Sound Investment Vancouver Music Fund – Amendment
Motion 4 · Standing Committee on Policy and Strategic Priorities, May 6, 2026
Summary
- Councillor Fry's motion proposed directing staff to consider policy changes including exempting waste rooms from gross floor area calculations in new buildings, exploring community recycling hubs in dense neighbourhoods, and reporting on options to improve zero waste access for apartment dwellers.
- Speakers from Binners Project and others highlighted that residents in older apartment buildings and SROs lack adequate space and access for recycling multiple streams, including new soft plastic (pink bin) collection.
- Councillor Montague's amendment replaced the report-back direction with a staff memo outlining existing programs and measures already in place.
- Critics argued the amendment substituted meaningful action for a status-quo summary and failed to address the core access gap.
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Public comments
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Transcript
58 segments
Thank you, Deputy Mayor Kirby-Young. So the next motion is motion two, sound investment reinstating the Vancouver Music Fund and is to be moved and introduced by Councillor Orr. Before we begin this item, if anyone believes they have a conflict of interest, now is the time to declare it. Does anyone have a conflict to disclose? So, Councillor Orr, you have up to two minutes to introduce your motion.
Thank you very much. Having been a musician in the city, I know what it costs to make a record. I know what it feels like to scrape together enough to book studio time, to weigh that against rent, to decide whether the thing you made actually gets to exist in the world. And I know that calculation gets made every day by people here, people making the music that gives Vancouver its identity. It's reason to say. The Vancouver Music Fund wasn't a big program, but these grants gave the kind of money that changes what's possible. Things like making sure that a record gets made and helps turn a musician into someone who can keep doing this here instead of leaving. We all know that arts and culture matter to the city's economy and its soul. The Vancouver Music Strategy and Culture Shift were both adopted, so evidently the arts do matter to this council. Cutting this fund would be a grave error, and this motion is a chance to show how arts and culture matter with a budget line. Staff have told us that 2026 is complicated, so the motion is instead asking for us to make that a reality in 2027. So I would appreciate the support from my colleagues on this one. Thanks.
Okay. Thanks, Councillor Orr. Seconded by Councillor Kirby-Young. We will now hear from registered speakers for this motion. Public speakers should state whether they're in support or opposition to the recommendations, and they may only speak once. I will also ask our speakers if they're residents of Vancouver, if it's not noted on the speakers list. So our first public speaker on this is Joseph Martin.
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.
Thanks, Joseph. Our next speaker is Chloe Leslie.
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.
Okay, thank you. Next speaker, Matthew Hay.
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.
Okay, thanks, Matthew.
Next speaker is Angela Liu.
Just checking.
No. Okay, we'll come back to them.
Speaker 5, Nate Stanley.
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.
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.
Thanks, John. Okay, that's the end of our speakers list, but we did have one speaker that wasn't available, so we'll just go back one more time to see if they're there. Speaker 4, Angela Liu.
Okay, thank you, clerks. Committee members, is there any discussion? Councillor Klassen.
Thanks very much, Chair, and always excited to talk about music in our city. Music has been a cornerstone of what Vancouver is, and I think that we often are really... not doing as good a job as we could be in terms of talking about how important music has been to our identity as a city, as a global center of the creation, and live music performance is a big part of that. I've had a chance to meet and speak to several key figures in the music and culture sector here in Vancouver and, you know, ask them and have been talking to them about what's their seat. see as some of the challenges that we face. And part of it is just making sure that our city is aligned with the tools and the approaches that will actually help that industry sector thrive. I know that when I was younger, and Councillor Fry likes to talk about it a lot as well, we used to go to so many great venues and so many different shows that took place in And clubs that no longer exist, that only exist as memories to a lot of us, on memories. So I have sent in an amendment to this motion, so I'm hoping that we can go to you.
I'll move you to the amendment queue, Councillor Klassen. Just one moment here. Please continue.
So first of all, I just want to thank all the speakers, some great poignant stories there, and I completely agree. We need to do everything that we can, and there has been so many different initiatives that I've tried to support to make sure that artists feel supported within our city here. In this particular motion here, I'll be introducing a strike and replace that I think sort of addresses some of the kind of key points that are being put forward in the motion, but it strengthens some of the objectives here. I just want to, again, be very clear that we really strongly support Vancouver's music sector, our artists, venues, producers, festivals, and many people who contribute to cultural life and economic vitality in our city. And there's no question that grants can play an important role. Organizations like Factor, Music BC, and Creative BC already provide significant support for artists, recording, touring, and production. But what I continue to hear from people working directly in the industry is that many of the biggest challenges facing Vancouver's music ecosystem are structural, not simply financial. People are concerned about the difficulty of opening and sustaining venues, navigating permitting and licensing processes, and accessing rehearsal and production space, and operating live events in an increasingly difficult economic environment. In fact, previous correspondents from MusicBC warned that simply distributing funding risk becoming, quote, a distraction to the overall goal of the Music City strategy, end quote, and instead emphasizes the importance of local music infrastructure, long-term planning, and stronger municipal support systems. And we're already seeing some of that constructive work underway in this direction. Recently, City staff... After a few of us met with key venue operators in the city, have started working directly with arts event licensees and venue operators through a collaborative working group approach aimed at improving communication. and addressing operational challenges. And that's the kind of practical work I believe that we should continue building on. This is also about supporting Vancouver's nighttime economy more broadly. Live music venues, comedy clubs, festivals, and cultural events create jobs, attract visitors, animate neighborhoods, and continue to be a safer and more vibrant... create a safer and more vibrant downtown and entertainment district. So the city's role should not just be asked whether we can fund a small number of projects. We should ask whether our policies are helping or hindering the broader music economy. If someone wants to open the next live music venue, rehearsal space, or comedy club... or local festival in Vancouver, are we making that easier or are we making it harder? And that's what this amendment seeks to address. It builds on existing work already undertaken through the Vancouver Music Strategy, Music Ecosystem Study, and keeps the scope focused within existing resources, aligns with staff advice regarding the 2027 budget process. and ask staff to identify practical options around permitting, licensing venues, rehearsal spaces, and the nighttime accounting alongside any future consideration of grant programs. And I believe this is a more sustainable and economically responsible approach that supports the entire ecosystem over the long term. Thank you.
Okay, thanks, Councillor Klassen. Councillor Maloney.
Just a point of procedure. Is this the debate on the amendment?
Yes.
And will we have any, if this is voted by the majority in favour, will we have further opportunity or is this the last opportunity we have?
I believe this would, this is strike and replace, so this would be the last opportunity. I'm just realising we need a seconder for the amendment as well. So can I get a seconder?
Also, my time is at 3.23 and this is the first time I've spoken to this motion.
