TEAM URGES KEN SIM TO JOIN 16 METRO MAYORS OPPOSING DAVID EBY’S UNDEMOCRATIC HOUSING LEGISLATION

Legislation Requires Municipalities to Densify Without Ensuring They’re Livable

VANCOUVER (Dec. 12, 2025) – TEAM for a Livable Vancouver strongly supports a letter by 16 Metro mayors urging the government to repeal legislation that prevents municipalities from doing proper city planning and deprives residents of a say in how their city is developed.

Bills 44 and 47 require municipalities to heavily increase zoning around transit hubs. The

mayors say it’s over-reach, a one-size-fits-all approach that ignores local realities.

Mayor Ken Sim is one of only a handful of Metro mayors who declined to sign the letter. His refusal indicates his support of the undemocratic legislation, which takes away municipal zoning powers and cuts residents out of the conversation by prohibiting public hearings in many circumstances. It is not surprising, given that his ABC majority council voted to increase density far beyond what the province mandated around transit hubs.

The 16 mayors are especially concerned that the NDP legislation requires municipalities to densify without ensuring infrastructure – water, sewers, schools, roads and hospitals – keeps pace. That’s the opposite of TEAM’s balanced approach to community-based planning to ensure residents’ needs are met.

“The provincial government has overstepped its authority with Bills 44 and 47,” says former TEAM City Councillor Colleen Hardwick.

“I applaud the 16 mayors who had the fortitude to stand up for what is right, namely planned growth in balance as opposed to growth targets set for profit. By strong-arming municipalities, David Eby and Christine Boyle are acting against the best interests of our city’s residents.”