While city councillors prepare to decide on Tuesday the fate of a controversial proposed development at 105 Keefer Street in Vancouver’s Chinatown neighbourhood, advocates on both sides of the debate are starting to get personal.
Over the past week there have been several statements from both sides sent to media outlets detailing or responding to unsubstantiated allegations involving such things as chartered bus rides to protests, free tickets to casinos, and harassment and bullying. And at least two press conferences have been held in the hopes of swaying Tuesday’s decision.
The rezoning application for the 12-storey residential complex has divided community members who all want to see a strengthened Chinatown but disagree on how best to do that.
Scores of seniors came out to show support for the project Sunday at Floata Restaurant.
Among them was Eric Szeto, an advocate for seniors and cultural issues in Chinatown.
“During the public hearing there was a lot of things happening. The supportive members from our group have been bullied, abused and harassed by people from the opposition,” claimed Szeto, who said he plans to lease space for a seniors’ centre in 105 Keefer if the project proceeds.
An architectural rendering of 105 Keefer St. in Vancouver’s Chinatown.
Szeto was joined by a trio of other seniors who said — in Chinese, with Szeto translating — they had experienced negative attention due to their positions on the project.
Not all seniors say they have experienced harassment, however. Ming Ming Zhu, the president of the Seniors Chinese Society of Vancouver and a supporter of the project, said she personally had not.
More than 300 people spoke on the rezoning application during four days of public hearings. For comparison, a contentious downtown casino proposal drew 141 speakers in 2011, the Rize development brought out 160 in 2012, and a bike lane on Point Grey road drew 118 in 2013.
Last week, NDP member of Parliament for Vancouver East Jenny Kwan — an opponent of the project — said she was “saddened and dismayed to learn that some Chinese seniors are being misled in this heated debate.”
She said at least one senior attending a days-long public hearing last month was approached by someone who asked her to wear a red T-shirt — to support the MLA and her position, they said. The problem is, the red shirts project support for the project, while the MLA is opposed to it.
In an interview, Kwan said she relayed the story “so that people are not confused about where I stand.”
“We need to work hard to preserve and protect historic Chinatown and I stand with many seniors and many community leaders in opposition to this rezoning.”
A group of protesters gather outside of Vancouver City Hall on Tuesday to show their concern over a large development at 105 Keefer Street in Chinatown.
Meanwhile, Szeto said some supporters of the 105 Keefer project had signed up to speak but changed their minds because they did not want to do so in “such an unfriendly and hostile environment.”
He called on the city to “give a fair chance to those seniors who have not been able to speak and let them speak freely, with no fear, in a peaceful environment.”
City staff did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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