You can have the clerks reset your timer. Thank you.
Thank you. I appreciate Councillor Orr moving this motion and I was, the motion that's pretty funny talking about music, isn't it? I was planning to vote in favour of the original motion. I support all the aspects of this amendment other than the way it removes additional funding for music. Because, you know, we've seen in my time on council arts and culture folks come along and tell us that what they really need is more funding. And that's what Councillor Orr's motion asks for and that's what this amendment removes. So it's got all sorts of good... actions that we should be doing to support music within the city, but we also need to pay for it. We need to invest in it. So I can't support this Strike and Replace amendment. I think that music in our city is so important at this time more than any other, and we had such great input from our public speakers this morning. I think the importance of it at this time is no small part because Canadian culture is such an important alternative to the culture of our southern neighbours. And so we do need to invest in our own culture. I know I've travelled around different cities and one of the most significant memories I have...
very tired again, excuse me, is the music of each country that I've lived in. And I learnt Spanish through the music of Chile. I think that it's just such a missed opportunity to spend a small amount of our city's resources, financial resources, investing in the music of Vancouverites. Thank you.
Thank you, Councillor. Councillor Orr.
Yeah, thanks. This is a completely different motion. I appreciate addressing these issues. I think that... If you wanted to do this, you should bring up your own motion. This is totally different, completely changes the spirit of the motion. My motion was very simple. It was asking for a funding strategy to bring back the Vancouver Music Fund. Very, very simple. I suspect, I don't want to impugn modus, but you didn't want to vote against reinstating the Vancouver Music Fund, so you've done this. That completely changes the spirit of the motion. It was another last second amendment, which is really unfortunate. We'd love to have had a conversation with the mover of the amendment before this if this is something that was concerned. My original motion actually was much more prescriptive in terms of looking at a hotel tax. No, I said, no, I really want this to pass. I'm going to not be so prescriptive. And I'm going to be very gentle because I think that council is going to support the Vancouver Music Fund. I also changed it from this budget cycle to next budget cycle on the advice of staff. And... This just obliterates that, obliterates all that work. I think it's good. I think some of this stuff is good. I think we should be doing this. Absolutely. We've seen this in the news. We've seen this come up. A lot of venues are struggling. A lot of venues have been shut down that have concerns, and they don't. They don't have the information to have that integrated, you know, with licensing and permitting. Improve clarity and coordination. That's great. Do that. Do that on your own. This is a motion for a music fund, and now this is gone.
Okay, thanks. Councillor Kirby Young.
Yeah, thanks, Chair. I think I just want to sort of recognize that I think there's really important and critical components for the success and sustained viability and health of our music sector and arts and culture generally included in here. No argument whatsoever with the need to continue working on permitting and licensing processes, the importance of infrastructure I think we're doing, Council's been doing a lot of that work. We have the making space for arts and culture. We've been securing and working hard to secure some cultural amenity spaces through development, for example, that can be utilized to support and providing sort of security of tenure for different groups and space. We've recently advanced grants, for example, to Eastside Culture, and the Dance Center help them secure their homes and provide those places and spaces for artists to be and to create. I do think that there is, and that's really important, and I think that work needs to be prioritized wholeheartedly in support of that. I do think there's a bit of a distinction between that and this motion as it's written, which is looking to support the artists specifically with respects to creation. And so I think for me, this is very valid and very important work, but I think it's distinct and different from the main motion, which really is about supporting the artists. We need to have the great spaces there, but we also can't have spaces and have artists not... be able to sustain themselves in the city or create and produce and then they're not we've got spaces but no one to perform in them and to showcase their music so for me I think that I'll just observe that I think there's a bit of a distinction here I think what I'm seeing is a lot of alignment from council around supporting the music sector and the importance of continuing to do that And I think we have a lot of direction in place to support and pursue that work. And I think we need to continue to put our shoulders to the wheel and do that. And I'm looking forward to doing that, those pieces alongside colleagues. But I do think there's a distinction between this piece here and the motion itself. Thanks.
Thanks, Councillor. Councillor Fry.
Yeah, I'll start by just commiserating with Councillor Klassen about back in the day. back in the when i ran a print and promo shop and did graphic design for literally hundreds of of bands and ravers and djs and rappers and true story actually i've i've fired nickelback as clients because i thought they'd never go anywhere beyond being a studebaker's bar band and uh i guess obviously i didn't figure that one out but uh yeah no um and so with that said uh I also recognized that a lot of the groups that I worked with back in those days and the venues that I was working with were underground venues. And Vancouver had a rich ecosystem of alternative spaces that operated in the sort of gray twilight areas, as it were, alongside the licensed legal nightclubs. So... Where I appreciate Councillor Klassen's amendment, although it does digress quite significantly from, I think, the intention of this motion from Councillor Orr, which was to fundamentally reinstate the Vancouver Music Fund in a somewhat agnostic way that would have recognized putting musicians first. I do worry that the outcome of Councillor Klassen's amendment, especially in light of recent conversations and revelations around targeted enforcement on underground venues and unlicensed in the traditional sense I do worry that this perhaps this particular amendment opens up through identifying options for improving clarity and coordination of existing permitting and licensing processes for live music and events given what we know of some of the sort of direction that came from members of this council to our licensing department, I do worry that this might be wielded as some kind of tool to unfortunately enforce on the myriad of alternative venues, many of which are providing very vital spaces for underrepresented groups and indeed the music that is part of that. That being said, I recognize that the outcome of Councillor Klassen's amendment will be effectively a report back from staff. So it's not so binding that it would necessarily lead to some kind of additional enforcement on underground venues or raids on queer spaces like we've been led to understand has been kind of the direction from members of this council. So I will support the amendment. I do think it's unfortunate that we've lost the intention of Councillor Orr's original motion because I think it is actually a very important consideration in supporting a music fund that is agnostic from venues and licensing, that is agnostic from big money, that really just reflects on the artists and the opportunities and how we can support musicians and music in our city. So thank you to Councillor Orr. Thank you to Councillor Klassen, and I hope the outcome of this is positive and supports that vibrant ecosystem with a wicked soundtrack.
I'd like to turn the chair to Councillor Domino to ask a question. Through you, Chair, to the City Manager, I just want to follow up on a comment I just heard from Councillor Frye. around council direction around raids on queer spaces. Is the deputy city manager aware of any council direction around such an approach? I'm not aware of any.
I'm not aware.
Not aware of any direction. Me neither. Thank you.
I'll take the chair back. Councillor Frye.
Oh, sorry, I'm not sure if there was a question you wanted to pose of me. I'm responding to reporting from the Vancouver Lookout that alleges not this council, but individual councillors.
