By Lisa Tanh
Patrick Condon will enter the Vancouver mayoral race if Adriane Carr rules out a run because he wants to stamp out speculation.
“I’d like to see Adrianne Carr run, and if she does, I’ll support her,” Condon said. “Her decision’s supposed to come fairly shortly. Assuming that she doesn’t run, I would want to be a unity candidate.”
Condon, who started his career as a city planner and now teaches urban design at UBC, said his campaign would focus on land speculation. He calls speculation the root of Vancouver’s housing crisis which is turning the city into Monaco: a resort town for the rich to live. In the past, Condon has researched and written books about housing, transportation and collaboration such as Seven Rules for Sustainable Communities.
“The working families have to commute in and out everyday,” Condon said. “I don’t think that’s a sustainable future.”
Condon suggests a city-wide plan to tax high-end development which would “reduce speculative pressures on land” and “lead to more affordable housing.”
“I think that the more expensive a unit is, the more it should be taxed,” Condon said, adding that the City of Vancouver has never done this before.
Condon said while the city is on the right track with solving other issues such as short-term rentals and the opioid crisis, their strategies alone aren’t enough to keep people in the city. He refers to these issues as being “interlaced” that require a “collaborative strategy” with “the best in our city and province.”
He believes he’s more than qualified to take on this task due to his age, experience and more.
“People want to know why I would even consider running, it would be precisely to do something about that,” Condon said. “I’m very enthusiastic about a city-wide plan to be the vehicle that actually solves this problem — along with redirecting investment money to affordable housing.”
