Despite some recent face time with a top federal politician, Delta’s mayor has minimal expectations about any help from Ottawa for housing, sewage plants, tunnels, transit, and port police.
George Harvie met Treasury Board president Anita Anand on March 11, about a month ahead of the federal government’s budget, April 16.
Harvie, chair of Metro Vancouver, posted online that he had a “very productive discussion” with Anand on the “critical need” for funding the Iona Island Wastewater Treatment plant, the new Fraser River tunnel, “and the need to police our ports.” Canadian ports do not have any full-time police presence.
However, there were no promises.
And he’s not optimistic.
“The province of B.C. seems to always be ignored,” Harvie said in a follow-up interview with the Optimist.
The federal government needs to have more of a presence and to support its MP Carla Qualtrough more, he added.
“We had a very good discussion with regard to the priorities, the fact that Delta didn’t get any housing accelerator funds,” Harvie said. “We talked about a number of issues. She (Anand) was very receptive. At the same time, she couldn’t commit to anything.”
Harvie wanted to thank Surrey Board of Trade president Anita Huberman for setting up the half-hour meeting.
“We’ll know once the budget … is released,” he said. “When it comes to the federal government, there are a lot of asks out there … across Canada. I just hope they pay attention to the needs here in B.C.”
Harvie said the province needs funding, for water and sewer, hospitals, and schools, in order to cope with growth.
“That’s what concerns residents in Delta right now, with growth,” he said.
He disagrees with the approach by the province dictating more density in single-family residential zones as a way of meeting housing targets.
Under recent provincial legislation, cities will be required to allow three-to-four units on single-detached lots, while up to six housing units will be permitted on larger single-family or duplex lots that are close to transit stops with frequent service.
“I’ve always said we should focus our growth on our major arterial routes. It was part of my election platform, but I’m very upset over the fact of the one-size-fits-all approach from the province because it’s going to affect our community. I’m still going to argue against it,” he said.
Harvie said that Delta can meet its growth targets by developing along its major corridors, such as 56th Street or Ladner Trunk Road.
The province has said Delta has to create 3,607 new homes within five years.
“We can accommodate the targeted growth that they put us under, and we can do it without affecting our (single-family) residential areas,” he added.
