Uncategorizd - Sasha Izard

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Too much heat: The UDI pulls down its list of backroom committees that meet with the Government of British Columbia and Local Governments – CRD Watch Homepage

To read the article, please click on the following link: Public Release of the Urban Development Institute (UDI)’s hidden members directory dated to the beginning of 2024. The directory contains dozens of government branches that are hiding their memberships in the registered lobbying organization for development and real estate interests from the public. – CRD Watch Homepage

To read the article, please click on the following link:

The Government of British Columbia has repeatedly failed to post Freedom of Information response on its so-called “Open Information” catalogue regarding Housing Target Consultations that the Province made with Municipalities, after almost a year and a half since the FOI request was made. – CRD Watch Homepage

Excerpt:

"Saanich resident Sasha Izard, who ran for council in 2022, is concerned about the involvement of the development community, which he and others believe has an undue influence in shaping policies around density. Mr. Izard cites a presentation from the Urban Development Institute to then-Housing Minister David Eby dated March 10, 2022. In the presentation, the non-profit organization, a lobby group for the development community, recommends enhanced densities around transit nodes, between 200 and 800 metres outward. The presentation also recommended the province set housing targets for municipalities, with rewards and punitive measures for those who don’t meet the goals.

In the fall of 2023, the province introduced the Housing Supply Act and set initial targets for 10 municipalities. It gives the province the right to act if those targets are not met by local governments. By the end of that year, the province passed Bill 47, which mandated minimum building heights up to 800 metres outward from transit nodes, such as bus exchanges and SkyTrain stations.

“The letter and presentation called for enforceable housing targets along rapid transit lines, with content pushing density around transit oriented areas that appear to be a precursor to Bill 47,” said Mr. Izard. “A carrot and stick approach was lobbied for, with various punishments suggested for municipalities that do not build fast enough along designated transit areas.”"

Residents gear up for a fight as Saanich feels the growing pains of density - The Globe and Mail (Direct Link)

Archive.org link to article, if one can't access it directly: Residents gear up for a fight as Saanich feels the growing pains of density - The Globe and Mail

To view the article please click on the following link:

https://crdwatch.ca/2025/01/03/its-official-b-c-provincial-government-entities-are-reimbursing-government-employees-for-expenses-spent-on-a-registered-lobbying-organization-representing-corporate-interests-involved-in-developme/

To view the article, please click on the following link:

Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs: “conflict of interest rules under the Local Government Act and Community Charter do not apply to local government staff.” – CRD Watch Homepage

To view the article, please click on the following link: Anarchy for the BC Public Service in Regard to Conflict of Interest Law: “There are no laws per se”. – CRD Watch Homepage

To view the article please click on the following link: Registered Lobbying Group for Real Estate and Development Helped Draft the Community Charter of British Columbia. – CRD Watch Homepage

BC Transit is a paying member of the Urban Development Institute (UDI). The UDI is registered on the BC Lobbyists Registry. The organization advances the interests of their hundreds of paying corporate members involved in development/real estate.

In a March 10, 2022, lobbying letter to David Eby, while he was the Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Housing (soon to be Premier by the end of the year), the UDI used BC Transit's maps for proposed RapidBus lines (including the one proposed on McKenzie) in the Capital Region, and also for transit in the Okanagan (there are UDI Chapters in each region), without citing the source of the maps, and placing them under the UDI's own logo.

Below the maps, the UDI railed about "NIMBY groups" and what they referred to as the coming "uphill battle" to be faced by such groups, against development around transit stations. In this context, the BC transit maps come off looking more like invasion maps.

In the letter the UDI used the term "transit-oriented areas", a term the Province would adopt in Bill 47 for its TOAs, which were much as the UDI had proposed, to force high density development around transit exchanges.

While the Province has only mandated one TOA in Saanich in the Uptown Core, Saanich has on its own increased the number of TOAs through its newly adopted Official Community Plan to 5 in total, including one for Quadra and McKenzie.

On March 10, 2022, the UDI's Executive Committee met with Eby and provided him a presentation on the same day of the letter. In order to force their agenda of high densification around rapid transit in (which led to the Province adopting Bill 47), the UDI recommended that the Province mandate not only housing targets around rapid transit to municipalities, but that the Province adopt a wide ranging set of enforcement mechanisms along with them.

These included potentially hiking taxes on those living in such areas, taking government control over land use decisions/removing vast amounts of public hearings through pre-zoning (something the government effectively would do 2 and a half years later with bills 44 and 47), taking away regulatory powers away from local governments that are aren't building fast enough for the UDI's agenda, leveraging debt against municipalities to force them to build more, and even cutting infrastructure funding as well as community amenities funding to municipalities that don't comply.

This shows why the RapidBus line on McKenzie and the single auto traffic lanes it would require, is so crucial to the UDI's and Saanich's plans to heavily densify areas to be served by RapidBus lines e.g. Quadra/McKenzie. If they were to fail, it would jeopardize the entire raison dêtre for the plans, hence why the District and its politicians, as well as lobbyists have much to fear if a critical mass of public opposition materializes in opposition to the plan.

The following with map showing TOAs overlapping with centres is from p.78 of the pdf of Saanich's new OCP (Accessed Dec 6, 2024):

Saanich has included in its OCP 4 TOAs of its own (see above map ) that are not required by the Province. Thus the total number of TOAs for Saanich (5) is 5 times more than is actually required by the Province.

The Uptown Core TOA (In a separate page of the OCP) is the only one mandated for Saanich by the Province.

"While the Urban Development Institute - Capital Region organization sought to speak 20 minutes rather than the three minutes allotted the average delegation, that required support not met around the commission table. Commissioners also voted down a proposal to allow six minutes. Neither vote was unanimous."

https://www.vicnews.com/local-news/crd-pushes-ahead-with-development-cost-charges-to-fund-coming-water-needs-7661407

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