Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the Vancouver City Council special council meeting of Thursday, July the 2nd, 2026. This special council meeting was called by myself under section 2.5A and 14.5 of the procedure bylaw for the purpose of considering temporary FIFA patio extensions and the continuation of the Granville Entertainment pedestrian zone. This meeting is being held in person by electronic means. Council members and the public may participate by either method. Any members joining electronically are reminded to enable video to confirm quorum. This meeting is being live streamed on the City's website and YouTube. Meeting progress will be updated on X and threads at Ban City Clerk. Though due to new posting limits, updates will only cover essential items such as vote results. So we'll just get that defibrillator. I do want to acknowledge that we're hosting today's special council meeting on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Swahili people, and I want to thank them for their generosity and hospitality and love and care they show this great land that we get to live, work, and play on. I also want to thank all of our incredible team members throughout the city for all the hard work they do day in and day out to make our city an incredible place. With that, can we please have a roll call?

Present.

Present.

Present.

Great. Thank you very much. Okay. For the plan for the special meeting, there's one item of business on today's agenda. Item one, continuing the success of the Granville Street pedestrian zone pilot and temporary patios throughout the city. Before we begin this agenda item, if anyone believes that they have a conflict of interest, now is the time to declare it. Does anybody have a conflict to disclose? Okay. Seeing no one in the queue, I will be passing or I'll be seating the chair to Acting Mayor Classen.

Okay, great, thanks. So I'm going to introduce my motion, which is actually being co-submitted by Deputy Mayor Kirby Young. So I've called a special meeting, special council meeting, to address the urgent need to build on the outstanding success of the Granville Street pedestrian pilot during this World Cup. and the temporary patios across our city. This is an urgent matter since it impacts the financial health of businesses and the city of Vancouver. A decision to extend the pilot and patio expansion has to occur before their conclusion at the end of the tournament. And we need time to speak to the province so they can provide an extension. Council was proud to vote to activate... Granville Street in partnership with Downtown Van, and we're proud of how successful it has been. We haven't seen the city this excited and alive since the 2010 Olympics, and we want to keep this energy going throughout the summer. We've heard from the businesses, residents, visitors, and fans who want to see our pedestrian zone continue. Our plan has always been to move forward towards a pedestrianized Granville Street, and there is no better opportunity to continue advancing that goal this year. Businesses need certainty and clarity. That's why my urgent motion, co-submitted by Deputy Mayor Kirby Young, directs team members to extend the Granville Street Pedestrian Zone pilot project to the end of the Labor Day weekend in early September. It also directs team members to maintain city-wide FIFA-related patio and public realm extensions. and directs team members to work with the province to determine how businesses can extend their liquor approvals. And I do hope that all of our colleagues in this chamber will support this motion.

Thank you.

Yeah, thanks, Chair. Not seeing anyone else on the queue, I'm going to take this opportunity to move an amendment so that council has the full consideration of what's being asked on the table. It has been emailed to everybody. It is an amendment to Clause C, and it is to increase the disbursement of the grant to the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association from $500,000 to $1.25 million. As the mayor mentioned, it has been outstanding in terms of the experience. This is happening in real time, and we are responding. And one of the critical success factors of the pedestrian zone has been the quality of the activation. And so Downtown Van has done a full dive into the costs around it in order to keep the energy and excitement around that experience. This is the updated amount that they have requested and we agree is required in order to continue a real quality activation and so forth. I put that forward for council's consideration. Thank you.

Thanks. I might just go after Councillor Bligh because I think I have an amendment to the amendment.

Thanks very much. So just sort of noting that the motion itself is asking for up to $4 million, $500,000 of that going to the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association. There is no detail really on what the $4 million will be spent on, up to $4 million. So my question is, how would this amendment change that $4 million number, and that's to the city manager? Or I guess it's to the move of the motion, since it is not actually the business of staff yet.

Yeah, I said it was through the chair. It's a point of information.

Sorry, just to work through, is the question for me or the mover of the amendment?

The question is for the mover of the motion, assuming you've seen this.

Sure, I can start and then Deputy Mayor wants to add in. So the numbers that we have to make this work, it's about $300,000 per week for sanitation and traffic, and then another $200,000 per week for security, being the VPD. So that's $500,000 a week times approximately seven weeks, and then the updated number from downtown Vann to make this activation work.

Okay. Well, that's actually helpful detail. Is that in the motion? I just want to make sure I haven't missed it.

No, the detail is not broken down in the motion. It's just one gross number.

Okay, well, maybe I'll just ask a fairly direct question in that sense. Because this requires two-thirds vote, I don't know about my colleagues here, but I'm just wondering if there was a reason that if this is sort of the thing to do and it's really exciting for the city and super, super important, why none of these details have been circulated with councillors that I've talked to that are not part of ABC?

Well, I can just answer the question here from my perspective. The number that to be voted on isn't there, and then you ask the clarifying question and it was answered. So without anticipating every single clarifying question, the number, you know, it's pretty self, you know, the gross number is what we're voting on.

Okay, okay. Well, yeah, so without, I mean, I'm happy to support this. I think Dunham BIA has done excellent work in activating Granville Street's pedestrianized zone during FIFA. I... I think that $500,000, as was identified in the motion, is unrealistic for what would be needed should this actually go forward, which I am not speaking to at this moment. But what I am speaking to is the realistic number to support downtown band and being able to... properly activate in a way that is safe. I know that they've been dealing with a tremendous amount of vandalism, graffiti, sort of daily repairs to make sure that they're able to stay on top of this pedestrianized zone so it does stay positive for people coming down to enjoy it. But all of that comes at a significant cost. And so I don't think we should be setting up downtown van to fail, which I think the $500,000 did. So I'll support the amendment and reserve any comment to the broader motion for after this amendment.

Thank you. Yeah, I... Appreciate Councillor Bligh's comments about making sure that we don't set up the downtown Vancouver BIA to fail and that we make sure we give this the best chance of providing a really good demonstration for staff and businesses and residents to see how it goes outside the World Cup. And we... I'm sure that we can find ways of doing this more cost effectively in future years. So I've moved an amendment to the amendment, and if you could possibly move me to an amendment queue, I'll speak more.

Thanks. Okay. Councillor Maloney, go right ahead.

Yeah, my amendment just asks that we add in that staff, look ahead and identify and evaluate potential investments, particularly aimed at engineering costs and security costs for the extension of the Granville Street pedestrian project, which I'm fairly confident is going to go through, and the long-term pedestrianisation and... of the Gastown pedestrian area in order to support the ongoing operation of these two initiatives. Because we have it on good authority that programming these areas is very important to their success. And we know that we need time to allow, say, for example, on Granville Street, but also on Water Street, for the mix of businesses to perhaps evolve and change to ensure the success, make it more family-friendly during the day. At the moment, particularly Granville Street, is very nightlife-focused and we want to make sure that we are... giving businesses the certainty by reducing the costs. I mean, it's not really, we have so many other calls on city expenditure and we know that this is not budgeted for in the 2026 budget. We need to identify ways, whether it might be identifying pedestrian zones that will be operated on a seasonal basis with any luck into the future. and looking at where we might be able to replace policing costs with retractable bollards that could allow deliveries in the morning and allow flexibility with closing the streets to cars and make sure that moving forward we're reducing these costs as much as possible. I don't think that we want to be aiming this at... the programming aspect of it because I'm sure that that's going to require input from the BIAs and arts and cultural organisations in the city for whom there's a fantastic opportunity with pedestrianised areas. But we need to reduce the engineering and policing costs to make it possible to have this an ongoing thing.