I'm not going to... I'm responding to... You can look it up. It's Google-able.
That's why I didn't name anybody.
Okay, let's, if people want to. Please feel free to do so, but we're just not going to have a debate across the chamber. So let's follow the procedure.
Councillor Orr. We did receive a memo from the city manager at the time that said council direction. I can't find it right now. I don't have time, but there, and I did ask. A follow-up question about what that council direction was. And it was either from the city manager's office that said there was council direction. I can look. If you want to take a recess, I can find it to answer your question. It definitely says council direction as an answer from the city manager's office.
I'll just know we're not debating the motion anymore. We need to stay on topic. And we heard from the deputy city manager that there has been no council direction around Councillor Fry's allegation.
Okay, so no one else in the queue on the amendment. So let's take to vote.
Okay, that passes with Councillor Kirby-Young in opposition, Councillor Bligh in opposition, Councillor Orr in opposition, and Councillor Maloney in opposition. So we'll now go back. I guess that's the end of that motion, actually. Pardon me, because it was a strike and replace. So that completes this not.
Okay, still need to dispose of the original motion. So we do need to vote on the motion as amended.
Sorry about that. Councillor Bligh.
Yeah, thanks, Chair. Just listening to this debate intently, and I just want to state for the record that I'll support this motion, but I shared the thoughts of my colleague in the move of the motion, Councillor Orr, that this does not reflect the intent of the original motion that I supported. I've heard from people who served on the committee that supported the work. It's a position within our city that was once funded and is no longer. I think what it says is we're deprioritizing the importance of the music industry in our arts and culture space. You know, I just don't think it's a time for us to do that in our city. These are supports. This is access that people rely upon from a mental health perspective, from an income perspective. We have incredible talent here in our city. And so while I still do not support... The amendments that were put forward is a strike and replace that removes the intent of the original motion. I think it's it's better to keep this work going than not at all. And so it's a begrudgingly in favor. vote that I intend to cast, but I wanted just to make very clear for the record where I stand on the actual issue of funding this work, which this amendment by Councillor Claston has essentially deleted. So I will vote to support, but I would have preferred to support Councillor Orr's original motion.
Okay, thanks. Councillor Maloney.
Like Councillor Bligh, I am extremely disappointed that this strike and replace motion amendment has successfully deleted the original motion.
So I am also begrudgingly going to vote in favour of this to keep the work going, but I really feel like we need to invest in music and musicians in the City of Vancouver. Thank you.
Councillor Kirby-Young.
Yeah, thanks, Chair. Not a surprise to a lot of folks that the arts and culture sector is one that's been consistently important to me during my time on council. When I think about the type of city that we're trying to build, it looks very bleak if we don't have a vibrant and robust and healthy and thriving arts and culture sector, and that is both the artists as well as the ecosystem and the spaces that they get to perform and participate entertain and create and connect all of us in and so I think that there's a lot of good here in this amendment a lot of this work is well underway so I think putting an exclamation point on it is never a bad thing but I think that it's very clearly articulated that the city has been committed to these goals and I referenced earlier through the making space for arts and culture and around trying to support that access to performance rehearsal and production spaces. And, you know, I referenced some of the recent opportunities to provide security of tenure to the dance center where people can both create, but people can also go and see performances. So it has creation spaces and it has performance spaces that people can participate in and view the art. Similarly, something like the East Side is more focused on supporting artists in the production space, and we helped them secure their new home. I think it's a great discussion. Anytime that we can shine a spotlight on the need to continuing to support arts and culture. I think it's been a good debate and a good conversation today. And I think our city would be pretty bleak if we didn't have this here. This is the city that we're fighting for. It's an expensive place to live in. Affordability is a real challenge. But people live here because it is spectacularly beautiful. It's culturally diverse. And through all of that, we have an incredible backdrop for arts and culture. And so much of it is thriving that oftentimes a lot of folks say it's hidden, but you just have to kind of look and pay attention and peel back the layers a little bit. And you find so many different organizations that are creating incredible experiences that we all get to participate in. So I'm happy to support this. Thank you.
Thank you, Councillor Kirby. Councillor Claassen.
Thanks. I really appreciate the discussion. Again, once again, very appreciative of our speakers. And also this, for me, is one of the core reasons that I feel my job is to try and make sure that we can continue to create a very vibrant music economy in our city. And that's why I've spent time with the sector and had lots of conversations on how we can better support it. I'll just sort of draw people's attention to Clause D on this. updated motion that any consideration of reinstating creating grant-based programs be evaluated along these options which include also reviewing additional funding sources but the idea that we actually start put a stronger lens on making sure that we actually have stronger policies and again as counselor Kirby young says there's been significant work that's happened so far, but we're still seeing gaps and we're still having challenges in the experience of last December when there was some uproar around inspections. The very first meetings that I held the day after I returned from the Christmas break were with the fire chief and her team and the general manager of our permits and licenses. I met that Monday morning and I got to the bottom of what was going on here and A couple weeks later, we were able to bring together a group of about over a dozen stakeholders, people who run important parts of our nightlife economy, nighttime economy, and varied venues. Councillor Fry also attended that meeting. We had, I thought, a very open and honest discussion, and I'm extremely pleased now that a group representing that part of our nighttime economy are now meeting on a regular basis with our city staff, which is, again, with the sub-bullet for A, improving clarity and coordination of existing permitting and licensing processes, live music and events. That was the thing that I discovered when I met with that sector is that there was a lot of misunderstanding and a lot of trepidation in dealing with the city. But I could tell from talking to our staff that they were very, very supportive of trying to make sure that we have a strong nighttime economy and we're able to support these venue operators. But they have rules that they need to apply in terms of making sure that... that licenses are properly in order and that alcohol is not being served illegally and what have you. And so they have to abide the provincial laws around that. So this is really about helping and uplifting this and making sure that That it's not just me and Councillor Fry or Councillor Orr or anyone thinking back to the old days when there were more places where you can go see a show, but that we actually start seeing more of that coming back in a stronger way in the years to come. So, again, it sort of takes the advice of city staff to look at the 2027 budget process, and so that's clear in this motion. So I hope that the intent here is really clear, that we are going to address the structural challenges, not just the economic ones. Thanks.
Okay, thanks, Councillor Klassen. Seeing no one else in the queue, we'll take it to a vote. Oh, Councillor Maloney.
Okay. A gremlin. Okay, we can go to vote, please. Okay, that passes with Councillor Orr in opposition.
