ANGRY VANCOUVER RESIDENTS READY FOR A RESET, TEAM’S ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING TOLD

Keynote Speaker Larry Beasley Says TEAM is Drawing Support Because It Believes In Listening to the Public

VANCOUVER (Nov. 13, 2025) -- Vancouver residents are angry and have never been more ready for a change at City Hall, former City Planning Director Larry Beasley told TEAM for a Livable Vancouver’s AGM on Sunday.

TEAM is drawing their support because it is the only party that says public engagement and involvement are essential to local government, Beasley said in the meeting’s keynote speech.

“[M]ore than I’ve ever heard in my entire time in city government, [people] are feeling victimized by the very processes that they used to depend on,” Beasley said.

Residents feel the city is spinning out of control and that “anything can happen anyplace, under any circumstances … and they’re getting very afraid of that,” he said.

Meanwhile, the government is shutting them out of the conversation “on every issue, on any involvement in public life,” so they feel increasingly frustrated about the way the city is going because they can’t do anything about it.

“No one is talking to them, no one is listening to them. That is the essence of the problem that we have right now,” Beasley said. “They want to get back to some sort of caring government, they want to get back to a government that listens to them, they want to get back to a government that thinks and talks about quality, that sponsors quality, not just quantity.”

Therefore, Beasley argued, “TEAM must be the answer [and] TEAM must have the answers.”

Sunday’s meeting at the Anza Club included a review of TEAM policies leading up to the October 2026 civic election. Within those policies, TEAM believes it has the blueprint to create a more livable Vancouver, one where the voices of residents matter.

TEAM also elected new board members David Ley, Cleta Brown, and Jean Shapiro.

Jean Shapiro is a retired medical specialist. Born and raised in Montreal, a graduate of McGill University Medical School, UCLA, and UCSD, she and her husband moved to Vancouver in 1984, where she enjoyed a career in academic medicine. Shapiro comes from a family of community activists and has been engaged with TEAM efforts since 2022.

Cleta Brown is a former president of TEAM for a Livable Vancouver who ran for a council position with TEAM in the 2022 election. A lifelong Vancouver resident, she’s been an advocate for a variety of causes and has held many non-profit board directorships.

David Ley is an author, urban geographer and professor emeritus at UBC. His 2023 book Housing Booms in Gateway Cities explored the links between high housing prices in cities like Vancouver and the globalization of real estate. He recently became part of a Metro Vancouver group of urbanists, urban planners, architects, and UBC/SFU academics trying to broaden the search for enduring housing solutions. Ley is an Officer of the Order of Canada.