Thanks very much. I think we need a seconder for this. Councillor Zhou, thanks very much. Okay. Any further discussion on this? All right, I'll call the vote on the... Councillor Kirby Young, go ahead. That's the cue.

Sorry. Yeah, no, I appreciate the sentiment, but I think this work is already happening. Council has directed staff to look at, and we'll do think that in the capital plan, because I've heard commentary from the mover of the proposed amendment on both operating and capital expenses. And this pilot is intended to inform future years and what that looks like. So the learnings are important. Also probably good for council to kind of remember that we are at the end of term, so we cannot fit our future councils with respects to operational budgets. But I'm very confident in the work we've previously directed for Gastown. that that includes, and we'll have that discussion very soon on the capital plan, additional opportunities for things like bollards. I know amendments have previously been made that allow more flexibility for different neighborhoods to be able to stage these kind of pedestrian-friendly activations, particularly seasonally. And so I think that council, including the mover, can rest assured that that direction has been given, and we do need to delineate between the work of the cap on the operating plan. Thank you.

Thanks very much, Councillor Maloney.

Yeah, look, I appreciate those sentiments, but I particularly agreed with something Councillor Kirby-Young said a few rounds of council meetings ago, and I liked it so much that I wrote it down, and it was that a lot of this work is already underway, but putting an exclamation on it is never a bad thing, and I think that that certainly applies to my amendment to the amendment, that putting an exclamation on it even if it is the case that this work is underway, that it is not a bad thing and that I hope that my fellow councillors vote in favour of my amendment, just to make it super clear that in this economic climate and with this being an unbudgeted expense, that cost reductions, both in the short and long term, should be top of mind. Thank you.

Thanks very much. Okay, seeing no further discussion, we will now go to the voting queue for the amendment to the amendment.

Okay, so moving back to the... Amendment queue Thanks very much Okay, so going back to the amendment queue and any further discussion. Let's see. We've got Councillor Maloney still on the on the No, I I don't wish to say okay any others Can't tell from my, so I'm seeing none. Okay. This is amendment.

Go ahead. Okay. So, all right. So we now will go to the, to vote on the, the amendment as amended.

Thanks very much. Okay. We will now go to the main motion. Back. So, Councillor Meiser.

Thanks, everybody. I'm really pleased to see this come forward. I think that the pedestrian zone has been a unprecedented success. If anyone's been downtown, even within a few blocks, you can hear people celebrating and having a great time. In fact, I've been kept up a few nights because of it. So I'm really pleased to see this motion and amendment come forward. I think Downtown Van has done an outstanding job in terms of programming the space, in terms of bringing in activations and interactive displays for people to participate with and interact with. The large patios are fantastic. And there's also lots of events coming up in August in our city where I think that the pedestrian zone would be a great place for people to come and gather and celebrate. Pride being one of them on the BC Day long weekend. So, of course, we're going to have the Davie Street block party, which I was proud to bring a motion to support earlier this year. But there will also be room for celebration on Granville Street, I think, as well. This is an investment, I think, in the future of our city in terms of a proof of concept, in terms of pedestrianizing Granville Street over the medium to long term, which I'm very supportive of. And I think that this pedestrian zone has also shown that we're ready. You know, we have the type of city. the type of businesses, restaurants, bars, and people in our city that want a space to celebrate with their neighbors and their friends. And I think Vancouver has been lacking that for a long time. So I'm very supportive of any efforts to move that along. And I think that this is a great investment. And I'm really excited and hopeful that all of council will support. extending this zone. I can't see why anyone would vote against this. This is like one of the best things that's happened in Vancouver in many years. So I'm in full support. Thanks.

Thank you very much. Councillor Zhou.

Can you advance the queue, please?

Okay, yeah, thanks. Thanks, sir. I'll be super brief. So I think it's a very successful initiative. So I've been there many times. So just, you know, watching the game with all the fans. And I really appreciate Downtown Vancouver for their good contribution and make this one very successful for the city. I've been there a few times. I did many interviews with some of the international visitors, some people from Switzerland, from Brazil. And from Germany as well. So, you know, they all expressed overwhelmingly positive for the pedestrian street on Grenville. And I also talked to some of the business owners there. So they were so excited. I saw their revenue and sales has boosted, you know, during the period. So it's very good for our local economy. And I think for our residents, it's really, really good as well because they make us really proud about this pedestrian street. I also heard overwhelmingly positive for many residents who have been to the street before. I think the residents of our city, they are the best salesperson for our city. So if they go out, tell all their friends, families, and people living outside of Vancouver how great Vancouver is, how great this pedestrian street is. So it's going to be, you know, very good to boost our reputation for the city. So very good initiative. I really hope that continues. And there might be some consideration. We can have more pedestrian streets in the city. But, of course, the feedback from the business will be carefully considered and evaluated. So with that, yeah, I will support this motion.

Thanks. Thanks very much, Councillor Kerbion.

Yeah, thanks very much. This is a really exciting moment. It has been truly amazing to see just joy, pure joy on the faces of people in the city that are coming together and having a collective experience. And I think that they're just lapping it up and loving the opportunity to be part of a community, part of a vibrant city, to have those experiences. I've seen families. I've seen young people. I've seen families. I've seen people with mobility devices. There have been so many folks that have been down there, whether they live in downtown or not, or they're coming from different neighborhoods, and they're just excited. It has reignited, I think, a sense of optimism and positivity about what is actually possible in our city. For me, this is a really meaningful moment. I moved the first motion to establish the Granville Street Promenade around COVID time, which was back in 2020. And that was a response to supporting the businesses and that people could only be outside. And we extended patios and ran that for the summer. And we saw, again, how delighted people were to have that opportunity to come together. That's been an annual recurring event since then. And now we've had FIFA, a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we can grab hold of. I move forward on the long-term vision for Granville Street, which Council has already passed, does include full pedestrianization of Granville Street over time. But this is a chance when the buses in transit have already been rerouted, when our teams are geared up and are in the mode and have been delivering spectacularly. I think as Mayor Sim has noted, our teams have all done a really fantastic job and all the partners are working together. So this is our chance to extend it into the summer. These are our peak tourism months. It was just reported recently that we have a record-breaking cruise ship season. I think we're expecting 290,000 cruise ship passengers in July with a similar number in August. There's going to be locals who are looking for fun things to do and lots of people coming into the city. And I couldn't think of a better opportunity to look at really, honestly... levering that excitement and enthusiasm to keep this phenomenal experience going. I want to give a special shout out to Downtown Band. I know their team have been working around the clock. They've done a really great job with the activations. I'm looking forward to seeing what they do in terms of updating this one. in its post-FIFA era and also to the city engineering teams and the VPD who have been doing heroic work and have equal smiles on their faces when you see them down there participating and being part of this. It does require to have successful public spaces that they have investment in them. And it also requires us to work collaboratively with our partners like the province who have enabled additional expansions to patios and that kind of thing. And that patio culture has also been incredibly embraced across the city. an opportunity here I'm really glad that we're taking it the chance to seize it and I appreciate council coming in to do this special meeting so that our partners can get on with delivering a phenomenal experience through the rest of the summer thank you oh I also do need to move I sorry I should say one minor amendment Marissa and it's too close see if you want to move us to the amendment queue

The amendment's simply an update recognizing that with the additional allocation to downtown Vancouver, which Council has passed, that will now change the title of the total expenditures from $4 to $4.75 million, and so that change is made so that the text is fully accurate. Thanks.

