We acknowledge that this event is taking place on the ancestral, traditional, unceded and occupied Indigenous territories of the Coast Salish Peoples, and in particular, the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ speaking xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) peoples. The xʷməθkʷəy̓əm territory on which UBC Point Grey campus is located is unceded, that is, it was never surrendered, relinquished, or handed over by xʷməθkʷəy̓əm to Canada or British Columbia through a treaty or other means; it is sovereign and unsurendered.

“Vancouver Housing Crisis: Voices from the Community” is the third event in a series of roundtables on the “Face of Modern Capitalism” that will be happening this year. The purpose of this roundtable is to gain a greater understanding for how issues of capitalism (housing unaffordability, gentrification and displacement, real estate development, neoliberalism, globalization), racism (growing anti-Chinese, anti-immigration sentiments, racial scapegoating, gentrification of Chinatown), and settler colonialism (living on the unceded Indigenous territories, land dispossession, gentrification of DTES and displacement of Indigenous peoples) interact and overlap with one another in the context of Vancouver’s housing crisis.

To RSVP, please sign up here (event is free and open to the general public): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/vancouver-housing-crisis-roundtable-part-2-tickets-31477607371

Panelists:
1) Natalie Knight (Alliance Against Displacement)
2) Sophie Fung (Chinatown Action Group)
3) Cicely-Belle Blain (Black Lives Matter and Qmunity)
4) Audrey Siegl (Musqueam First Nation)
5) David Eby (NDP MLA)
6) Wilson Munoz (Coalition of Progressive Electors)

Questions:
1) What are the underlying causes of the housing crisis in Vancouver? What kind of role do global flows of capital play? What are the short-term and long-term consequences? Who gets affected the most by growing unaffordability? How does Canada’s history as a settler colonial white capitalist nation shape conversations about Vancouver housing crisis and specifically foreign investment debate?

2) How do anti-Asian racism and Canadian whiteness play out in conversations about “wealthy Chinese immigrants”? What can we learn from the foreign investment debate about whose bodies are welcome in Canada? What is the history of Asian immigration to BC? How have the crisis and the surrounding discourses affected Chinese-Canadians and other migrant communities in Vancouver? What are the effects and consequences of development and gentrification in Chinatown?

3) How can we discuss housing affordability issues while living on the unceded Coast Salish territories? How has the housing crisis affected Indigenous people in Vancouver? Do the public discourses about the housing crisis undermine and ignore Indigenous rights and titles to the unceded territories? Are Indigenous people being displaced from the city once again? How can we decolonize housing affordability issues in Vancouver?

4) Should affordable housing be a human right? If so, whose responsibility is it to provide affordable housing? What should the role of government be concerning the growing economic polarisation? What needs to be done to create affordable housing for residents? How have your communities been dealing with the growing unaffordability? What are your community’s housing needs and how can they be addressed?

Format: The discussion will be facilitated by Mark Harris (UBC GRSJ) who will be asking the panel open-ended questions (listed above) and allowing panelists to answer individually, as well as to comment on each other’s answers. In the end, we will leave some time for questions from the audience. Light refreshments will be provided at the event.

Location: UBC Vancouver, Henry Angus building, room 968

Organizers: This event is organized with the support of UBC Social Justice Centre and Dr. David Silver.

“Vancouver Housing Crisis (Part 1)” happened on November 23, 2016 and has focused on the voices of academics. You can see the event recording below: https://youtu.be/1k1uNW_ZgaY