Statement Watch
Hello, Mayor and Council. Nice to see many of you again. I'm Grace Nombrado. I'm founder and executive director of Free the Fern, a non-profit, and I'm here today to speak in support of this motion. The City of Vancouver Official Development Plan, as mentioned by Councillor Pete Fry, has defined the need to protect and restore ecological... corridors and increased corridors across the city. For the past five years, Free the Fern has been caring for the existing ecological corridor, the Champlain Heights Trails. Since 2021, with the help of over 1,400 event volunteers, we've been able to remove over 250 cubic meters of invasive species, replant over 4,000 native plants, beginning the process of restoring biodiversity to the Champlain Heights Trails. We have welcomed city councillors, Pete Fry, Lenny Joe, Lucy Maloney, Sean Orr, and Rebecca Bly out to walk and volunteer with us. Each of you have witnessed the incredible power of environmental stewardship to bring community together. However, despite having incredible community support, we have been struggling to piece together adequate funding to cover the cost of recruiting, training, and leading environmental stewardship volunteers. Our nonprofit has been left scrambling to apply for multiple small project grants. many from outside of the city. This is not a sustainable way to continue nor expand our stewardship effort. What is needed is a dedicated environmental stewardship grant that would cover the cost of running our monthly invasive poll events and our yearly planting. The case for government investment is clear. Parks, forests, waterways need care. Invasive species need to be removed. Native species need to be planted. Thousands of constituents want to help. Nonprofits, many of whom you will hear from today, are ready and willing to train volunteers. City staff, arborists, urban forestry are ready to offer support. City councillors want the city that is sustainable, inclusive, and designed to let residents, quote, live, work, and thrive. Everything is in place, ready to move forward. City investment is all that is needed. I encourage you to vote yes for this motion. Provide a new grant stream for environmental stewardship and commit city dollars to care for city land. Thank you.
Thanks, Grace.
I have a little bit of extra time. Is that correct?
You do. You have 50 seconds.
I wanted to share one. So I have a local resident who wrote a letter of support, and I know it was submitted to Citi, but I just want to read it out to share with everyone here. The work done by Free the Fern and other green space stewards has been so helpful on educating my family on climate resilience, invasive species control, and native planting. My children love to be outside rather than on their phones, and that is absolutely helped by Free the Fern stewardship and educational work. We've learned about migratory and resident birds in our neighborhood, about mason bees, native planting, and we feel much more connected to the earth. Yesterday, my son was walking through the Champlain Heights trails, pointing out the salmonberry and looking forward to when they bloom for... humans, and animals. Through Free the Fern support, the kids have built a small garden of native plants near the bike course they've built. The work they've done is astounding. The Champlain Heights Trail shine with the work they've done so far. And I wholeheartedly support this motion towards community environmental stewardship grant to continue to work that is done by these green stewards.
Statement Watch
Good afternoon, council. Thank you very much for hearing this motion. On behalf of the Champlain Heights Community Association, I'm here to express our strong support for the proposed motion to establish an ecological stewardship fund for the city of Vancouver. Our organization has long been committed to stewardship work in Everett Crowley Park and the surrounding community. We are proud of our community's extensive stewardship activities, delivering hands-on restoration, providing nature education, and tackling invasive species. You will hear later from a dedicated volunteer with ECPC, a committee of the CHCA, more about that work. Through our programs, we also fund experiential nature walks for local schools where students learn directly about the ecosystem by removing invasive species and planting native ones, sometimes with memorable moments that create lasting impacts, like when one group of children encountered a deer in Vancouver in one of our parks. But we are not alone. Many non-profits across Vancouver are doing essential ecological stewardship work, and all of us face the same challenge, funding. Sustaining this work as a non-profit is difficult. Funding often comes from short-term, highly competitive grants that require significant time and resources to apply for, or from collecting revenue from other program areas that were not intended to support ecological restoration. This limits what's possible, even when community demand and environmental need are high. We want to acknowledge that the City and the Park Board have been excellent partners. Their leadership and collaboration has been instrumental in restoring Everett Crowley Park, transforming what was once a city dump and a former quarry into a destination park that now plays a vital role as part of a larger ecological corridor. That transformation is an inspiring story. It shows what's possible when local volunteers in the city work together towards a shared vision. But there is still more to do. As a citywide ecological asset, Everett Crowley would benefit from broader investment beyond the Champlain Heights neighborhood. This motion represents an exciting opportunity to grow that collaboration and expand what stewardship groups can achieve. A dedicated ecological stewardship fund would provide more stable, accessible support for organizations doing this critical work across the city. We see this as an important step forward, not just for Everett Crowley Park, but for the future of urban ecology across Vancouver. Thank you for your leadership and for considering this motion.
Statement Watch
Good morning.
Good morning, Mayor and Council. Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak. My name is Adrian Avendano. I'm the Executive Director of the Invasive Species Council of Metro Vancouver, ICMV for short. We are a small nonprofit charity organization that has been working on invasive species management, education, and outreach activities since 2006. We are dedicated to improving management of invasive species in the Metro Vancouver region. Last year, we ran 62 events, including presentations, workshops, public forums, guided walks, and stewardship events. Of these 62, 33 of these sessions were stewardship events. Volunteers from across the Metro Vancouver region gather in local parks and natural areas to give back to their local community and environment through invasive species removal and native plant revegetation events. As an organization, we can do this because we are funded by local governments in our region, including City of Burnaby, City of Delta, City of New Westminster, and the City of Richmond. They see great value in our organization coordinating and facilitating these events within their park and natural areas. I'm in full support of the proposed motion. The lack of accessible funds dedicated to stewardship initiatives makes it difficult to sustain work that takes a lot of effort to complete and to maintain. There are a lot of moving pieces when organizing volunteers, completing site assessments, creating management plans, procuring native plants, and creating planting plans. These are just a handful of things that go behind the scenes to create successful stewardship. Additionally, the City of Vancouver has already official development plans and strategies that prioritize climate protection and community stewardship. The approval of this motion would be a huge step in the right direction to meet these goals, following through on work completed over many years by the City and its partners. I know and have worked with many of the people here present to support this motion through my roles working in environmental stewardship. I'm here today because the IACMV knows how important this work is to create longstanding positive change in our local ecologies. If this motion is passed, it will begin to open doors and to make these activities more sustainable. Consequently, there will be more areas that can be stewarded and more people that can become involved in the great work that is already happening. Not having access to local funding is a huge barrier, especially when there are still many parks, natural areas, and green spaces in the city that would benefit greatly from the activities outlined in the motion. I sincerely hope that the need to support local ecological stewardship can be made a priority for the council through the passing of this motion. Thank you very much for your consideration.
Statement Watch
Morning.