I'll second that. I just sent it out because I saw the math didn't quite work out, so thanks very much.

Okay, so with that, we will go to the amendment queue on this one just to approve the change from $4 million to $4.75 million.

That's all for me. Thanks.

Please stop my timer. Thanks.

My timer's still running, though.

Thank you very much. Okay, we'll go back.

I think you introduced your amendment, so that might have had a little time taken up for that.

Okay, of course, yeah, right. Okay. I will, I'm just wondering if I have to, if I have to cede the chair to somebody right now?

Okay, just trying to think of who that person is.

Deputy Mayor Kirby-Young? Okay, thanks very much. Listen, I just, I'll be really brief. I just want to acknowledge... that there have been few sort of conversations about what about gravel as to how we can extend it and so this is a response clarity to a lot of public demand and we've seen over the last few weeks hundreds of thousands of people enjoying themselves more people downtown the economic boost of busy patios and restaurants live entertainment happening and families and visitors enjoying a safe space together, and it's been really thrilling and exciting to watch that. This is exactly the kind of energy that we want to see for Granville Street and downtown Vancouver, and on that level, it's been incredibly successful. I remember doing some travel last fall and being in very vibrant neighbourhoods like the Plaka in Athens and Elborn and Barcelona and Paris, coming back and asking myself, how do we replicate something like that here in our city? And as we know, this is not just about closing the street to cars. It was never really a destination for cars apart from taxis and buses. But it's about supporting local businesses and creating opportunities for artists and performers. and giving more reasons for people to spend time downtown in this fabulous neighborhood. And so much work went into creating the conditions to make this happen. And then it has just been really an unbridled success since then. I certainly can say that the World Cup has provided a showcase for Vancouver to be seen around the world on TV screens and on social media. And we've seen some of the huge response, particularly from countries like fans from Egypt, from Mexico. from Turkey and so many others, New Zealand, Australia, have descended upon our downtown and it's been a fantastic and rewarding experience and I think will build a long-term legacy for our city. And so I think this extension will certainly give the certainty that during the busiest tourism season that's predicted by Destination Vancouver and also give staff more time to collect meaningful data to see what happens when the games have completed. And I just want to also give a huge shout-out to Downtown Vancouver Association, city staff, the local businesses, the performers down there, and city staff who have made this pilot such a huge success. And, of course, this remains a pilot, but the extending it allows us to make future decisions based on more evidence, not less. And so making a safer, more vibrant, prosperous downtown is a goal that we all share, and I think this motion and this investment helps to achieve that. Thanks very much, and I'll take the chair back from Deputy Mayor Counts Kirby Young.

Thanks.

Thanks very much.

May I please be moved to an amendment queue?

Can we go to a menu in queue and presumably the amendments been circulated?

Yeah, I've circulated an amendment a moment, but just make sure you're on there can you put you add yourself to the queue on the amendment?

Are we in the amendment queue now? Okay, Councillor Maloney, go ahead. I'll give you 20 seconds.

Thanks. I agree that we have overwhelming social licence to do this. And not only that, but this has been planned for a very long time. It's important, though, to realise that this does come with ramifications for transit users who have been moved off Granville Street. And that does involve... transit users having new stops on Seymour Street and Howe Street and that has consequences for transit users' convenience, wayfinding and just the kind of environment that they are in. waiting for buses on and also extends the distance for some users to and from their bus stops. So this amendment addresses some points that I've heard from transit users about buses getting stuck on the ramp from the bridge to Seymour. So it covers extending the bus lane to cover the whole ramp to start As we study the permanent pedestrianisation that we include, bus stop locations to making transfers to the Canada Line and Georgia buses difficult. That's an issue that we've heard about. We need to examine ridership transfers and potentially propose bus stop moves to make it better and easier for transit users. And also sidewalks on Seymour are far too narrow to handle big volumes of people, let alone when the wheelchair ramp is needed. So that does block the whole sidewalk. So I'd like to see us explore installing quick build bus bulbs at the very busiest stops on Seymour. We've also heard that buses turning from Seymour and Howe Street to Hastings, Pender and Cordova get delayed, so we might want to look at making changes to turn signals to speed up these turns. So that's covered in this amendment. I hope that it will get the support of council.

Thanks very much. Councillor Bligh.

I'm not on for an amendment. No, sorry, this is the main queue. This is not an amendment queue.

So I asked earlier I thought it was anyway Let's just take it to the amendment queue. Okay, and then we've already heard from council and just reset timers Let me see if anybody else wants to speak to it Is this this is this is speaking to the amendment I wasn't on the queue I'm not sure why okay. I'm not yeah, we've got gremlins in the in the voting panel right now So if there are is there are there anybody wanting to speak to the amendment?

We'll make sure that we get you on.

That's fine. That's fine. Do we need to take just a short two-minute recess to sort this out, or are we okay?

All right.

Okay. Right. All right. Any other speakers to... I'd like to speak to the... Okay. And presumably with this one, your clock would be at zero, right? Just starting?

Yeah, I'm not sure. It doesn't matter. I just have a quick question through the chair, if I may. Go ahead. To city manager. I understand council has clearly passed the Granville Street plan. And in that plan, there was much... discussion around the relocation of bus routes permanently to Howe and Seymour Street upon implementation of the plan. Just looking at the language in this amendment, is this work already contemplated as part of that Granville Street plan? It's my understanding that it is, but I just would like to confirm through you.

And I can repeat that if you like. It's okay.

Very good.

Okay, so this work around the relocating of the buses permanently to Howe and Seymour when the plan begins to be implemented and specifications around bus lanes, it's already part of the Granville Street Plan?

It is.

Okay, that's my recollection as well. So I support this work happening, I just don't think this amendment is necessary. It's redundant in my opinion. Thanks for confirming.

Councillor Pryor, did you second this amendment? Councillor Pryor is seconding the amendment. Okay. Councillor Maloney.

Yeah, I moved this amendment because of concerns of transit users. I think that it... would help to pass this to make sure that this work is undertaken during this unexpected extension, which wasn't contemplated during our discussions of the Granville Street Plan. I would welcome any suggested language from Councillor Meiszner or anyone else that would make that more clear. But my intention was that we capitalise on the opportunity presented by this large amount of expenditure, let's face it, on extending this during the non-World Cup period of summer to look at these issues that affect transit users. Thank you.

Thanks very much. I've still got...

