Dear Hedy,
I am writing to you on behalf of the KPRA (Kits Point Residents’ Association) Executive Team (KET).
We understand that a number of Kits Point residents have written to you about their concerns regarding the proposed use of Vanier Park lands for the purposes of a commercial real estate development by the Squamish Nation and Westbank (the “Development Partnership”) on the Sen̓áḵw lands. We have been provided with a copy of your reply and that is copied below.
We are prompted to contact you and your office in connection with this as we are concerned that your reply has contributed to the misinformation circulating in relation to the Sen̓áḵw development.
Your points are addressed below.
Legal Authority
You state that “our government has no legal authority over [the Sen̓áḵw] development, as it is on reserve lands”.
How is your statement to be reconciled with the fact that under section 53 of the Indian Act a lease of designated reserve lands is made by the Minister, and that under the Impact Assessment Act developments on federal lands including reserve lands are subject to an impact review process under that Act. Indeed, Indigenous Services Canada (“ISC”) is currently undertaking a review of the environmental impacts of the Sen̓áḵw development under that Act.
Further, if ISC determines that the carrying out of the project is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects, the project cannot proceed unless the Governor in Council decides, under subsection 90(3) of the Impact Assessment Act, that those effects are justified in the circumstances. KPRA has made submissions in the ISC environmental assessment process and a copy is available on our website.
Your statement raises the concern that the Government of Canada has prejudged these issues and does not intend to properly discharge their duties under the relevant legislation.
Nature of the Development
You state that: “We understand that Sen̓áḵw will foster the development of 6,000 affordable rental units whilst ensuring accessible community space; roughly 80 per cent of the land will be reserved for parks and community space. These decisions have been made in consultation with the City of Vancouver and local community residents. “
Repeating this sort of “development speak” will not make it true and does a disservice to your constituents. The Squamish Nation has never said that they were building affordable housing. They have consistently said that they were building market rental units and some leasehold units for sale. Initially they said there would be some small number of below market units made available to Squamish Nation members, and most recently they have said there will be ~ 700 affordable units (likely a CMHC requirement)—out of a total of 6000. None of this is confirmed, as they have also recently said that the mix of rental and sale may be adjusted towards sale, as dictated by rental market conditions.
As to the 80% of the land available for parks and community space I challenge you to show us where that is on the design drawings. Consider that this development will be by far the most dense in Canada and there are no areas marked as separate park lands on the plans. Note that areas used for roads, entrance and service drives, sidewalks, parking and plaza space between buildings do not constitute a park. We acknowledge that there are inevitably spaces between the buildings. Also, there is a large unbuildable area under the bridge apparently designated for community purposes. The number of residents in this small land area could be in the range of 12,000, living in very small units, meaning there will very high demand on public space, some of whom may prefer to enjoy space not under a bridge.
We have not heard of any plans from the Development Partnership to provide lands for actual park, schools or community centres as would be needed for a community of 12,000 people. The developers propose to rely on public lands and services for these needs and, as we understand it, the relevant property taxes which would normally support these public amenities will not be flowing to the governments that are incurring the expenses, in that property taxes if collected will flow to the Squamish Nation.
As to your statement that decisions have been made in consultation with local community residents, I can assure you that has not happened. It is disturbing to have you represent to Vancouver citizens that this consultation occurred. KPRA has been advocating with the City of Vancouver (“COV”) for over a year for community consultation but has been rebuffed and even been advised that COV has no jurisdiction to do so. We have been told that there will be consultation on some issues after the decisions are made and the Service Agreements are agreed to. The Development Partnership made public promises of community consultation but that also did not occur.
Reconciliation
You state that “This project represents reconciliation for past actions against the Squamish Nation, who were displaced from that site”, referencing that the Sen̓áḵw site is “a slice of what was once an 80-acre reserve known as Kitsilano Indian Reserve No. 6”.
We do not understand why the Sen̓áḵw development should be construed as reconciliation for this displacement because, as you should know, the claims of the Squamish Nation with respect to that reserve and that displacement were the subject of a law suit brought by the Squamish Nation which was settled in or about 2000. We understand that pursuant to that settlement the Squamish Nation gave up their claims to their former Kitsilano reserve lands and certain other lands in BC in exchange for payment of $92.5 million. As a result of the litigation the current Sen̓áḵw reserve lands were also returned to the Squamish Nation as reserve.
