An exclusive Q&A with OneCity candidate Lucy Maloney

Lucy Maloney has been announced as the OneCity Vancouver candidate for city councillor in the upcoming municipal by-election on April 5th. In an Insider exclusive Q&A, Maloney spoke to Vancity Lookout about her professional background, her introduction and immersion into advocacy and civic politics in Vancouver, and why she’s running for city council. 

The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Vancity Lookout (VL): Can we start with a little background about yourself?

Lucy Maloney: So I grew up in Melbourne, Australia. I did a law degree and an arts degree specializing in environmental science subjects for my undergraduate degree. Then, I worked in law firms in Melbourne for a few years before I got my dream job as an environmental lawyer at the Victorian Environment Protection Authority in Melbourne. So I worked as an environmental lawyer at EPA for about a decade, before my family and I started moving around the world. We moved to Western Australia, and I worked in business there for three years. Then we moved to Singapore, and I continued to work for the same company for a couple of years, and earned my MBA. And then we moved to Santiago, Chile, where I focused on my family and got a DELE Spanish language qualification. Then, after five years living in Santiago, we moved to Vancouver in 2017. 

VL: What got you involved in local politics here?

Maloney: We had this interesting experience just after we arrived. We moved into an apartment in the West End, and unfortunately, after 18 months, our lease wasn't renewed because the landlord wanted to renovate, we were told. We wanted to stay there, but the landlord ended up AirBnB-ing our apartment for several years. We didn't even pursue a remedy against our landlord, because we'd already moved by the time we realized that it was being rented out as an Airbnb.

But we just felt really annoyed that we'd had to move out, even though it was years before we saw them start renovating. They've only just started renovating that place in the last six months. I've moved so many times, and I understand that moving house is one of the most stressful things you can do, and it's even worse if it's involuntary. Yeah, absolutely. So that was one of the factors that made me realize how important municipal government is.

It would have meant a lot to us to be able to stay there, because that place was two minutes from Lord Roberts Elementary, my kids’ school. It's not easy to find an apartment that's family-sized in Vancouver. We did find an apartment that was well beyond walking distance away from the kids’ school. So we decided to ride our bikes to school. Pretty soon, we realized that the commute was really safe until you got close to the school. Even though the West End streets are traffic calmed, it was pretty tricky riding bikes with two elementary school-age kids on their own bikes. So I started organizing with the school community, with other parents that felt passionately about it, to try and effect change to make a safer route to school.

VL: And that’s how you got involved with the Lord Roberts Elementary Parent Advisory Council (PAC)? 

Maloney: I started by working with other parents, and that's how I got involved with the PAC. First I was the vice chair of the PAC. I was asking for the PAC’s help with my active transport advocacy, and I wanted to give back to make sure it was I was helping with the other things that I saw needed to be done in the school. You know, there's such a motivated, great bunch of parents trying to make things better — all the things that affect kids’ schooling experience and getting to and from school. [When the PAC chair role opened up] I said, ‘Well, okay, no one else wants to do it, so I'll step into the role’, because I feel like I'm capable of doing it, I have the capacity. 

During that time I did a lot of work participating in the School Street pilot and running a school street continuously for two years. We weren't successful at getting the School Street made permanent, but we were successful in getting a separated bike lane adjacent to the school on Comox Street to keep kids, families, and passing cyclists safe during pick up and drop off times when it was the most dangerous. Once my kids had both left Lord Roberts Elementary, I took on the role of District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) Active Transport and Safe Routes working group lead.

VL: What other sorts of advocacy have you been involved in?

Maloney: In the lead up to the last municipal election, people were asking me how to vote if they were concerned about active transport issues, because I guess I had become a little bit known for my advocacy around trying to get the pandemic bike lane in Stanley Park made permanent. I was deeply involved in trying to get that made permanent, and also to try and get the Beach Avenue bikeway made permanent. So not only was I doing advocacy with my kids school, I was also advocating for active transport infrastructure in the West End and Stanley Park.

