Vancouver East

Vancouver East is no doubt one of Canada’s most diverse and social justice-oriented ridings, full of rich history and cultural heritage. The richness and beauty of the riding attracts artists, cultural workers, activists, entrepreneurs, and families from all cultures and walks of life who want to make Vancouver East their place to work and call home. Vancouver has one of the largest urban Indigenous populations in Canada, and the community is strong in Vancouver East. Heritage businesses operated by generations of families further enrich the cultural and culinary landscape of Van East. Van East has the highest per capita concentration of non-profit organizations in all of Canada.

Like many cities impacted by the affordability crisis, Vancouver East is also faced with many challenges, including an affordable housing and homelessness crisis, and the opioid overdose crisis. Families and businesses with long connections to the community are being priced out, and home ownership is out of reach for young workers and families. Art and cultural spaces are struggling and disappearing with rising rents and the pressures of gentrification. With less green spaces than other parts of Vancouver, Vancouver East is also vulnerable to the deadly effect of heat waves.

To protect and nurture the heart and soul of Vancouver East, it is paramount that we tackle the housing crisis, the opioid crisis, and the climate crisis with everything that we’ve got. We must also support the heritage businesses, non-profits, art and cultural spaces and workers, and entrepreneurs that give Van East its rich cultural landscape.

Van East is where the pulse of social justice beats the strongest and it is my honour to represent this amazing riding. You have my assurance that I will fight every day for all the things that make Van East incredible.

'We’ve really reached a tipping point’: Scarred by COVID, Chinatown leaders want city to remember its commitment

Said Vancouver East MP Jenny Kwan: “Chinatown as we know will disappear if we do not get the support from all levels of government.” Kwan wrote Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland in July 2020, calling for a lifeline for the National Historic Site in the form of federal emergency funding.

In comparison, federally-owned Granville Island received $17 million in emergency relief in 2020, with another $22 million earmarked in the 2021 budget.

She told Global News she received no response. “I’d like to ask the government what is the difference between Granville Island and Chinatown. Are we less important?”

Global News put the question to Freeland, but she did not offer a clear answer, and instead used the opportunity to praise the federal wage and rent subsidies.

OPEN LETTER to BC Minister of Health and Vancouver Coastal Health Chair

It is wonderful that some of the seniors may be able to book an appointment with the help of family, friends, or support workers; sadly, there are those who unfortunately do not have access to such a support network I have heard from some of the elderly seniors in Vancouver East who are concerned that they will have difficulty in registering for the vaccine due to language barriers.
To help facilitate access to this potentially life-saving immunization for vulnerable people, especially for the elderly where language and mobility is an issue, I would like to offer two suggestions for your consideration.

JOINT OPEN LETTER - MP Kwan, MLA Mark and Mayor Kennedy joint letter to the federal housing minister addressing Vancuver homelessness crisis

We have been facing a homelessness crisis in Vancouver for many years. The number of people experiencing homelessness in Vancouver more than tripled from 2002 to 2017. Since then, substantial investments in housing from the Province and the City have managed to stop those runaway increases, but the situation remains a crisis, especially with the added pressures of COVID-19. According to the preliminary data report from the 2020 homeless count in Metro Vancouver, 2,095 individuals were identified as homeless in the City of Vancouver, with 547 individuals completely unsheltered, and 105 people residing in emergency response shelters who would otherwise be unsheltered.
As your government has recognized in your Reaching Home strategy, homelessness has devastating impacts on the individuals experiencing homelessness, as well as the economic and social well-being of communities. And, like your government, we are committed to helping those who are homeless and share your belief that one homeless Canadian is one too many. However, it must be recognized the existing timeline and resources under the National Housing Strategy are deficient in meeting the urgent housing and homelessness crisis in our community.
Furthermore, in the midst of a global pandemic, the first public health directive issued by all levels of governments – and by governments worldwide – was for people to stay home, stay distanced, and practice aggressive hygiene measures. This is impossible for people who are homeless.

