautious optimism in response to the ideas of rental-only zoning and "every apartment torn down replaced by a new apartment at similar monthly rent," however, should now be a boost of more pressure-exerting activism to demand that these proposals are not just about quantitative sustenance of the rental housing stock but, most importantly, also demonstrably about replacement of the quality of life disrupted by loss of renters' homes. We need to hear if the mayor and his council care about where these rental-only lands are; what kinds of "replacement" apartments are built; convenience of public transit, shopping, schooling and other facilities and amenities of living in a proper community; and then the utmost importance of "similar monthly rent."
These are the kinds of "devil in the detail" hitherto unknown about these proposals. In other words, these proposals must be pursued by Burnaby city council in the full renter-advocacy spirit. These proposals will miss the mark if they are about infrastructural numbers only. They must instead be singularly about empowering individuals and families (who have so far been) marginalized and hurt in the real estate development craze - recognized as being fuelled by motives with no evident regard for the physical and social integrity of the Metrotown community, and about the replacement of these folks' quality of life before they were "demovicted." Until we know more about these proposals, they are - like Murray Martin was suggesting – (only) civic election campaign rhetorical promises which tend to come in a dime a dozen for what they are worth.
Eugene Ip, Burnaby