It's me. Okay. I know you can't see the screen, Chair, so I understand why it's a bit difficult. So... This is a seven-week extension. We're extending till the end of summer, which I'm in full support of, and I think will be fantastic. But after that extension is complete, traffic will go back to normal on Howe and Seymour streets. There will be the return of street parking on those streets, and the buses will return to Gravel Street. So it doesn't make sense to me to spend what looks like a substantial amount of staff time and frankly, resources to study something that's already part of the Granville Street plan, as we've heard from the city manager. So I just don't want to make work projects for staff. This is seven weeks extending the pedestrian zone. It's going to be fantastic. Like I'm not here to make work projects for staff for something for seven weeks. This is already contemplated. This is already part of the Granville Street plan. So I know my colleague is new to council, but this work is going to be happening in the Granville Street plan. So I can't support it. And I think we should move on.

Councillor Dominato.

Thanks, Chair. I was just going to note, since the city manager has noted this work is already underway and being undertaken by the city, that, in fact, this item is likely out of order under Section 8.7 of the Procedure By-law, Section C and F. I would suggest it's simply out of order due to the fact that it's already being undertaken.

So you would like a ruling on whether this is out of order? Then we'll have to take a short recess to discuss. I'll discuss it with our clerk and staff.

Thanks very much.

Okay, well, we have forums who will now resume the meeting. So I am, after deliberating with the clerk and staff, I will be ruling this motion in order, and not because the things outlined in it are not currently in the plan. In fact, we seem to have confirmed with staff that virtually everything in this motion is on the work plan. It's just that the amount of effort to go through previous motions and discussions around this would be extraordinarily time-consuming and be very hard to determine if exact details overlapped with previous decisions. So with that, we will proceed with debate and decision on this amendment. Thanks very much. So, Councillor Domenato, do you have further comments? Okay, so Clerk Lynn, please take us to a vote. Oh, Councillor Maloney, I see that you are on there. Go ahead.

Thank you. I appreciate the sentiment that this is going to be great, and I think it is, but I don't appreciate being insulted as a new councillor with that not being explained in any way. I do... think that this does have negative consequences for transit users and we need to investigate how much. We're investing a not insignificant amount of taxpayer funds to extend this trial to September and it's explicitly stated in the motion itself. that one of the justifications for continuing is that it gives us an opportunity to learn from the extension at a non-World Cup time. So I think that council voting down this amendment risks giving transit users the impression that council doesn't prioritise their interests.

Thanks. Councillor Meiszner.

Thank you. The fact is, is that this is a seven-week extension of the pedestrian zone, as we've been discussing here. And as we've heard from the city manager, as I'll just state again, this work is, and we just heard from the chair as well, this work is in the Granville Street plan. So... it doesn't make sense to me for staff to go and undertake all this work for the seven-week extension. It does make sense to me for staff to undertake this work for the Granville Street plan, and that's why I voted to support it earlier this year. So I can't support the amendment.

Just over time, thanks very much. Okay, with that, can we go to the voting panel, please?

Thank you.

Thanks very much. We'll take us back to the main queue.

Okay. I have Councillor Kirby Young.

Yeah, I just wanted to, I guess we're now on to the amended motion as it sits on the floor. Is that correct, Councillor Claassen? Yeah, I just wanted to, in response to some of the dialogue I heard earlier, there was some comments raised that information around costs and the breakdown hadn't been shared with all councillors. I just thought it might be helpful to note that in the weekly question and answer report provided to all councillors, June 22nd to 2026, the responses and the detail of the cost breakdown is provided in response to the question. And the question that was asked was, what would be required to extend the Granville Street Pedestrian Zone pilot project beyond its current scheduled date, so on and so forth. And then it very explicitly breaks down the cost for all counselors, $300,000 per week for engineering. So on and so forth. And so every councillor, regardless of political affiliation, did receive that information, as is common when questions are raised and members are asking them to seek information to prepare motions. So I thought it would be helpful to level set that and provide that information on the record. Thank you.

Thanks very much. Councillor Maloney.

No, I'm.

Don't wish to be on the queue.

You're on there now.

I don't want to be on the queue.

Oh, okay. All right, advance, please, Councillor Bligh.

Thanks very much. And just before you start my timer on a point of order, I just want to make sure these queues are going back and forth. I see times have been reset for previous councillors who had used up a lot more time. Can you just clarify exactly where we are?

Okay. I'm going to come off of the queue for the minute. Thank you.

Thanks very much. Advance to Councillor Ply, please. Sorry, are we? Okay. Now I'm confused. We're back on the final main motion. Okay. As amended.

Okay. Let me just. All right. Thank you. Yeah, thank you. I wish this had been a lot more transparent in a process. I'm actually going to move a referral, but before I do, I'm going to speak to this. You know, I'm just going to add that this Granville pedestrian zone is programmed through until July 19th. So I'm going to move a consideration that the report be postponed to the next regular council meeting, which is July 14th. So, you know, a four and three quarter million dollar discretionary expenditure to pedestrianize five blocks for seven weeks is a significant policy and budget decision. It's not an emergency response. Council and the public have been deprived of the review period that would normally be contemplated in a normal council agenda process. The mayor does, of course, have the authority under Section 2.5 of the procedure bylaw to call special council meetings. But again, spending almost $5 million on a discretionary street closure program is not demonstrably urgent, especially because we have a council meeting scheduled. Proceeding on one day's notice, one day, folks, I received this motion yesterday during a stat holiday. I think many members of the public probably aren't even aware that this motion is coming forward. So proceeding on one day's notice undermines the transparency and public accessibility principles underlying the Vancouver Charter, and it deprives council and the public of the ordinary review period that's contemplated by Section 3.3 of our procedure bylaw. Yes, Granville Pedestrian Zone's been awesome. It's been a fantastic experience, family-friendly, exciting, vibrant, great for business. FIFA World Cup excitement has been infectious, and everybody's gotten on board. I'm totally on the bandwagon. But $5 million to keep it going for another month and a half without the benefit of the World Cup excitement bolstering and backstopping this is a different matter altogether. Now, given the magnitude of the expenditure and the limited notice provided to counsel the public, I do think that the consideration of this should be properly referred to a regular council meeting that we have scheduled on the books before this pedestrian zone has to close down. And coinciding with the FIFA Fan Fest at the PNE, we'll allow... adequate public scrutiny and review, and more importantly, more of a cogent staff rationale. So we have actually some evidence to back this up. You know, this council unfortunately has a reputation and indeed an indictment from various legal opinions about sort of playing fast and loose with the open meeting principle. And it's a principle that's mandated by law in the Vancouver Charter. This is our job. And it's clear that there's been work towards this goal that's outlined in the mayor's motion. There's been politically branded on-the-street interviews with proponents. We have a petition here that was dated from June 24th. So the work's been going on on this, but it hasn't been shared with the rest of council or the public. I love the idea of a pedestrian or car like Granville. not just for seven weeks, but permanently. And I'm happy with the idea of a trial or a pilot, but I need to see a lot more than what's presented here. So respectfully, I'm going to move a referral that the consideration of this report be postponed to the next council meeting, which is July 14th, and we can have a real informed conversation and the public can have an opportunity to understand how we're intending to spend $5 million of their tax dollars.

So...

Okay, thanks. We'll wait for that. And just for clarification purposes, the special council meeting notification was given on Tuesday afternoon, just before 2 p.m. Do we have a second?

