Burnaby city council roundup – January 31, 2022

February 01, 2022

Good day good day and welcome to our first city council roundup! We’ve gushed in our On the Agenda segments about how much we love council day, and now we’re looking to complete that with a council roundup!

Because we managed to miss doing an On the Agenda this week (oops!), this will be a bit of a mix of the two, but expect to start seeing our council roundups the Wednesday after the council meeting.

For now, let’s have a look at what went down.

City council voted last week to endorse the Burnaby Mountain gondola project in an in-camera meeting, meaning we didn’t get a look at the discussion around the issue, nor an idea of who voted in favour and who voted against it.

TransLink’s mayors’ council will now consider whether to include the project in the 10-year plan.

The proposal, which TransLink wants to include in their priority list for fast transit in the region, was a major issue in last year’s byelection, with numerous candidates attending a forum in the Forest Grove neighbourhood.

And eight of those candidates pledged to oppose the project—or at least to advocate vociferously for their concerns—including the now-elected Alison Gu with the Burnaby Citizens’ Association.

Gu and her fellow BCA candidate, Baljinder Narang, said not only were they opposed to the project, but the three sitting BCA councillors were also opposed.

The other successful candidate, independent Mike Hillman, said he was in favour of the project.

At this week’s council meeting, we got a little look at how the vote stacked up, with the issue going before the regular council meeting as a for-information item—that is, an item that is not to be voted on but is just for councillors’ information.

Vibe check

Councillors spoke in relative unison on this project, taking turns saying the project was far from being a done deal and insisting that there were still conditions that would need to be met. That includes compensation for property owners in Forest Grove, an environmental review on Burnaby Mountain, and further engagement with residents.

Vote check

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Councillors Pietro Calendino and James Wang brought forward a notice of motion calling for city staff to report back on a potential single-use plastics ban in the city, following the suit of others in the region.

Vancouver, New Westminster, and Surrey have all explored single-use plastics bans, with the province pledging to approve municipal bylaws on the matter.

The bans aren’t exactly universally loved—particularly when it comes to straws. People with disabilities have long argued that it leaves them behind because the alternatives come with their own issues.

But the winds have been blowing in that direction for some time, with even the federal government talking about single-use plastics bans.

Vibe check

This item got perhaps the most vibrant discourse out of city council, with particular attention to the potential fees that could be imposed for plastic alternatives.

Coun Dan Johnston said he’s fully on-board with a single-use plastics ban, but he’s concerned about a fee associated with replacement items, like paper cups. Johnston pointed to Vancouver, where the fees are only a city-imposed revenue source for local businesses because the fees remain in the pockets of the businesses. That city’s council is now reconsidering the fees.

Coun Alison Gu asked that a ban be more flexible around straws for disabled people who rely on plastic straws. She suggested allowing restaurants to keep their plastic straws for people who need them.

Coun Colleen Jordan said the rules should be consistent between cities. And despite Metro Vancouver planning on coordinating the bans in the region, she said different cities have different exceptions, which can cause confusion. She also pointed out, in response to Johnston, that the provincial legislation requires the fees to stay in the pockets of the business owners—otherwise they would be a tax.

Coun Mike Hillman said he was grateful not to be in the place of staff to not have to figure out the specifics, saying he sympathized with what Jordan and Johnston were saying. And while he was supportive overall, he said those concerns remain outstanding.

Coun Sav Dhaliwal said aligning local governments was “impossible,” saying Metro Vancouver set out standards, but cities went out and did their own thing anyway. But he said the overall cause was important and required support.

Coun Joe Keithley said fees can have negative effects on low-income people, and suggested an amendment to apply the fees only where it’s applicable.

Vote check

Mayor Mike Hurley (Ind) Coun Sav Dhaliwal (BCA) Coun Pietro Calendino (BCA) Coun James Wang (BCA) Coun Alison Gu (BCA) Coun Dan Johnston (Ind) Coun Colleen Jordan (Ind) Coun Joe Keithley (Green) Coun Mike Hillman (Ind)

On top of the gondola endorsement, Burnaby city council has voted to endorse a Burrard Inlet rapid transit project route that would cut through the west side of Burnaby from north to south.

The project is largely aimed at providing rapid transit to the North Shore, but the route would cross the inlet and go one of two ways. One route would see it veer west down Hastings Street, while the other route, which Burnaby endorsed, would see the train continue on a north-south route along Willingdon Avenue, ending at the Millennium Line.

Vibe check

Like the gondola project, councillors spoke in vague terms, noting it still needs to be approved by TransLink’s mayors’ council. The project is still unclear—the type of rapid transit is still undetermined, whether it’s a fast bus or light rail or a SkyTrain-type project.

Mayor Mike Hurley, however, noted that a Burrard Inlet route in Burnaby is a priority for TransLink, and he’s confident the project would be approved in some form.

Coun Colleen Jordan said she was concerned about the potential impacts of a project on Hastings Street in Burnaby.

But councillors also spoke to the potential benefits—namely the missing north-south element. The project would also connect the two largest town centres—Brentwood and Metrotown.

Vote check

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Coun Alison Gu asked council to approve a motion to expedite phase 1 of the city’s cycling network in its transportation master plan by adding more safe cycling routes to schools, by working to address “orphan” cycling paths, and by improving the network around SkyTrain stations.

Phase 1 of the transportation plan includes 80km of cycling infrastructure, with a focus on major routes. But Gu argued in her notice of motion that those arterial routes don’t help children who may want to bike to their schools.

Vibe check

The plan received broad support from city council, which agreed that the city needs to be doing more to improve active transportation infrastructure, particularly around town centres.

Coun Joe Keithley said this was a “good motion” that he would support, noting the goal of getting people into non-emitting forms of transportation needs to be pressed.

Coun Colleen Jordan called for an amendment to the motion that required staff to report back on the potential cost to the city and where the funding would come from. She noted the city has just passed its financial plan for 2022, and the transportation plan was just recently approved, and speeding up the plan will come with costs.

Gu said the motion would effectively put the city’s money where its mouth is. The city is asking people to take alternative transportation methods, like cycling, and she said the city needs to build safe infrastructure to back that up.

Vote check

Mayor Mike Hurley (Ind) Coun Sav Dhaliwal (BCA) Coun Pietro Calendino (BCA) Coun James Wang (BCA) Coun Alison Gu (BCA) Coun Dan Johnston (Ind) Coun Colleen Jordan (Ind) Coun Joe Keithley (Green) Coun Mike Hillman (Ind)

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