Good morning, Mayor and Council. My name is Janine Kenmure. I was born and raised in Metro Vancouver and have resided in Champlain Heights for four and a half decades. I'm here to support this motion on stewardship funding of our parks and greenways by Councillor Pete Fry. Today, as a long-time resident of Champlain Heights, Directorate-at-Large, and volunteer of Free the Fern Stewardship Society. Stewardship of the parks, large greenways, and ecological corridors such as our Champlain Heights trail system that free the fern stewards is very important and a necessity to keep our green spaces healthy and thriving. We must maintain them for our local nesting birds and keep our residents active, exposed to, and engaged with nature close by, especially for those with mobility challenges and disabilities like myself. Having operational funding for our society and other similar groups citywide through specific dedicated environmental stewardship grants is crucial to restore and maintain what we already have ecologically. Our societies are much more than just a ragtag group of volunteers picking up garbage and pulling a few weeds now and again. I wish to correct that misguided image, if that is how some Vancouverites may view us. We have a, Free the Fern has a pay leader, our executive director, an organizer that recruits, educates, arranges workshops, maintains the website and blog and special events with guest educators and supervises the volunteers. We have an unpaid board of directors that meets monthly to go over financials and plan for the future with our staff, the executive director here today, just like city council does. We provide gardening equipment, safety gear, refreshments, first aid and transit passes for our volunteers. We pride ourselves on offering a low barrier opportunity to learn about Pacific coastal indigenous species as well as the invasive species and their safe extraction and disposal procedures. We also advise the city of any hazard and liabilities. We augment and assist the city workers and staff with no intent of replacing their jobs in case their union is concerned. Our restorative work is also an act of reconciliation towards our First Nations peoples, the Musqueam, Squamish and TTsleil-Waututh, who have gifted us this privilege of living, working and playing on their unceded territories. I sincerely hope this motion passes. And we can rely on annual funding from year to year as all the volunteers actively work to restore and maintain our city's ecological habitats, encounter pollution, climate change, and enhance the mental and physical well-being of our residents, pets, and local wildlife. Please vote in favor of this motion today. And we invite all the council to our Feast and Forest event on May 30th here in the Champlain Heights Trails. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
Statement Watch
Good morning. My name is Sharon Callas, and I'm in favor of this motion. I am the founding director of Earth Hand Gleaner Society, and we manage two environmental learning gardens where we grow plants for creative use and traditional handwork. Trillium is immediately east of the new St. Paul's Hospital, and the Means of Production Garden, or MOP, is on the steep hill immediately west of North China Creek Park by VCC. My own life changed radically when I was introduced to MOP in 2007. Suddenly, after 15 years in this city, I felt connected to my chosen home. I've had the rare privilege to have been a constant steward and witness to the gardens, and since 2009, have been the volunteer who coordinates the volunteers. That's 17 years of connecting with volunteers in the same garden. Hearing at every stewardship session, a thank you from some passerby or someone walking through or hanging out and commenting on how important a visit to the garden is as part of their daily routine. I've learned what a privilege it has become to have any time or capacity at all to volunteer. As more and more of us are exhausted from the hustle of meeting our own needs, participating in our communities with regularity is becoming a luxury that many can't afford. We know volunteering in the community builds local resilience and is good for the city. We know time and nature is good for a person's mental and physical well-being, but for many of our neighbors, volunteering is out of reach. I've learned that having hospitality helps. Garden tea, light snack, it's an integral part of how we need to host to honor and nourish our volunteers, but also for the community ritual it provides. Having structured funding towards stewardship programs would at last acknowledge the core work done in volunteer stewardship programs, and among other things, allow us to put front and center doing the work we need to do to take care of the volunteers who are taking care of our green spaces. Each year, insurance rates creep up, food costs for hospitality are skyrocketing, replacement tools are more costly, and yet stewardship as a budget line for us is a scant blip on our budget. Buying plants, covering costs for starting seed starts, paying fruit tree pruning instructors for training, or paying for first aid training for stewardship leads. These are all things that shouldn't be a challenge to fund and yet are not smiled upon by the juries that would be reading any of our otherwise arts-based grants we'd be applying for. Tending the Gardens has been at the center of our organization's work. We will track nearly 1,000 collective work hours in a year between the two sites, yet funding this work in any sustained way has never been possible and has always depended on the goodwill, free time, and capacity of volunteer coordinators and stewards alike. Like any ecosystem, we need to recognize our interconnectedness. As the cost of city living continues to rise, the capacity and number of urban dwellers volunteering will continue to diminish. The city needs dedicated funding that allows us to support the ongoing work that creates these vibrant and necessary green spaces, allowing us all to flourish.
Statement Watch
Well, hello. Thank you for having us all today. My name is Selena Starnes, a Vancouver resident. I'm here to speak on behalf of Ever Crowley Park Committee, the subcommittee of the Champlain Heights Community Association. And as Rob said earlier, we recommend that the council supports Councillor Fry's motion today. In addition to providing programming and services out of the Champlain Heights Community Center, the association has an interest and a stake in the surrounding green spaces, especially over Crowley Park. This park is Vancouver's fifth largest and is considered a biodiversity hotspot. More than 100 species of birds call it home, and it features things like Avalon Pond and a creek. Wetlands and waterways like this are very rare in the city. So to have something like this in the park is very special, especially for salamanders and frogs. Now, Vancouver is known worldwide as a green city. It's part of our identity, right? And these values are reflected in all of these management plans, these strategies we see, the urban forestry plan, climate change and adaptation strategy, official development plan. They all include supporting nature in the city. So this makes it a big job. And while the park board has an operations team, their capacity is often stretched. And it really isn't meant for things like pulling on ivy and digging out individual roots of blackberries. But it is this kind of stewardship work that the green spaces in our city need in order to thrive. So our stewardship group regularly meets with the city's environmental stewardship coordinator. Together, we prioritize where these stewardship events happen. And then we see our work as a collaborative extension of the city staff's work. This kind of place-based stewardship is very popular. So just this past year, we coordinated 2,500 hours of volunteer stewardship time. Not too long ago, these numbers were way smaller. So two years ago, we were able to secure some flexible funding. And with it, we were actually able to hire our first staff person to promote and coordinate these events in the parks. To illustrate the difference this halftime position had in the park, back in 2023, refunding, we hosted 33 events. Last year, 108 events for the halftime person. The community is there. They want to participate. They want to contribute. But the funding is precarious. And this funding has been intermediate. So we've been spending many volunteer hours looking for flexible funding outside of the city in order to maintain this capacity. We know that if this motion passes, we'll have an outsized benefit for Vancouverites and for the green spaces we love. Thank you.
