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(Update after the meeting: The Public Hearing ended in just over one hour, having heard from about nine speakers (mostly via Livestream video link). The grand total of correspondence from the entire region amounted to *TWO* letters. The Metro Chair Dhaliwal chaired the meeting. He said that about 35 of about 40 board directors were “present” (most of them not in person). Next week, the Board is expected to refer the Bylaw to municipalities for approval. Within weeks, municipalities are expected to do so. Media coverage is still zero.)
Guess what! Metro Vancouver regional body (formerly Greater Vancouver Regional District, or GVRD) is holding a Public Hearing on the evening of Wednesday, April 20, 2022. It is of high significance. The one and only public hearing to provide the Metro Vancouver region’s 2.8 million residents a chance to speak to elected officials at the regional level about a bylaw that is intended to guide urban development for the next 28 years to 2050 in the region’s 21 municipalities, UBC Endowment Lands, and Tsawwassen First Nation. Implications are huge. Planners say another million people will be living here by then.
Just for the record, here is a full tally of all the media coverage we could find in a search of Google News with the search terms “Metro 2050” and “Public Hearing,” to capture any coverage on this important meeting.
These outlets and reporters are the ones the public really counts on to receive crucial and timely information relating to civic and municipal issues.
Table: Tally as of April 19 for mainstream media coverage specifically about the April 20, 2022 Public Hearing for “Metro 2050”
| OUTLET | PROMINENT CIVIC REPORTERS | COVERAGE |
| Vancouver Sun/Postmedia | Dan Fumano | ZERO |
| CBC | Justin McElroy | ZERO |
| The Globe And Mail | Frances Bula | ZERO |
| Vancouver Is Awesome | Mike Howell | ZERO |
| The Province/Postmedia | John Mackie | ZERO |
| Daily Hive | Kenneth Chan, Rob Shaw | ZERO |
| CTV | Mike | ZERO |
| The Tyee | Jen St Denis, Christopher Cheung | ZERO |
| Other: Notifications from City of Vancouver | Communications Department | ZERO |
| More to be added |
CityHallWatch has posted two articles in recent weeks. That means that we working for free as volunteers, we have provided literally infinitely more coverage than all of the mainstream media reporters on this topic.
If you feel the lack of media coverage is a problem, we encourage you to write and call the reporters listed above, and their editors and bosses, ask them to explain why they have given zero coverage to the meeting, and encourage them to do so and to provide informative and balanced coverage.
Public Hearing
6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Where: Metro Vancouver Boardroom (28th Floor Boardroom, Metrotower III, 4515 Central Boulevard, Burnaby, BC)
Purpose: to hear from the public on MVRD Regional Growth Strategy Bylaw No. 1339, 2022
The meeting will be deemed adjourned once all the speakers have been heard.
Participation: In person and online.
Metro 2050: http://www.metrovancouver.org/metro2050
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Here are two items of recent coverage by CityHallWatch, including instructions on how to write or speak to the Public Hearing virtually or in person.
Stay tuned in the future as well. Each municipality will be required to hold its own public hearing in the next few months, and the Metro Vancouver Board has plans to do the final reading and formal adoption of the Metro 2050 bylaw in July this year. Don’t be surprised if the media blackout continues. But hope springs eternal.
Heads Up: Metro Vancouver’s METRO 2050 ‘Regional Growth Strategy’ public hearing April 20/Wed (6 pm): Vancouver, this affects YOU too. (April 3, 2022). Link: https://cityhallwatch.wordpress.com/2022/04/03/metro-2050-rgs-public-hearing/
Heads up: Metro Vancouver board votes today (25 Mar/Fri) on ‘Metro 2050’ bylaw (2nd reading): Huge implications Vancouver’s future, not yet discussed with Vancouverites. Link: https://cityhallwatch.wordpress.com/2022/03/25/metro-2050-bylaw-vote-2nd-reading/
The fact that the public is so uninformed about the Metro 2050 plan and public hearing undermines the integrity of the whole plan. If it ends up being approved, municipalities, planners and developers will use it as a guide for urban planning for the next generation. But any claims that it represents the will of the populace can be dismissed as having no grounds.
We give one consolation prize to Graeme Wood of Vancouver Is Awesome for this March 31 article, which tangentially informs readers about the April 20 Public Hearing by the fact that Surrey’s mayor McCallum opposed holding it. See below. Besides that, mainstream media have done absolutely zero to inform the region’s 2.8 million residents of the public hearing, its content, and its importance.
Surrey votes against Metro Vancouver regional growth plan: Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum says Metro Vancouver’s long-term growth plan falls short for needs in Surrey and strips the city of its autonomy.
(Graeme Wood, Vancouver Is Awesome)
https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/highlights/surrey-votes-against-metro-vancouver-regional-growth-plan-5220338
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Reblogged this on MetroVanWatch.