January Update from Christine
Happy New Year!
In 2021, amid overlapping crises, in seemingly endless meetings, I continued working hard on the issues you have told me matter to you. Here is what some of that work looked like in this past year:
10. Advocating for Electoral Reform through Local Choice, and supporting the youth-led Vote16 campaign.
9. Supporting important new housing, like this Vancouver Native Housing Society building in my neighbourhood, and this great project that brought together the Community Land Trust, Qmunity, the McLaren Housing Society, Rainbow Refugee. And more secure rental housing across the city.
8. Continued action on the drug poisoning crisis, including harm reduction, safe supply and decriminalization.
7. Supporting (and funding) Arts and Culture, including working with arts organizations to protect existing spaces, and to create new spaces.
6. Safer Streets for pedestrians, for bikes, for kids, for seniors, for everyone! Including School Streets & Slow Streets. And advocating for the funding to do more, faster, to tangibly improve transportation safety and accessibility across the city.
5. Unanimous support for my motion to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People working alongside leaders from Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.
4. Housing for people who are homeless, like this and this. As well as implementing (and funding) vacancy control in SROs, to prevent even more people from becoming homeless.
3. A LOT of work alongside affordable housing leaders and co-op members, on co-op lease renewals and on the future of False Creek South.
2. Pushing back against delays to our Climate Emergency Action Plan (and winning!) and opposing new fossil fuel infrastructure.
1. Constantly trying to make it easier to build more co-op, non-profit and social housing, in every neighbourhood. (Remember how that vote went? More on that here.)
OneCity Trustee Jennifer Reddy has been hard at work too, fighting to keep public land in public hands, to improve transparency at School Board meetings, to fund Indigenous language programs, and more. I am continually blown away by Jennifer’s strength and persistence.
2021 was the sixth year of a provincial health emergency due to poisoned drugs, the second year of a global health pandemic, and saw our highest ever temperatures and some of our lowest as the climate emergency continues to escalate. And you all continue to show up for one another, providing mutual aid and advocating for badly needed systemic changes. Thank you.
Last year Georgia Straight readers voted me best local politician, and I couldn’t be more honoured. This year Jennifer & I are running again, with a big focus on getting more OneCity folks elected alongside us. Will you be a OneCity donor this year and help make that happen?
Thank you for all of your support, and for the good work you are doing in the community. It makes a difference.
Hope to see you in real life in 2022!
In solidarity,
Christine