Statement Watch
Good morning, Honorable Mayor and Council, and thank you for the chance to speak in support of this important motion. My name is Mendel Schulsky, and I'm the Executive Manager of the False Creek Friends Society. And as a volunteer at the Strathcona Community Garden, I've had the pleasure of working alongside the Environmental Youth Alliance on habitat revitalization. And for many years, I've profoundly appreciated the incredible blend of public programming and environmental restoration by Stillmoon Arts. These organizations, just to name a few, support the fabric of Vancouver in so many synergistic ways. They build community, connecting neighbors to each other and to their surroundings, bridging across generations and all walks of life. They build culture by making public spaces more beautiful, more inviting, and more alive. Places that were once seen as ugly or desolate instead become destinations. They build public health and climate resilience through the proven co-benefits of urban green and blue spaces on our physical and mental well-being. And they build knowledge, filling information gaps and feeding back to city staff on what's working, what isn't, and where our public dollars can have the highest and best use. Groups like ours can do this work because Vancouver is filled with people who care. People who want to be part of a livable neighborhood, not just to passively enjoy it, but to take an active part in stewarding it. In this increasingly challenging fiscal climate, Community-led stewardship organizations are not a luxury, they're a force multiplier. Amplifying the priorities of City Hall without stretching staff or contractor capacity, not only does support for our work have clear environmental and cultural benefits, it's also sensible economically. A new stream of flexible operational funds will make this work that much more effective and efficient. I'm extremely proud that False Creek Friends Society has recently been awarded a community climate action grant. Our project, in collaboration with the Georgia Strait Alliance, is to consolidate a wide array of information about False Creek from across data silos and build a new community map that will be as useful to city decision makers as it will be to inform the public, answering what is the true state of False Creek? What are its most important threats and opportunities? I believe this new map will be an incredibly valuable management resource, and I'm really grateful to have been given the chance to build it. That said, these large, highly competitive project-oriented grant programs are a cold comfort while we struggle to maintain our basic suite of activities. In the case of False Creek Friends, that includes community-engaged science, investigating the water quality and biodiversity of the waterway, and communicating those findings to the public. As you've heard, the proposed grant program will enable us to coordinate many more volunteers, people who are eager to make their city a better place, and multiply the impact of each and every one. Thank you for your time and for voting in support of this motion.
Statement Watch
Morning. Good morning, Mayor and members of Council. My name is Chloe Lee Fraser. I am an incoming master's student in international forestry at UBC and a dedicated volunteer in community green spaces across Vancouver. While I am a board member for Copley Community Orchard and a regular volunteer with Free the Fern, I am taking the stand to speak as a concerned citizen with hands-on experience in environmental management, and I have seen firsthand the need for a dedicated grant stream for community stewardship. Community-led spaces like Copley Community Orchard demonstrate what is possible with modest support. Spanning 1.2 acres, the orchard is an urban food forest composed of fruit trees, native berries, and medicinal flowers. Established in 2012 on historic farmland and sustained through a patchwork of small funding sources, it has grown into a thriving, volunteer-run food system and gathering space. With limited and inconsistent funding, volunteers at Copley have installed and maintained a forest garden, mason bee house, rain garden and bird habitat, all while caring for a diversity of native and food-bearing plants. Species such as bigleaf maple, Oregon grapes, and salmonberry work in harmony to form a layered, self-sustaining ecosystem. This work isn't just landscaping, but living infrastructure. Each layer contributes to soil health, supports pollinators, and creates crucial habitat for urban wildlife. Today, the site contains rich, well-developed soil and a climate-resilient planting system that continues to give back to its community. Across many grassroots initiatives, sustaining the stewardship work comes with ongoing challenges. Volunteers often spend as much time seeking out small, short-term funding or waiting on donated materials as they do stewarding the land. This uncertainty makes it very difficult to plan and maintain momentum under time constraints of the growing season and care for these spaces at the levels that they require. Despite these constraints, stewardship groups continue to deliver measurable ecological and social benefits, supporting biodiversity, food security, and strengthening community connections. However, the continued success of these efforts depends largely on unpaid labor and fragmented project-based funding. This highlights a clear gap, the need for a stable, accessible stream of operational funding to support ongoing stewardship work. I urge council to support the creation of a dedicated stewardship grant stream. Investing in these groups is a cost-effective way to strengthen Vancouver's green infrastructure while supporting the communities who care for it. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Statement Watch
Hello, Council. How are we today? My name is Annette Riley.
I'm a Vancouver resident and I am here in support of this motion.
I am a regular volunteer with Free the Firm, my family's Emily and I go out, we pull invasive species, we restore native plants, and we take care of this piece of land that I truly believe then takes care of us as well. Here's what I've learned through doing all this. People don't need to be convinced to take care of their communities. They already do it. They just need the city to meet them halfway. Because right now, across Vancouver, we have people, look at this group of people. These are great community leaders sitting here. I'm honored to be amongst them speaking. And they're standing up and they are doing the work for their communities. It's unglamorous work. It's slow work. But it's restoring ecosystems, and they are building community. They're doing it mostly on their own. And this motion, it says that this shouldn't be the case. It says that if people are willing to give their time, if they're willing to give their labor and their care, then the city should show up too. It's not with bureaucracy, though. It shouldn't be with barriers, but it should be with support. Small grants, flexible funding, trust, because this isn't charity. This is smart policy. Community stewardship is one of the most cost-effective ways to build climate resilience, protect biodiversity, and to strengthen neighborhood connections all at the same time. You want healthier ecosystems? Support the people already restoring them. You want stronger communities? Invest in the spaces where people actually meet. You want better mental health outcomes? Get people outside, connected to the land and to each other. I'm a farm girl. I know exactly what it means to be connected to the land. Sometimes the most powerful thing that we can do is just to back the people who are already doing the work. I'm going to go off script a little bit here. Because I think the best part about this entire motion is the fact that it's accessible. It is basically just getting out of the way to allow these people to go and do the work. These grassroots organizations, these nonprofits, they don't have the capacity to hire grant writers. And grassroots organizations shouldn't need a grant writer to plant a tree. Truly, this is for the benefit of the entire city. So we shouldn't be putting them and pitting them up against other nonprofits that have the staff to be writing these grants when all they need is for us as a city to meet them halfway. So let's build connection. Let's build resilience. And let's build the kind of city people actually want to live in.