OPEN LETTER to housing minister on cost-sharing plan with BC provincial and municipal government urgently needed to address homelessness crisis

The homelessness crisis is not only an affront to human rights, but also poses an enormous national public health risk. This puts the individuals and the communities they live in at risk. Despite the undisputable importance of housing, I am deeply concerned that your government’s National Housing Strategy (NHS) is woefully inadequate.
Based on the response to my order paper question submitted February 4th, 2020, it seems the largest component of the NHS, the National Housing Co-investment Fund (NHCF), has fallen short of expectations. I was shocked to learn that only 23 of 432 of submissions have finalized funding agreements. Even more troubling was the lack of funding outside of Ontario. Among these applications, over 50% of the finalized agreements were from Ontario and over 91% of the $1.47 billion in these agreements went to a single application in the City of Toronto.
Only 2 applications were finalized in British Columbia, which represents 0.05% of these funds. To say the least, this fails to recognize the housing crisis that has impacted Vancouver and communities in my riding particularly hard.

Mailer (Homelessness Crisis) Summer 2020

Mailer (Recovery for All) Summer 2020

OPEN LETTER to Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Minister of Infrastructure and Communities on emergency COVID-19 financial assistance to save the PNE

As such, this meant that all the other Fairs across the country were able to access the CEWS at this difficult time, however, the PNE is the only fair that has been deemed ineligible. If the PNE is unable to a I first corresponded with you about the situation faced by the Pacific National Exhibition (the PNE) on April 21, 2020. PNE President & CEO Shelley Frost advised that at that time, “Since March 15th the PNE had 249 event cancellations totaling over $8.2 M in revenue. The loss of a summer operating season (Playland and PNE Fair) will result in another $42 million in revenue losses by November 2020...The PNE‘s only financial safety net is a $15 million credit line. With COVID shutting down the economy at the start of our spring revenue season, the PNE goes deeper into that credit line daily. We have minimized expenses, shut down services to various buildings on site and conducted maximum level layoffs to maintain as much room as we can within that credit line for the coming months. But once that credit line is maxed out, we have no options.”

OPEN LETTER to federal and provincial health minister, BC housing minister and Vancouver mayor on the supply of PPE to NGO and senior homes

It is my understanding that many nonprofit housing providers and care homes funded by B.C. Housing and the regional health authorities are part of a coordinated effort to receive PPE procured by the government, and many have received supplies.
I am concerned that senior’s care homes who are not operated and funded by B.C. Housing and the health authorities are still struggling to obtain PPE for their staff. In particular, Vancouver Grace Seniors Home (333 E Pender St, Vancouver, BC V6A 1V1), a care home in my riding, has reached out to me to inform me that they have been unable to obtain PPE for their staff.

OPEN LETTER to Ministers of Innovation, Science and Industry, Social Development & Poverty Reduction, Advance Education, Skills and Training and Vancouver Mayor on the need for expansion of free Wifi access in DTES

One of the challenges that community members have brought to my attention during this pandemic is barriers to accessing internet from home during self-isolation. A constituent who is a senior contacted my office when after 19 days of social distancing, she has run out of internet data on her phone plan. She noted that many places where community members could previously access internet, such as libraries, community centers, and coffeeshops, have all closed due to the pandemic. While there are outdoor locations where free WiFi can be accessed, as an elderly person with a compromised immune system, she does not feel safe in going out, and rightly so.

OPEN LETTER to Federal and BC Minister of Health and Chief Medical Officer on information urgently needed on Covid-19 cases in the DTES

There is growing fear among frontline workers and community members in the Downtown Eastside as they are receiving mixed messages about the presence of the COVID-19 virus in the community. According to recent media reports, Vancouver's Medical Health Officer, Dr. Patricia Daly is not providing a specific number on how many COVID-19 cases are confirmed in the Downtown Eastside. Instead, she suggests that we can assume COVID – 19 is “everywhere” in the Downtown Eastside. If this reporting is correct, given this latest development, this means that everyone in the community, including frontline workers, are at a heightened level of risk of exposure to the virus.
Frontline workers and community members in my riding are anxious and afraid. A frontline worker wrote to me informing me about the enormous strain on her mental health that working in dangerous conditions have caused. She also informed me that she has begun making plans with her family in the event that she dies from Covid-19. She is angry that health authorities will not clarify whether there have been confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Downtown Eastside community.