One pivotal thing was when ABC announced that they were going to pull out the Stanley Park bike lane and then put in a permanent lane before summer 2023, [Hub Cycling president] Jeff Leigh and I requested a meeting, and, like a week after the election, we met with whole bunch of people from ABC, told them how concerned we were that it was an unrealistic timeline, and how they should keep the temporary lane in place and just gradually replace it bit by bit, as money and permanent design was was finalized. So that was pivotal, just getting involved, more involved in meeting the elected officials. 

VL: I believe the first time we connected professionally was around the Stanley Park bike lane campaign in 2022. It was really noticeable how many media interviews you did at that time, and how often you were showing up in local media. 

Maloney: Once I became someone that the media knew they could contact for an informed view about Beach Avenue bikeway and Stanley Park, I started to get direct requests. And in between all that, Agustín Beltrán was killed at the intersection of Pacific and Hornby Street and I organized with other cyclists a memorial ride to celebrate his life, in conjunction with the family. 

That brought me into contact with city council, because I remember going to speak to city council in support of a motion, moved by OneCity councillor Christine Boyle and now ABC councillor Rebecca Bligh, to have side guards installed on all city vehicles and city contractor vehicles.

I just gradually worked harder and harder to talk directly to the elected officials across school board, park board, and council to advocate for change. Soon it started taking up my whole time because my kids are getting more independent now they're older and I've got more capacity. I'm finding that I'm using the skills that I've developed through my academic qualifications and my career experience, both in government and in private industry, and my advocacy experience. 

When people had problems, they would come to me and ask me, because I was always out on the street talking to people in the school community, and people knew they could come to me with their problems to get them solved. Sometimes that was a pretty hard position to be in, because sometimes the things we were working on — like making the school street permanent – not everyone agreed with them, and I would be having a lot of face-to-face conversations with people who either strongly agreed with me, or sometimes strongly disagreed with me. Being right out there, face-to-face with my community, really helped me listen to people's concerns, and try and find a way of solving those problems.

VL: It sounds like you have a lot of experience in both transportation and on climate issues. What would you say are your top three priorities as a city council candidate?

Maloney: Transport and climate change advocacy are probably where I have the deepest knowledge and experience, but [other municipal advocates] have really helped me to realize that the number one issue for our city is housing. Most obviously, housing determines the very increasing problem of homelessness. It determines whether people live close to where they work. It determines whether people's friends are all moving out of the city because they can't afford to live here. It determines whether kids can live within walking distance of their school. It determines whether people who are disadvantaged — including people who use drugs — have somewhere to lay their head. Housing is key. 

What I've been hearing on the doors in my community, is that people are most concerned about affordability, and especially housing affordability and security. They want to feel safe in their communities. People are concerned about violent crime, they're concerned about road safety, they're concerned about their kids’ ability to roam their neighborhoods. I'm out there in the community talking to people all the time and hearing about what their concerns are and what they're worried about. 

I feel like Ken Sim is listening to his friends and his supporters, but I feel like he's not listening to what people are really concerned about in the community. That is so clearly demonstrated by his announcement late last week that he wants to put a halt to new supportive housing approvals, despite the fact that we're in a housing crisis. Everyone who's credible on housing says that the solution to homelessness is housing. Ken Sim is not listening to experts. He's not listening to what works, and he's not listening to the concerns of ordinary Vancouverites.

VL: Why should Vancouverites vote for you in the upcoming by-election? 

Maloney: I really care about the decisions that council makes and the effect that they have on ordinary Vancouverites. I'm at a stage in my life where I have a lot of capacity and desire to work, to make things better. And I really enjoy using my qualifications, professional experience, and the skills that I've developed, especially in community organizing, to make sure better decisions are made that benefit everyone. Over time, I've come to the realization that the most effective way I can work to make things better is to run for council.

VL: So how did the nomination with OneCity come about?

Maloney: People have always said, ‘well, you should run for park board, or you should run for school board, or you should run for council.’ I'd never really seriously considered it because of having young children. The first consideration was obviously my family. I wasn't eligible to run for council until I was made a citizen, which only happened in the first half of 2024, so that also helped me to not seriously consider it until very recently.

