Sim seeks Canadian-residency rule for Vancouver council speakers

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim is asking the provincial government to amend the Vancouver Charter so only Canadian residents can register to speak at city council public hearings and other proceedings. The request follows concerns about callers with no apparent connection to Vancouver taking part in recent land-use and development debates.

In a letter to Premier David Eby and Housing and Municipal Affairs Minister Christine Boyle, Sim said the City lacks clear authority to impose a residency condition. He said public participation remains fundamental, but limited speaking opportunities should primarily serve people subject to the consequences of municipal decisions.

The issue drew attention during the three-day public hearing on the City’s Villages Plan, which would add low- and mid-rise housing and retail hubs in 17 areas. More than 340 people registered to speak, and the final session ran from the morning of July 22 until just before 1 a.m. on July 23. Councillors questioned a caller from California who said she had never visited Vancouver, as well as other testimony that appeared repetitive or relied on questionable translation arrangements.

Council has moved speakers who are not Canadian residents to the end of the queue. Sim said that is an immediate procedural step, but not a lasting solution; he wants authority for reasonable verification requirements while preserving council’s ability to hear invited experts and others needed for its decisions.

Sim has also referred the matter to the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) to assess whether there were coordinated attempts to disrupt council business. He said the referral does not assume wrongdoing. The controversy has also focused on Unite Here Local 40, whose president Zailda Chan and other members spoke at hearings concerning the former Molson Coors brewery site owned by Concord Pacific. The Vancouver Sun reported the union asked American counterparts to call into council hearings.

Council faces further lengthy hearings, including 479 registered speakers on five rezoning applications. Of those, 326 are registered on Holborn Group’s proposal to redevelop the Hudson’s Bay parkade block with hotel, residential and commercial towers, alongside a proposed social-housing and childcare tower near the Woodward’s complex in Gastown.