Okay. One thing I think is important, when urgent matters come up, we address them in an urgent matter. And so the Granville Entertainment District, the pedestrian zone, is scheduled to close at the end of FIFA. And our next council meeting is a few days before that closure. From a practical perspective, businesses need to plan. And they can't wait, based on my lived experience having run a bunch of businesses and also speaking with tons of businesses who've had a really tough time during COVID for the last three years, and they're finally starting to succeed, to ask them to wait and then plan with hopefully five days' notice, if everything makes sense. It is just an incredible burden. and a ton of uncertainty placed on these businesses. And so I think, you know, I would hope that council vote against this referral and we give the businesses, the hardworking businesses and all the team members that work at all these companies and businesses and the residents of Vancouver a little bit of certainty so we can set them up for success. So I will be voting against the referral. Thank you very much. I advance a cue to Councillor Kirby-Young.

Yeah, thanks. I'll also be brief. I think that a referral to July 14th, which is just literally days before this is scheduled to end, would effectively kill the opportunity to extend this for everybody in the city through to the end of summer and through the end of Labor Day. In addition to the groups that the mayor mentioned around businesses needing to plan, downtown Vancouver needs to plan. They have some of the activations. I understand they own some of it. They lease. They need to make plans. You can't do that in a mere few days without having a significant gap. We need to schedule and plan our city staff. We also have a couple of key partnerships here that need time for planning as well. One is TransLink, because we're asking them to continue the temporary rerouting of the buses. They can't do that in terms of planning their information routes and that to the public on literally just a few days' notice. And then also the province, where we're at part of the motion, ask them to continue to expand the current... temporary extended areas for those businesses. So we have a number of partners and it's just infeasible to be able to do that in a few days. And so I think when opportunity knocks, and this one's knocking pretty loud, you want to open the door. And we've heard loud and clear from the public that they love it and they'd like to continue it. So these are the kind of opportunities that we get once in a lifetime. We rarely had the chance to host FIFA. The enthusiasm is there. Let's do it. Let's see what we learn from it. And it can help to inform the future planning for Granville Street, which does include a fully pedestrianized street. Thank you.

Thanks very much. Councillor Maloney.

Thanks. I... I received in my email inbox notification of this special council meeting just before 2 on Tuesday afternoon. Unfortunately, I'd finished checking my emails for the day and because yesterday was a public holiday and due to events and family commitments, I discovered this early this morning. So I spent the morning knowing that I would have five minutes to on a member motion to ask questions and that the relevant staff, apart from city manager, wouldn't be present. I spent the morning on the phone trying to gather as much information as I could from the downtown BIA, from transit users, from other groups, to try and come to some kind of a position on this. I appreciate that we received information in the staff Q&A document, but I really feel as though it's pretty hopeless that we got notification of this meeting just before two on Tuesday afternoon because of the confusion as well for public speakers. I note that we've got no public speakers. We don't have public speakers from downtown Van BIA. That would have been very helpful. But they're not here. And relevant staff that have been working on this aren't here. And it makes it very difficult for us to make good decisions without that opportunity on something that does involve a lot of taxpayer money. I couldn't be more enthusiastic about the pedestrian as... pedestrianisation of Granville Street and it would be nice if we had a forum where we could ask staff questions, where we could have more time to consider it, where we could explore options and not be throwing together amendments to try and protect the interests of people who aren't necessarily going to be winners out of this so that we can protect them properly. So all in all, I think that this is... I'm trying to make the best of a very difficult situation here that I think Councillor Fry is responding to. I appreciate that businesses need certainty and from that point of view, it would probably be a good idea if we were committing to, for example, a three-year seasonal pedestrianisation pilot so that businesses can plan and... We can budget and emergency services groups can plan and budget for it. I think that would be a great idea, but it doesn't help to give us less than two days notice with a public holiday in the middle to be grasping to do a good job of making this decision. So from that point of view, I really do appreciate where Councillor Fry is coming from with this referral.

customer meister yeah thanks chair who knew it would be so hard to extend one of the most popular pedestrian events in recent vancouver memory i mean this is hugely successful i understand that it's a short timeline we did get notice of the meeting 48 hours ago the city manager and the deputy city manager are here to answer questions through the chair Any counselor is able to ask those questions. They're right here and they can hopefully help provide information or get it to you. But we have to make this decision now in my eyes. We can't be making this decision three days before the event ends. So I can't support the referral. I think it's a delay. And there are many aspects of this pedestrianization that need to happen in order to have the extension. This isn't just closing down the street. This is activations. This is placemaking. This is renting large pieces of public art. This is securing extensions of liquor licenses for patios. There's a ton of things that need to happen in order to extend this hugely successful event until the end of the summer. So I can't support delaying it. I really don't understand why we would look at doing that. Otherwise, it's not going to happen. This takes a lot of planning, and downtown Vancouver can speak to that. And downtown Vancouver actually emailed all of council this morning. So I'm not sure if my colleague was maybe left off the email or their email address may have been incorrect. But we have heard from them. So I'm not going to support this delay, this referral. I'm going to support moving ahead with the extension of the pedestrian zone because... This is such a great thing for our city. So let's take advantage of this opportunity, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, as mentioned by many of my colleagues to have FIFA here in town, and let's make this happen and continue it for Vancouverites. So not supporting the referral.

Councillor Frye.

Yeah, I appreciate the debate. You know, I just need to re-articulate the fact that I do believe that the work that has been going towards this emergency motion from the mayor has been going on, and perhaps in collaboration with other members of council, not... some of us, since before 24 or 48 hours ago.

Sorry, just a point of order.

I'm sorry.

Is Councillor Fry making assumptions and drawing conclusions about what other councillors are or are not doing?

I think you need to cite a number, Brian, if you're going to call a point of order.

I'm sorry.

Yeah. Or are you just interrupting me?

I'm just interrupting you.

Yeah, thanks, man. You can go now. So, you know, we have not received this information.

We haven't received this information within 48 hours. The public haven't received this information within 48 hours. We have not had an opportunity to hear directly from members of the public, from the BIAs, from the businesses. We have a petition that was circulated apparently from June 24th. You know, we took an oath of office to be accountable for the decisions we make. And, you know, what we heard today, even like when the Q&A, the roundup of the Q&A with the mayor's questions around this, we were told any pedestrianization extension would cost $3.5 million. Then the motion that we saw that was just delivered in the last 48 hours is now saying $4 million. And then we just had it amended moments ago to $4.75 million. That's $5 million of taxpayer funds. In the further context of the zero means zero budget that has decimated funding for organizations and initiatives across our city, and when I see the numbers jump from 3.5 to 4 to 4.75, what it tells me is that there's no real plan here. And not only is this council playing fast and loose with the idea of transparency to the public, but they're playing fast and loose with how we steward the public purse. And because I took that oath of office to be accountable for the decisions, this puts me in an impossible position, even though I support the idea of pedestrianized Granville Street. But I think we all need to be honest with ourselves that the excitement and activation around the FIFA World Cup... will cease on July 19th. We will need to find a new excitement and activation to make this work. And I don't see anything in this plan that suggests how that we would make that work. Again, I think it needs more time. It needs to be better baked. It's not fully baked. And I think that a referral is a reasonable approach, and I don't think that it would necessarily undermine the viability of reactivating, as others have suggested. That's it.

Thank you. Thanks. Councillor Bligh.

