Supporting Vancouver's BIAs and Growing VANSTAT

Statement Watch

Hi, my name is Joseph Martin, and I'm speaking today on behalf of myself as a Vancouver resident and voicing my support for the motion sound investment reinstating the Vancouver Music Fund. I wrote many of you last year about this issue, and I appreciate the time and attention you've given us so far. I've been fortunate to meet several of you, and I believe we share many common goals in building a vibrant and resilient city. I like that this motion is called Sound Investment because that's what this fund is, an investment in Vancouver's creative and economic future. Small grants to producers, musicians, and music entrepreneurs create returns through local jobs, cultural vitality, tourism, and the creation of intellectual property that generates value for years to come. I want to share my own experience as an example of what is possible in the city. I'm a lifelong Vancouver resident. My partner and I own an apartment in the West End. I have built my career here in the music industry. I began as an artist recording in Vancouver studios, touring internationally, and building a career while remaining based in Vancouver. For the past 10 years, I've worked in artist and label management at 604 Records, one of Canada's largest independent labels proudly based in Vancouver. My work includes supporting Vancouver artists and producing our free annual summer festival in Strathcona. This event now brings more than 2,000 people into the area each year. Vancouver is a place where meaningful music careers, businesses, and communities can be built. But that does not happen by accident. It happens when artists and entrepreneurs have enough support to stay, create, and grow. This is why the fund matters. It is one of the highest leverage investments the city can make in the next generation. Grants of just $2,000 to $10,000 create immediate local economic activity. The fund does more than help people make music. It helps people shape lives and careers in Vancouver. It creates pathways, lowers barriers to entry, strengthens the city's cultural fabric and increases the likelihood that talented people will remain here rather than leave for other markets. We have many civic concerns, and I applaud the work that our current council is doing to make it easier for venues to open, events to operate, and young people to find their footing in the creative industries. That said, the Vancouver Music Fund is a modest investment with an outsized return, and I strongly encourage your support for this motion. I could go into the spillover effect these opportunities have on mental health and addiction issues, but I am at my time, so I will say if we want a city that is vibrant, resilient, and culturally alive, then we need to invest in the people who make that reality. Thank you very much.

Statement Watch

Yep, I'm here.

Go ahead.

Thank you. My name is Chloe Leslie. I'm a Vancouver resident, and I'm in support of this motion because it is ultimately about ensuring that... Council has the opportunity to thoughtfully consider renewed support for Vancouver's music sector as a part of the 2027 budget process. The Vancouver Music Fund was never a massive program in terms of dollars, but I do think it had very meaningful impact. It supported emerging artists, producers, and small businesses at critical early stages of development, helping create recordings, generate local employment, and grow creative enterprises rooted right here in Vancouver. Importantly, the outcomes of this work extend beyond culture alone. The fund contributed to economic activity through local spending and recording studios, payments to engineers and session musicians, and the creation of intellectual property with long-term revenue potential. I understand there's limited capacity within the 2026 budget to reinstate this program without really difficult trade-offs, and there are operational considerations with launching or reinstating a grant stream on short timelines. So rather than proposing immediate reinstatement, this motion asks staff to explore options to report back through the normal budget process for 2027. It's a measured, I think, and fiscally responsible approach for council to evaluate program design, funding mechanisms, and alignment within existing strategies before making any future commitments. It's also important to recognize that Council has already endorsed policy frameworks such as the Vancouver Music Strategy and Culture Shift, both of which acknowledge the value of music and culture to Vancouver's economy, identity, and community well-being. The local music sector continues to express strong interest in ensuring that artists and creative entrepreneurs are able to build sustainable careers in this city. This motion provides a path to evaluate how the city can continue supporting that work in a realistic and structured way. For those reasons, I urge you to support this motion. Thank you.

Statement Watch

Good morning, Mayor. Where is my timer? Yep, please go ahead.