Statement Watch
Hi there. Yeah. Hi, Mayor and Council. I'm grateful for the chance to speak today. My name is Marissa Stableford. I'm the Director of Operations at Vancouver Urban Food Forest Foundation. We steward three food forest sites on public land in partnership with the City of Vancouver and the Parks Board. We work with long-time service providers in our neighborhood, such as the Aboriginal Mother Center Society, Colossal Neighborhood House, Saucolo Neighborhood House, Hastings Community Center, and many others. Our work is supported by BCIT, CAPU, Hastings Centerized Neighborhood Food Network, Vancouver Food Justice Coalition. the Hastings Sunrise BIA, Eagles in Spirit, Protecting Indigenous Fathers Society, and we're also supported by companies that are involved in local reforestation and local landscape architects. We So many events, and we have a dedicated volunteer list of over 200 people, in addition to about 20 community organizers that primarily run our operations. I'm the only staff member, and I have been doing this work with only 16 hours a week for the last two years. And I just, I want to speak to, I appreciate all the other speakers outlining the great and powerful value of this work and the challenging context that we're all operating in. And I just want to say that this type of work I thought it was just of us, but listening to all the other speakers, it's really all of us. It's greater than the sum of its parts. And what I mean by that is you can categorize us as stewardship or green initiatives, but we are all acting like land-based community centers that bring people together. through education and knowledge sharing and cultural programming and skill sharing. And this is really powerful stuff that contributes to systemic and social change. And so when we're looking at... 50- or 100-year goals of climate resilience and stronger food systems. I don't think these small grassroots groups can be ignored, but in the current funding landscape and the current really specific... eligibility criteria of grants for green spaces. Those of us who are engaging in arts and education and knowledge sharing to...
Statement Watch
Speaker 15, Joe Boyd.
Good morning. Good morning, Mayor and Council. Thanks for having us. My name is Joe Boyd. I'm representing Still Moon Art Society this morning. Where I'm an active volunteer and board member, I'm currently the treasurer. I support the motion. Still Moon is very active in the Still Creek watershed, Renfrew Ravine, with art projects and stewardship. When Still Moon started 25 years ago, Still Creek, the Renfrew Ravine, was on its way to becoming a new dump.
Two dumpsters of garbage were taken out of the stream.
Now... salmon fry are released in the ravine each year, and there are chum salmon that come back to spawn in the lower reaches of Still Creek every year. This wouldn't be possible without funding we've received for one-time projects. And Still Moon is very appreciative to the city of this type of funding that we've received. But one-time funding isn't enough. We need dedicated stewardship funding to keep all these projects going. As everyone knows, weeds grow back. People move in and out of the area. A lot of these projects, it's about building community too. Still Moon has had many volunteers over the years. We have generations of volunteers who've come back to help. And we have a big presence. We have the Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival that engages people. But we're not big. We've got three part-time staff members. And it's a lot of work to keep going, to continue with the stewardship. And stewardship, it's about sustainability as well. It's maintaining this and having dedicated funding like this to help these projects going. For us, for all the groups that are represented here, would be a huge benefit to the city. It helps the environment and improves climate resilience. And it builds community. Something I've realized is how much overlap there is with all the speakers here. And something people may know, Renfrew Ravine by the community center, and think, oh, there's Still Creek. Well, Still Creek goes all the way down into Burnaby. The sources of Still Creek are on the edge of Central Park in Burnaby. And it flows in down through Vancouver. Another source is Killarney. And it goes into pipes underneath. So all of the groups, these areas have very large influences. And it's all overlapping. So to have that stewardship so we can all work on to improve these areas and the community can see this would be a great help to us. Thank you.
Statement Watch
Speaker 16, Sarah McLeod. Thanks, City Mayor, I guess, and Council.
Simply put, I do support this, but I always have a caveat, right? I obviously support getting funding to the grassroots community organizations that are doing this work and supporting them in every way that we can. I am curious about how this, and it is in the motion for the city staff to report back. to see how we get to these funds, but I'll give you an example that happened recently. The federal government, April 1st, announced $3.8 billion in new grants and funding for conservation efforts. That was a month after they cut the budgets of ECCC by $1.5 billion, NR by $1.7 billion, and DFO by $700 to $800 million, roughly about $3.6 billion. So as much as I support grant money for communities, grassroots community organizations that are doing the work, I don't believe it is in substitution of the staff that work here. And we'll see, like I guess when the city reports back, that it isn't just like we got this money because all the environmental... what do you call them but like people who work environment and climate in the city staff were let go and so we have these funds because as much again as it's good to the education that these guys do to the public Enforcement is a huge, huge deal in terms of stopping the kinds of habitat destruction that affects our biodiversity and our health and all that stuff. And yeah, those $3.8 billion from the federal government, I think a majority of them are looking like it's going to be through OCEM. So maybe that is what the... The staff will look to to get some grant funding for these organizations. I'm not sure. So if it doesn't come into the city's budget, that's great. But I can't help but think that, you know, even other governments had to cut positions that do enforcement that protect our lands that are. More is slated for industrial development than any point in our country's history, over 30% of arboreal forests. So not to say that the ecosystems we have here in the city aren't important. They obviously are to us and to our mental health. But again, if it comes at the cost of protecting the most rich ecosystems that sequester millions of tons of carbon, I do question... you know, the effectiveness. But definitely support these guys, but do it with your staff. I volunteered with Toronto, and everything was done through the staff in collaboration with these groups, so you can work together. Anyways.
Statement Watch
Speaker 17, Khalid Boudreau. Good morning.
Morning. Thank you, Council, for hearing me today. My name is Khalid Boudreau. I am the Education Director for Special Bird Service Society. We're an organization that does monthly walks, both in the Victoria area and the Vancouver area, to bring people from the global majority and the queer community into birdwatching spaces and nature spaces where they've historically been excluded. A lot of people have talked a lot about what's going on on the ground, but I want to zoom out a little bit. I want to tell a story about a little bird. Vancouver's only native species of hummingbird, the rufous hummingbird. It has the longest migration of any bird for its size. It winters in western Mexico and breeds from northern California all the way up to southeastern Alaska. This tiny orange bird... has found it harder and harder to make its marathon migration every year, in no small part because of the decisions that have been made in the Pacific Northwest about clearing habitat, specifically second growth deciduous forests. The good news is people like Free the Fern, Still Moon Art Society, are replacing those forests and restoring them. Through planting the thousands of trees and shrubs that we've seen just in the Champlain Heights area, the rufous hummingbird is finding it easier to make it from the Fraser River to Burrard Inlet. Once it crosses the inlet, it'll have an easier time making it to the extensive salmonberry forests on the other side. But these declines... are seen across the board. Whether it's the Wilson's warbler, olive-sided flycatcher, we're seeing this story playing out time and time again. And without stable funding for restoration and stewardship, we're going to continue to see birds disappear in this city. Birding is a multi-billion dollar industry in North America. It is the most popular hobby in North America. Over 100 million people count themselves as either bird watchers or birders. This is an important stream of revenue. Vancouver celebrates birds every year. Right now, we're in our annual bird celebration. But what does that mean if we're not putting our actions to replicate our words? I urge council to stand firmly in support of conservation, stewardship, and with birds.
