Seeking Office

From CiTR's News Collective, this is season two of Seeking Office—At-Large. Bringing you innovative storytelling from Metro Vancouver.

On January 30th, Vancouver City Council voted to extend the Broadway corridor subway line all the way to UBC. Veteran city hall reporter Frances Bula explains the significance of all three Green Councillors voting in favour of this massive transit project and how it makes sense that only the most right-wing and the most left-wing councillors opposed the project.

From CiTR's News Collective, this is season two of Seeking Office — At-Large. Bringing you innovative storytelling from Metro Vancouver.

On January 15th, Vancouver City Council passed two new developments at 2230 Harrison Drive and 3532 East Hastings. The project at 3532, was passed under a housing policy known as "Rental 100." Rental 100 incentivizes the creation of rental housing — as opposed to condos — but does not specify how much rent should be considered "affordable." In this episode, both Sara Sagaii of the Vancouver Tenants Union and City Councilor Adriane Carr give their perspective on whether the new Council should continue assessing rental developments under the Rental 100 policy.

From CiTR's News Collective, this is season two of Seeking Office — At-Large. Bringing you innovative storytelling from Metro Vancouver.

Vancouver City Council approved the $1.5 billion 2019 budget on Tuesday, December 18th, as well as a capital project budget of $371 million. The City's 2019 draft budget included a proposed 4.9% property tax rate, but council was able to reduce that rate to 4.5% in the final budget. This episode features perspectives from those who attended City Council's budget debate both in favour of, and opposed to, the 2019 property tax hike.

From CiTR's News Collective, this is At-Large — innovative storytelling from Metro Vancouver.

On Wednesday, December 12th, Vancouver City Council passed a motion to request that the provincial government withdraw a tax on properties valued at over three million dollars — currently referred to as the "School Tax." In this episode, City Councillor Pete Fry explains why the Greens voted alongside the NPA in favour of this motion and how his vote was a intended as a signal to the provincial NDP, rather than a defense of Vancouver's wealthy homeowners.

From CiTR's News Collective, this is At-Large — innovative storytelling from Metro Vancouver.

On Tuesday, December 4th, Vancouver City Council voted on a motion put forward by COPE City Councillor Jean Swanson. The motion — which aimed to enhance renter rights — passed unanimously, but with significant amendments. The passed motion was interpreted as both a victory and a compromise by Swanson and Vancouver Tenants Union activists.

From CiTR's News Collective, this is At-Large — innovative storytelling from Metro Vancouver.

On Wednesday, November 14th, the News Collective went to Vancouver City Hall to cover a rally in support of Councillor Jean Swanson's first two motions before council. The motions propose to end renovictions and support the construction of 100% social housing at 58 West Hastings.

Vancouver's 2018 municipal election results are in. Besides mayor-elect Kennedy Stewart, not a single independent candidate was elected to Council, Park Board or School Board. Additionally, eight seats of our ten seat city council have been filled by women, but only one of our ten councillors identifies as a visible minority.

So what happened to the so-called "year of the independent"? And how did our council turn out to be mostly white in a city where more than half the population isn't? Seeking Office gets answers from Globe and Mail reporter, Frances Bula.

Many UBC students live in Vancouver and will be eligible to vote on October 20th. So what are the issues that matter most to them?

In this episode students at UBC's Point Grey campus share their perspectives on Vancouver's 2018 municipal election. And two of those students — Taq Bhandal and Abubakar Khan — are doing more than voting. Find out why both are running for city council as independent candidates.

Polling done by Research Co. finds that Kennedy Stewart is winning in the race to be Vancouver's next mayor. In second place is the NPA's Ken Sim and in third is independent candidate Shauna Sylvester. With Stewart and Sylvester both positioned centre-left, there is concern that progressive Vancouverites are feeling pressure to vote for Stewart, just to keep Ken Sim out of office.

In this episode, UBC political science professor Richard Johnston discusses whether polling done in Vancouver's 2018 election is shaping our political landscape, or passively reflecting voter preference.

On October 20th, Vancouverites from every neighborhood head to the polls to elect ten at-large councillors and one mayor — every neighborhood except one.

West of Blanca street, there are 15,000 permanent residents and 12,000 students who can’t vote for park board, city council, or mayor. The CBC's Justin McElroy draws from his own reporting to explain why residents in and around UBC can only vote for school board and for one person on Metro Vancouver's regional board.