Okay. I'll reset that. Yeah, good morning, Mayor and Council. Thank you for lending me your ears this morning. My name is Matthew. I'm a Vancouver resident, and I strongly support Councillor Orr's motion. I wanted to speak a bit more personally than I often do here, as music and the arts have given me more than I can put into words. I started playing piano at the age of five and had weekly lessons for 13 years. I played recitals. I composed my own pieces. I fell in love with Oscar Peterson's Canadiana Suite and Chopin's Nocturnes. In high school, I learned the trumpet and the French horn. I was in our concert band, our jazz band, and our choir. You can probably guess how popular I was. We listen to music on the best days of our lives. Forever embedding these songs into our memories and on the worst days of our lives, music helps to hold the grief we all must carry. When I was a struggling teen at UBC in my undergrad, I would listen to melancholic songs on my two hour bus commutes from class and I would feel less alone. I felt seen in what I heard. I do not think I would be here today speaking to you all were it not for the company I found in the music of artists I've never met. If we want to claim to be a world class city, we need to produce world class culture. And if we want to produce world class culture, we need to invest meaningfully and materially in our emerging artists and lift them up onto the world stage. I would ask you to think of an artist who was born out of a story of struggle or obscurity, who changed the very way we experience music. Jimi Hendrix comes to mind for me, an integral part of the fabric of Vancouver's history. Our city is bursting with creative talent. I see the hunger and the fire these artists have trying to catch a break. As the affordability crisis only deepens, artists take on extra work. They feel pressure to monetize every creative act. Or worse, they stop creating altogether. They get a real job. And as a result, we all lose. Music and the arts make life worth living. And I believe that something that valuable is something we should invest in as a public good. That's why I hope to see unanimous support on this motion, and I wanted to thank Councillor Orr for being the one to bring it forward. Thank you.

Statement Watch

Hi there. To the Mayor and Council, my name is Nate Stanley, a resident of Vancouver who thinks we should have a thriving local music scene, and I am speaking today in favor of this motion. With the recent zero-means-zero budget, funding has been cut that enabled this program. This funding, while small, is critical in allowing local artists and producers to exist in this city in an ever-worsening cost-of-living crisis. Right now, those emerging artists are struggling to find studios to practice in, venues to perform at, and brutally just ways to keep a roof over their head and food on the table. In Vancouver, as our ever-worsening housing affordability crisis stifles our creative talent and local music scene, we've kind of earned the nickname No Fun City. This program, the Vancouver Music Fund, while small, allowed these local artists to develop and to exist and build roots in Vancouver. Without this funding, many of those artists will be pushed out of Vancouver, like much of the working class of this city. To put it simply, the Vancouver Music Fund allows some of our artists to help stay and exist in Vancouver. This motion simply attempts to rectify and fix some mistakes from the 2026 budget, directing staff to find potential funding mechanisms for this fund in the 2027 budget. Let's help out our local artists, take some of the pressure off them so we can show that the music scene, show off that local Vancouver music scene to the world when we host FIFA in a matter of months. These artists and our local culture scene are the backbone of the Vancouver that we love. I urge all councillors to support this motion to reinstate the funding for the Vancouver Music Fund and to support our local artists. Thank you for the time.

Statement Watch

uh good morning mayor and council my name is john comstock i am a vancouver resident and local musician and i am speaking in strong support of this motion i have been involved in the vancouver arts community for nearly 13 years i've seen so many iterations of the music scene in vancouver and it is constantly changing faster than the city can keep up with venues are being shut down and artists are being renovated from their practice spaces and homes every month I personally have lived in eight different places over 13 years, and for musicians to underrepresented groups, it's even harder to stay afloat here. Previous iterations of the Vancouver Music Fund have specifically given grants to artists from underrepresented groups, people who often face socioeconomic struggles that create a barrier to creating their art. Enabling those artists to continue making their art ensures diversity in the local music scene and that the scene remains welcoming to all people. Living in Vancouver can be hard, but one thing that keeps me and many other Grounded others grounded is the art scene. Meeting other artists with similar experiences and ideas gives me purpose to continue contributing to our vibrant city. When Vancouver's diverse artists are supported and recognized instead of being left to fend for themselves, it allows the local music scene to thrive and expand. Creating art is a full-time job, often on top of our full-time day jobs. It's not easy, but we do it because we love it. We put in tireless effort to perfect our craft, and that requires the funds to actually practice and prepare our craft. By supporting this motion, you will give this city's best musicians the opportunity to thrive. Art provides an expressive outlet, provides a sense of agency, and gives us all a reason to live. If we want to be a world-class city, we need to support the world-class artists in this city. It's time to once again let Vancouver musicians know that we're proud they're here and proud of the work they do. Musicians want representation. We want acknowledgement. And by supporting this motion, it grants our community hope and validation that what we are doing matters. We are more than artists. We are your friends and your neighbors. Thank you.