Statement Watch
Our last speaker is David Grigg. Good morning. Good morning, Mr. Chair and councillors.
As said, my name is David, David Grigg. I am a volunteer with the Horse Creek Friends Society. So just very briefly, you are... all aware of Falls Creek and perhaps the shortcomings of pollution. Our goal as a society is to advocate on behalf of improvement in terms of restoration of the creek. A restoration includes the foreshore, the seabed, the quality of the water. Many of you have seen that it's quite murky at times. And we have to look at the plant life and the animal life, which is gradually returning to the creek. So advocacy is our point. We do this advocacy through collaboration. We collaborate with other NGOs, as an example. We also partner, and we actually partner with the City of Vancouver and Metro Vancouver. in establishing a system of testing the water quality. We did that last year, we are doing it this year, and we'll do it next year. Between Metro Vancouver, City of Vancouver, and ourselves, we will come up with some factual evidence-based knowledge on what needs to be done to improve the quality of the water in Forest Creek. Having said that, I point out that we are contributors. We don't rely on grants to do that. That comes from grant money given to us as gifts by other people. We are a contributor, not, in a sense, a taker. We engage with the public. We think that's really important, like World Ocean Day, for example, the BioBlitz effort that was put in two or three years ago. We hold or convene a number of public events to bring awareness about the quality of water in Falls Creek. We also collaborate on research with the universities, SFU, UBC, and we have had transect surveys done of the shoreline, so we know precisely what's there, and we will go back and check out what's happening. And this is all in line with the city plans, such as C2 City Plan, where the idea is to enhance and restore Forest Creek. Okay, so the issue here is basically money. We have so many demands made on our small funds. We operate in a region of $8,000 a year. We need dedicated funding. And that's why we are supporting this motion.
Statement Watch
Adam, you're live in City Council and on YouTube. Hi, how's it going?
okay uh just give me a second here uh so my name is adam hawk um i'm a long time resident of the city of vancouver um i live in paul's creek and i'm speaking in strong support of this motion to strengthen community stewardship microsoft eco corridors and neighborhood green spaces across our city from trail systems to shorelines these spaces are doing essential work They support biodiversity, improve climate resilience, and provide places where people can connect with nature and with each other. At a time of accelerating biodiversity loss, this work is more urgent than ever. Pollinators, bees, butterflies, and other species critical to our food systems are in decline, and urban green spaces are increasingly vital refuges for them. And as our population continues to grow, the need to protect and expand accessible green space becomes even more critical. If we want a livable, resilient city, our green infrastructure must grow alongside our communities. What sustains these places is not policy alone, it's people. Community stewardship groups are already leading the way. Groups like Free the Fern are restoring native ecosystems in places like Champlain Heights. removing invasive species, replanting native vegetation, and engaging residents in hands-on care for one of Vancouver's last remaining forested areas. Across the city, similar efforts are planting native species that support pollination and rebuilding ecological health from the ground up. Spaces like Strathcona Community Gardens, which hosts an environmental youth alliance, show it's possible, combining urban agriculture, youth leadership, and ecological restoration in one place. These groups are effective, deeply local, and remarkably cost-efficient, yet many struggle to access funding that fits the scale of their work. The shift towards larger, climate-focused grants has left a gap, squeezing out smaller volunteer-led initiatives even as their costs rise. This motion offers a practical solution, a modest, flexible grant stream designed for grassroots stewardship, simple, accessible, and equitable. It would support Indigenous-led initiatives, youth programs, and under-resourced communities. This is a smart investment in biodiversity, in climate resilience, and in people. I urge you to support this motion.
Statement Watch
Yes, I'm here.
Hi, Teresa. Go ahead.
Okay. I'm a native Vancouverite, and over the past 20 years, I've been lucky to attend events organized by a number of the groups that have been mentioned, Free the Fern and the Stillman Arts Society and Nature Vancouver among them. And in particular, I'm a longtime resident of Champlain Heights and have seen firsthand the remarkable... achievements of small volunteer group Free the Fern in both environmental stewardship and building community and what struck me so strongly is how those two things are and the extent to which environmental stewardship relies on the community, but also the extent to which work on the environmental stewardship has contributed to building a stronger community to bring residents of different co-ops and complexes in my area together and really creating and building a strong sense of community. One thing that is really important and often isn't realized is people think, oh, well, it's great, there's all these volunteers to do this work. But while volunteer engagement is critical, effective coordination and management of volunteers takes many hours of planning to ensure that both that the volunteers' participation is satisfying and meaningful for them and that it's effective in achieving the environmental goals. And those hundreds of hours that go into trying to plan these events and make sure that it is a positive experience for volunteers so that they'll want to participate again with this organization or another one is really, really important. And one of the things that I think having a modest, dedicated funding stream that allows to... uh pay someone to do um some of those hours of critical work i think is so important what these groups are adding to the community is so important and it really needs that stability to ensure that the volunteers work can be done that's all great um thank you for your comments um and we'll now go to our last uh speaker that
Statement Watch
Oh, hello. Can you hear me?
Yes, we can.
Please go ahead.
Oh, okay. Beautiful. Hi. I'm Lorianne Bird. I'm a resident here of Vancouver for the last 40 years. I'm an Indigenous Métis educator. And I'm sorry I missed the call earlier. I'm here at Hastings Sanctuary Park. And I was just walking with the grade two and the grade three children to teach them about plants and animals and all of our relatives that live here. I'm in big support of this motion. Super grateful for Pete Fry and Grace and all the other people that said, hey, we need to have this conversation and grateful to be able to get on the call. One of the things that I want to share is that, you know, we don't change our minds through information. We actually change our minds when it hits our heart. And the last time I had the privilege of speaking to council was when the Champlain Heights was designated as a park. And once that was voted in unanimously, so super grateful for that, the mayor came over and shared a story with us. And You know, it was so poignant, and it really hit my heart. It also gave me a lot of trust in the city and in our leadership that we will make good decisions, that we will be good ancestors. And the mayor shared that he grew up in the Champlain Heights area, and as a child, they were collecting tadpoles, taking them to the school until they became frogs, and then releasing them back in the wild. This is what we need. for our children. We want them to have these experiences, which means that we have to have these organizations. We need to have these wild spaces. We need to have support. This is what makes the community of Vancouver rich, diverse. interesting and creating those long lasting memories that our children will have that experience with. As I walk with the children and I ask them, have you seen the Milky Way? They're like, we don't even know what the Milky Way is. So we can see over and over again how fulfilling and how rich this is and that I trust that we will make good decisions. for our future generations. Thank you so much for your time and trusting that you're going to make a good decision here today.