Yeah, thanks very much. So I agree with some of what Councillor Fry is saying, and I disagree with some of it. And one of the things is that I think a referral to our next meeting won't likely give enough time to plan. In that quick turnaround, I think particularly for the downtown van to have some certainty around the 1.25 million. But I think it actually is not really the point. The point is the process in terms of how we have gotten here and more so what the future looks like. And, you know, I appreciate the enthusiastic comments. from Councillor Meiszner related to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We harnessed that. We did that. It's FIFA World Cup and the Granville Street pedestrianization. We did it. We voted on it before Councillor Meiszner was actually even on council, and we made it happen in terms of the activation. So that happened. We did it. So I'd like to not be interrupted, please, Chair. So on July 19th, the World Cup, and even before that, I mean, the games in Canada will stop, or sorry, Vancouver will stop very soon, and people will disperse to other cities where they can watch games live. And things will probably shift, actually, even sooner than the end of the World Cup. So I just think we have to be realistic about the fact that we have... um done a very good job and and something that i and by we i mean downtown van i mean uh city staff i mean the the fifa team at the city and and council too supporting and championing uh all of the great things that have happened as a result of the men's world cup um but i think that we have to be realistic that the businesses need certainty beyond september 6th at the end of the day. And this doesn't provide that. So then it comes back to the question of value. And this is close to $700,000 a week. So, you know, a referral pushes it out. Is this been a good process? I don't think so. It's not hearsay. I know for a fact conversations happened as soon as the... as soon as the press conference. I mean, I was hearing about it by members of this council figuring out what would it be like to continue it on. That was almost four weeks ago. This is a lot of money to ask. And I'll just say, like, in terms of due process, this requires eight votes of council. And so if there was genuinely a desire to get this across the finish line, there would have been some outreach to... more beyond just the seven that I think clearly in support and maybe there are more I don't know but I don't know why you would take such a huge risk to have it not be supported if there wasn't you know some reason for that as well so I'm not going to sort of speculate but I just feels very bizarre to me that have been in the seat for eight years I know what it takes to get motions passed and it's not a surprise sort of pathway that seems to be here, especially when you require votes outside of one caucus. So I think we have to be honest about what's being suggested here. I'm happy to support the referral because I think at the end of the day, this motion lacks an accounting of the $4.75 million that we're asking taxpayers to endorse without even having their voice heard here. So support the referral on those bases.

Thanks very much. I'll cede the chair to Deputy Mayor Kirby Young. I thank the debate and discussion and comments from all of the members in this chamber here today. We have an incredibly unusual and exciting situation in the city right now where I think we've all been surprised by the scale of the joy that has been pouring out in the safe activities and just broadly speaking, how we've been able to do something that we've always wanted, which is to animate the Granville Entertainment District in a way that is so welcoming. And this, I recall being on Granville a lot during the 2010 Games, and on only one day did I ever see the kind of excitement that we're seeing almost nightly on the Granville Entertainment District, and that was after the Golden Goal, where crowds came pouring onto the streets to celebrate the win of Canada. in men's hockey so I would say that slow things down government needs to take more time with things said no one and I think that we actually have to take action here and we are actually taking action we're looking at the situation we've evaluated how incredibly important this is for our downtown we have the support of the downtown Vancouver Association who've done incredible work and I think that Council right now is faced with an opportunity of using the resources that we have to continue that excitement and joy that crowds are experiencing, whether it's fans from Canada or for other teams. We saw some of the biggest, most explosive nights on our streets after the Mexico win. I have to say that this is, to me, exactly what we've been looking for, and it'll allow us to learn from it and make sure that we can do something on a more permanent basis that will benefit our city and our downtown. So I will not be supporting referral. We've had very clear explanation as to why a referral would essentially end this in a few weeks' time and not allow us to extend it into the summer. Thanks very much.

Yeah, I want to address the regrettably dismissive response to getting information from crucial relevant stakeholders to this. I put in a call to the downtown BIA at 9.05 this morning and I understand that the email that was sent to all councillors was sent as a result... of me asking a bunch of questions and suggesting that other councillors would benefit from receiving that same information from the downtown BIA. So I did the best I could to get that information in a timely way, given the notice that we'd received. And in that regard, there has been confusion. I know at least one member of the public has this morning tried to sign up to speak and not being able to. and that there was no public announcement when the email was sent round to us on Tuesday. And so there's... But there was, on the city website, scope for people to sign up to speak. And... But there would have been confusion, given that yesterday was a public holiday, about whether the members of the public needed to sign up by five o'clock on Tuesday or five o'clock on Wednesday. So I think... Really, it is thoroughly regrettable that there wasn't any public announcement of this on Tuesday afternoon concurrent with the notification of council that this was a special council meeting. Thank you.

Councillor Dominato.

Yes. Thank you, Chair. Just a couple of quick comments. Just noting, I think my colleague, Councillor Montague, is looking for section 6.1, sections B and C of our Code of Conduct in terms of how we refer to each other and assumptions about council members' motivations. So just noting that because I think he was struggling to find those words. But what I think has become abundantly clear to me in this debate, and regardless of sort of the allegations being leveled, And this referral is being proposed is I won't be supporting the referral. And really, it comes down to, from my perspective, what I'm hearing is whether we focus on process or progress. Do you want more bureaucratic red tape or do you want to deliver results? And I think that's what the electorate's ultimately going to be being asked about. And I think that's what they're starting to see more and more of is. that potentially we get hung up on process and red tape when in fact what we're hearing from the public, what we're hearing from residents and businesses is that they want to see things getting done in the city. And so for those reasons, I won't be supporting the referral. Happy to support the motion as presented. Thank you.

Thanks very much. Okay, seeing no others, can we now get a vote on the referral motion? Voting panel, please, clerk.

Thanks very much. All right, we'll go back to the...

Main motion and Okay Let's go back there So we're back to the main motion now Counselor for you have a minute left.

Oh, no, thanks counselor Bly That's a cute very much so Look, it's been it has been excellent. The Men's World Cup has brought amazing energy to our city and to Granville Street. And I think that we all agree on that. And I think the sport of football unites people. it brings people together. And we have been able to see that across many different nations coming to Vancouver to celebrate together. And it's been an incredibly uplifting and inspiring event to be a part of.