It is therefore our understanding that, as the Squamish Nation has accepted compensation for their claims to their former Kitsilano reserve, including the Vanier Park lands, and in return given up their claims to those lands and for their historical mistreatment in relation to them, those issues should be considered resolved.
A copy of a press report of the settlement is included for your reference. We have initiated a federal access to information request in respect to the actual settlement agreement but, as typical in this case, that has not been forthcoming.
It should also be noted, as reported in the press report, that by settling that claim the government of Canada intended to secure public use of the Kitsilano lands which include Vanier Park.
A more thoughtful approach to reconciliation needs to be taken. It frankly does not make sense to say that reconciliation requires Canada to pay for the lands in question more than once, or that, having paid for them to secure their continued use for the public, they should none the less give them up for the purpose of building a road in order to increase the size of a commercial real estate development.
The Senakw Access Road
This brings us to the access road which is proposed by the Development Partnership to be on and through Vanier Park. As you note, the lands in question are federal lands and leased to the City of Vancouver for parks purposes. The City of Vancouver cannot turn over these lands for use as a commercial development access road without the consent of the lessor (Canada). As discussed above, the Squamish Nation has already received compensation for these lands when they settled their claims to the lands and their historical grievances related to them.
The Development Partnership can place all necessary access roads on their lands without reducing public land. The issue as we understand it is that constructing the access road on park lands allows the size of the development to be increased for the profit/benefit of the Development Partnership. Why would public lands be given up for these purposes? The development is already planned to be unprecedented in density, and totally out of scale with surrounding Vancouver neighbourhoods.
The Development Partnership is planning a development of unprecedented density, that depends on Vancouver for its success but offers little in public amenities relative to its immense size and the thousands of new residents it will house. The immense density of the Sen̓áḵw development means that the Vanier park public lands will be much needed for the purposes for which they were intended—public park use.
We do take your point that primary responsibility for this lies with the City. The City, however, has surprisingly decided not to consult with its constituents on this issue. We continue to attempt to pursue that with them. They have also declined to provide public information about the approach they are taking.
We request Your Assistance
The level of misinformation in your response is substantial. We will be taking active steps to correct this by communicating about it within the community.
If you have any verifiable information that can be provided to us to clarify your statements please provide them. If you wish to prepare a follow-up statement to the community, again let us know.
What we are calling upon you to do at this point is to assist us in connecting to the appropriate government personnel having decision making authority on these issues—on an urgent basis. We request your assistance in providing contact information for issues relating to the Vanier Park lease, and also for the person in ISC responsible for the Sen̓áḵw development, so that community voices can be heard about the local impacts of this development.
I will call you in within 5 days to discuss this further.
Regards,
Eve Munro
for KET (KPRA Executive Team)
Subject: Re: Proposed sacrifice of Vanier Park
Dear xxxxxxxx,
Thank you for writing to me regarding the Sen̓áḵw development and Vanier Park. I hope you are keeping well and staying safe.
The Squamish Nation is developing Sen̓áḵw on land it owns — and our government has no legal authority over its development, as it is on reserve lands. The total size of Sen̓áḵw is a fraction of the former reserve; the Sen̓áḵw site is 11.7 acres, a slice of what was once an 80-acre reserve known as Kitsilano Indian Reserve No. 6.
This project represents reconciliation for past actions against the Squamish Nation, who were displaced from that site. We understand that Sen̓áḵw will foster the development of 6,000 affordable rental units whilst ensuring accessible community space; roughly 80 per cent of the land will be reserved for parks and community space. These decisions have been made in consultation with the City of Vancouver and local community residents.
To service the Sen̓áḵw development, the City of Vancouver has consulted with the Squamish Nation and their development partners to provide an access road. Whilst Vanier Park is Federal land, the land has been leased to the City of Vancouver. I have noted your concerns about the city’s compliance or non-compliance with the lease and forwarded them to the responsible Minister. Please note, as we are currently in an election, Parliamentary services are limited. Be that as it may, I will continue to pursue this matter with the Minister and ensure your voices are heard.
At the same time, I will note primary jurisdiction remains with the City of Vancouver. I would encourage you to contact the Vancouver Parks Board and City of Vancouver Councillors to express your concerns.
Once again, thank you for writing to me about Vanier Park and the Sen̓áḵw development. Should you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at 604-666-0135 and/or hedy.fry@parl.gc.ca
Kind regards,
Hon. Hedy Fry, P.C., MP
Vancouver Centre
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