The question I ask is, without the World Cup, why would people go down here in the masses? We're hearing about the sea of people, the camaraderie, the energy, the I haven't heard from anybody what it is that they think would be the draw to bring people down there. And I say that with a ton of sensitivity to the fact that there are a lot of business owners that are trying to make things work down in Granville Street. But I think we have a more systemic challenge around Granville Street, and that is the offering of various businesses and who they attract, the daytime activity versus nighttime activity. So, you know... When I saw the amount of money being asked for, $4.75 million, it was complete sticker shock for me. And I thought, well, where else have we spent money like that for seven weeks of inactivation? and nowhere. I mean, in terms of Robson Street getting permanent upgrades that have enhanced that street immensely, that was $10 million. That's going to last for decades to come. This motion is asking for nearly $5 million for only seven weeks of an activation, at which point that money will be gone. On September 6th, when this all comes to an end, and it's September 10th, we're going to wonder where did that almost $5 million go. Gastown, for an example, we have spent $17 million over four years, including the repairs to sidewalks to enhance that area for their pedestrianization. 17, over four years. This is asking for five for seven weeks. Granville Street so far has been endorsed, or we've spent nearly $45 million in this term alone. So the question is, maybe more money isn't the solution. I, we can do great things. We've done great things. You know, I think about people like the founders of Batch that have brought something forward that have done incredible things for our city at a fraction, pennies on this dollar. So, you know, I hear my colleagues say that people want us to do things. I think they've wanted us to do things to solve this crisis for four years now, if not longer. not in the last eight weeks before we find ourselves in a full campaign period. And I just cannot bring myself to agree to spend nearly $5 million on seven weeks when what we hear from people is they feel nickel and dimed in this city right now, that things are only getting harder and more expensive. We need to get creative. We can get things done. We need to get creative on how we animate the city. And we can't just simply throw money at things and call it a solution. Taxpayers are looking for value. There's no value in this in the long term. And we know that fees have increased nearly $50 million in the last six months. We hear about people who cannot even go to the beach and buy an ice cream and also pay for parking because parking has become so expensive. Small businesses are struggling right across this city. In Marple... in East Village, in other areas, in Strathcona. How do you think they would feel if they knew that we would be agreeing to spending close to $700,000 a week in five or six blocks of the downtown? I think they would find that egregious. So we have to recognize that we have systemic and vision issues. with the Granville Street that are not going to be solved by dumping nearly $5 million into five blocks in a short amount of time. So I can't support this. I've loved the pedestrianization, and I've always supported the long-term vision for that, but we need to stay focused on what it's going to take to get there long-term and not necessarily endorse a short-term win in an election period. I fundamentally believe we do not have to buy community spirit. We can create it.

Thanks very much.

Mayor Sim.

Thank you very much. I'm going to keep my comments pretty brief. Needless to say, I think not only myself and the... you know, the city, um, there's a lot of excitement about what's going on in the Granville entertainment district right now. You know, we've spoken to just a boatload of residents, tourists who are coming from all over the world, businesses, businesses that were struggling, um, you know, due to COVID up until these, uh, you know, uh, the games happened and the Granville entertainment district, uh, was pedestrianized, and even the councillors. I think I've seen tons of photos from every single councillor in the GED. So I think we all agree that there's a ton of excitement, and this thing has been an overwhelming success. Now, Opportunity Knox... We don't get these opportunities very often, if at all. And I truly believe that we are ready as a neighborhood, the GED, as a city, as a region, as a province, to take it to the next step, the next level. Granville Street is ready to become a global, world-class entertainment district. And so that's the decision that we are facing with this motion. And I hope everyone supports it. And, you know, we look at all the great things that have happened and we continue it. There has been a lot of work that's been put into this. And I do want to say thank you to Downtown Van. our incredible team at the City of Vancouver, our engineers, the VPD, Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services, other agencies that have supported, the restaurants, the businesses, the residents, the volunteers, everyone that's made this a raging success, not just for here. Globally, people from around the world are talking about this. This is one of the reasons why Sports Illustrated voted us as the top city hosting, because we can get this done. And so, like I said, opportunity knocks. This window won't be open, you know, for a long time. And this is our big opportunity to really lock in what we've experienced here and to take the Granville Entertainment District to the next level. So, obviously, I'll be supporting this motion.

Thank you. Thanks very much. Councillor Maloney.

Thank you.

Can I advance the queue, please?

Thank you. I am very committed to the long-term pedestrianisation of Granville Street. I'd like to ask a question of the city manager through the chair, please, point of information. Do staff have any plans to accelerate the very slow contemplated 10-year timeline for permanent Granville street pedestrianisation?

And in the absence of direct council direction, is there any plan for a, for example, three-year seasonal pedestrianisation pilot of Granville Street in the style of the huge success of Montreal's copious and expanding pedestrianised areas?

I am short of time and do want to make remarks, so I might hop off the queue and invite the city manager to come back once engineering staff have had a chance to send whichever messages they're informing you of. Thanks.

Thanks very much, Councillor Meiszner.

Yeah, I just want to speak in support of this. I have no doubt that this... experience that many visitors to Vancouver have had in the pedestrian zone during FIFA is going to pay off. I think it's going to drive tourism and I think it's going to drive return visits to Vancouver. They're going to think back to when they were in Vancouver during FIFA and the amazing time they had on Granville and the vibrancy of the street and the celebratory nature. And I have no doubt that they're going to think about coming back to Vancouver in the future. I mean, I've certainly had those experiences myself in different cities around the world. So I think in that sense, this extension is worthwhile. One of my colleagues said, what will draw people to Granville Street once FIFA is over? And that comment just really got under my skin. There's so many great things happening on Granville Street. Granville Street is our entertainment district. It has historic venues like the Vogue and the Commodore. We have new venues like the Rec Room. We have the Roxy, of course. We have the opportunity here with the extension to keep expanded patios, to keep programming, to keep busking, to keep live music, placemaking, art installations. We can make this space incredible. And we have a proof point, as was mentioned by my colleague, who was speaking about the Granville Promenade. She mentioned that we've done it before. We did do it before, and it was super successful. And guess what? It wasn't during FIFA. So I have no doubt that we can do this, building on the success of the amazing experience that people have had during FIFA, and extend it right through the rest of the summer.

This is such a no-brainer. The timing is necessary due to the prep work and the extension of all the placemaking and all the things have been mentioned, liquor licenses, etc. So let's move forward with this. Let's make great decisions for Vancouverites to help continue to make our city vibrant, exciting, and have a great rest of the summer. So 110% in support of extending this.

Thanks very much. Councillor Maloney?

I've just hopefully sent around another amendment. Could I please be moved to an amendment queue?

Sorry, you want to go into an amendment queue? Yes, please.

Have you sent? Oh, there it is.

And apologies for not sending this around sooner. It's just that I needed to get the answer to my question to the city manager. I think that for me, I really want to lean into pedestrianising Granville Street sooner than the 10-year or longer timeframe that's being contemplated. I think that we have... social licence, as another councillor mentioned, and we know that businesses need certainty, we need to be able to budget and plan. So I've just cobbled together an amendment that we ask staff to work on a three-year seasonal pilot to give... a chance to Granville Street, the downtown BIA and Granville Street businesses to plan ahead, to change the mix of businesses, adapt to the idea of a pedestrian zone. Because I just don't agree that this is a no-brainer. I think this requires a lot of detailed planning and thinking and budgeting. I think that we want to make sure this is a success and if we give business and the BIA an indication of council's commitment to a Montreal-style seasonal pedestrianisation of Granville Street, then we can all get working on it and also work out ways of investing to make sure that we reduce the ongoing costs as much as possible. And the only way that's going to happen is if we have certainty of Council's commitment to it. So I've circulated an amendment contemplating a three-year seasonal extension of the Granville Street pedestrian zone as a pilot project so that, yeah, we can plan to have this and we can work out how it's going to work during the day. Because, as I said, it's not a no-brainer. that this is going to work. The Granville Street is currently configured as a party zone, a nighttime party zone. I went walking down Granville Street. I've been spending a lot of time on in the Granville Street pedestrian zone during the Men's World Cup. And, you know, there aren't that many places to get a coffee or get lunch or that are family friendly. And that's going to adapt over time. And I think it would be good to give a clear indication of the will to make this a more certain thing that people can plan for.

Thank you very much, Councillor Kirby.

Yeah, I'm just going to kind of speak very simply and kind of bring us back to we have the opportunity to do something really good and exciting for the city. This is a great moment. Yes, it requires councillors to be nimble and make quick decisions, but we are responding in real time to what we're seeing and gathering the information. And this is already, I can say with confidence again, this is exactly the intention is to do this for seven weeks and see how it goes so that it can inform the future years. As was mentioned, we have the promenade. That was a month and it was weekends. We flexed. That's the whole point of doing this is that we'll get some great information. Will it look different than the FIFA pedestrian zone? Of course it will because it won't be FIFA. Will it still be great? Yes, I think it will if we invest in it and we provide the resources and we have great delivery partners like Downtown Van and put the support behind it. And that is the intention, to deliver something that is... not FIFA, but builds on the success of the FIFA-inspired pedestrian zone. But the Granville Street plan already contemplates permanent pedestrianization of Granville Street, fully behind that. I drove a lot of the amendments and the content in there. As I said, we had the Granville Promenade. The intention is that this informs future years and gives us a chance to have that information. You know, it's what's already intended here. So, you know, again, we're having we're spending a lot of time discussing things that are already, I think, quite clear that that is the direction that we have articulated as a council. It's the direction that we're moving towards, that we want to have better public spaces. We want to respond to the public and invest. So I would like to see all the councillors. not let process get in the way of just getting something good done, which is what we're here to do, is to respond. That's our job, ultimately, end of the day. It's fairly simple, which is to listen to the public and try to deliver a great city that people can be proud to live and work and play in. And that's really what we're trying to do here. And this is already the intention, is let's see how this goes, and that will inform future years. So I think that was inherently... I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA. I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA. I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA. I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA. I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA. I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA. I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA. I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA. I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA. I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA. I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA. I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA. I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA. I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA. I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA. I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA. I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA. I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA. I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA. I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA. I THINK IT seizing positive opportunities for our city. And are they a lot different? Yes. But they can still be positive and they can still be great. Thank you.

Thanks very much. Councillor Domenato.

Yeah, thanks, Chair. I'm just, could I ask through you a point of information to the city manager? Just in light of the work that's already underway on the Granville Strip in particular around looking at longer-term pedestrianization, could you comment on this proposal in terms of, it would seem to me it's already being done to be looking at the seasonal approaches as part of that longer, medium to long-term work, if you will. Could you just comment on that?

Okay, so in effect, this proposal doesn't conflict with what you're looking at, the engineering team is looking at presently?

Right, okay, so look at the current pilot, potential extension, and then have that informed. potentially further sort of seasonal extensions or approaches. Okay. I'll leave my questions there. Thank you.

Thanks very much, Councillor. I'll cede the chair to Deputy Mayor, Councillor Kirby Young, just make a couple of quick comments here. I think we've sort of broadly established that everybody is... Very excited and very pleased about the Granville Entertainment District coming alive in the pedestrian zone, becoming a showcase example of how great our downtown can be. I think we've heard some discussions around the pace and the process for getting that done. But we also, I think, at the end of the day, all unanimously support the long-term plan to make sure that this actually becomes a permanent fixture of our downtown. enormous amount of work has gone on behind the scenes to try and get us to where we are today, and it's going to take more time. And so when I look at Councillor Maloney's amendment, essentially it's asking us to fast-track some of this work, not to drag it out, but to really put an intense focus on how we can take care of some of the details to make it happen. And again, I think that's something that would be broadly supported in this chamber. Certainly a message that came out of the special council meeting is that we're in love with downtown Vancouver, and we really appreciate all the excitement that's happened there, and we want to see this continue in some form. And so with that in mind, I'm prepared to support this amendment. if it helps to expedite the work and make it very clear that council wants to see this work happen at pace in order to be able to, over the coming years, that we can enjoy this experience during a seasonal opportunity or whatever staff comes back to us after based upon their research. And I certainly think having this council supporting The extension to go to the end of August and having those additional five or six weeks to really see how it goes right till the end of, essentially to the end of summer, will give us great data points for us to be able to do this work. So with that, I am going to conclude my remarks. And if there's nobody else in the queue, I will then call the vote.

Councillor Klassen, I believe we haven't had a seconder for the amendment. Just notice before turning the chair back.

Okay. Councillor Frye second. Okay. All right. So clerk, please take the voting panel.

And the vote carries with all in favor.

Thanks very much. We'll go back to the main queue and the main motion, and I hope that we are close to completing this item. I'm not going to continue here, so I'll advance. Councillor Maloney, please.

Thanks.

Okay, thanks very much. Kelser Frey. Well, I find this an incredibly frustrating process, mostly because of the lack of consideration for giving more time. You know, there's that old chestnut, failing to plan is a plan to fail. And I don't see a plan here. This is $5 million that we're talking about spending. We don't really know what an activation without a World Cup and the tens of thousands of visitors downtown would possibly look like. And, you know, which, I mean, I very wholeheartedly support a better activation of Granville Street, a better pedestrianization of Granville Street, but... You know, this very council went for a pedestrianization of Water Street that then they had to walk back after it didn't land the way that they thought it would. And I think that there's a lesson there, too. And, you know, I'm prepared to – I recognize that this is a two-third vote and that – It could fail without the necessary council support. I don't feel good about supporting this in any way because I think that there has not been a cogent plan. We haven't had an opportunity to really hear how the BIA is going to address this. We haven't had an opportunity, at least we, when I say we, I mean... Councillors like myself and I think Councillor Bligh and Councillor Maloney who feel somewhat in the dark about a lot of how this has kind of evolved. I can't speak for other councillors beyond who I've talked to about this particular. But I think the failure to engage councillors in good faith and socialize this in advance, knowing that it's a two-third vote required to pass this, leaves me with more questions than it answers.

Lost your microphone.

I don't know what happened there, but if we wanted to see this succeed and bring everybody together, it would have been an opportunity to talk about what this really looks like. And $5 million in the context of the significant amounts we've seen in cuts towards all sorts of other programs across our city, it does leave me a bit stressed out. The idea that we still don't have a full... costing of our blind budget items that we know where the money's going. We still don't really know how much the city's ultimately on the hook for for a lot of the FIFA expenditures beyond the $5 million that was originally articulated. So this leaves us with so many questions, and I really wish that we had taken a more transparent and collaborative approach to this. I want to support this Granville activation. I want to see it succeed.

not presented with any kind of cogent argument that suggests that this will be a success. And I feel that if I hold my nose and abstain to allow this to pass, it would almost be out of some morbid curiosity to see how it plays out. But it's not good stewardship of taxpayer dollars. It's a very difficult situation and I honestly wish that we had a different governance style in these chambers because this shouldn't be the way. I guess that's just my expression of frustration as I sit here thinking about how I'm going to vote.

Councillor Maloney. I don't know how you got, yeah. Anyway, carry on. Okay. All right. Okay, then we will now call the vote. Clerk, can we go to the voting panel, please? On the main motion as amended.

Mayor Sim, you now may resume the chair. I'll see you back here. Thank you very much. Can we have a motion to adjourn? Second. Councillor Dominato, seconded by Councillor Claussen. All those in favour, say yay. All those opposed, say nay. The motion carries unanimously. The special council meeting is adjourned. Thank you, everyone.