But, I was approached by someone from OneCity, and after I met with them I spoke to my family about it, and they were so enthusiastic. That's one of the nicest things about telling people. It's so sweet and affirming to hear people be so enthusiastic and encouraging. People say to me that this is making them feel hopeful about being able to effect change. People have been feeling hopeless about decision after decision being made. What I can offer is that I have such optimism, hope, and great ideas about how we could make this city realize its potential. I really want to get into council and help work to make those things happen. 

I was so impressed with Christine Boyle on council. I just agreed with her on so many decisions. Her votes, her actions on council, her the motions she moved, and the way she listens to people helped me to realize that OneCity is my political home. 

VL: I know she's very busy herself these days, but has Christine Boyle been a mentor for you? Is that someone you've been able to lean on at all with this being your first electoral campaign?

Maloney: She's been so helpful and enthusiastic, and I've really appreciated her advice. She inspired me — when I heard she was running for a position in the provincial government with the BC NDP, that was the first time I'd ever been out canvassing. She’s very inspiring. We have very different life experiences, professional qualifications, and career experiences, but I share the values that she demonstrated through her actions on council, and certainly she's contributed so much to making OneCity the organization it is today.

VL: Is there anything in particular you're looking forward to in the campaign over the next couple months?

Maloney: I’m lucky enough that I’m pretty outgoing. I really enjoy meeting new people, and I’ve enjoyed, so much, meeting and getting to know the people that volunteer for OneCity. What a great bunch of people that have been so encouraging and supportive of me. They spend so much of their free time, after work and after study, working so hard in the interests of everyday Vancouverites.

In terms of what I'm looking forward to on the campaign, I'm really looking forward to meeting more residents of Vancouver, discovering more about Vancouver, and working out how to be the most effective councillor I can be. If I'm lucky enough to gain the trust of Vancouver residents who vote in the by-election, I really want to get a spot on council to make sure that their interests are well represented and that we can fight against the bad decisions that Ken Sim keeps trying to make.

I feel so lucky and fortunate to be in this position now where I can work really hard for a couple of months in this very short campaign period. 

VL: During her resignation speech, outgoing Green councillor Adriane Carr was asked a question about what new incoming councillors should expect, and she was kind of cautioning that it takes a while to learn the ropes and to understand what the job is, particularly for someone who hasn't been a councillor before. She actually said, ‘don't expect that you can immediately make a difference,’ which I thought was really interesting. With that in mind, if you were to be elected, what would your approach to that new role be, particularly going in midway through a term?

Maloney: I'm very fortunate that I've had a lot of interactions already with council, and I've had the capacity to follow council pretty closely. I often speak to council and park board, so I am not completely new to it, so I'm probably in a better position than a lot of people to hit the ground running. 

The only person out of the whole council that I haven't already met and worked with is Mayor Ken Sim. That's probably because he's not generally in council, and I don't think he's interested in effecting change in the areas that I specialize in. That’s demonstrated by the motion to reverse the gas ban in new housing. I was speaker 139 advocating against the success of that motion, and we won. The ABC councillors and the Green councillors all know that I'm very happy to give credit where credit's due, and I'm very happy to speak in support of things that I agree with. I'm also quite capable of speaking very freely against what I disagree with, and why. 

You can see that if you look at my advocacy against the decision on the West End waterfront [plan] and to restore two-way traffic on Beach Avenue, west of Denman, and move the bike lane over, which is an absolutely unnecessary waste of taxpayers money. I've proven that I can be a strong voice of opposition and still work constructively with people that I agree with on some policy issues. 

VL: Speaking of working constructively, that gas ban vote was kind of a watershed moment on this ABC council majority with ABC councillors Peter Meisner, Rebecca Bleigh and Lisa Dominato voting against their ABC colleagues on that particular motion to end up defeating it. Were you to win a council seat, how confident would you feel in terms of working with other ABC councillors towards shared priorities and getting their support? 

Maloney: I’m absolutely confident that I can work constructively with whoever wants to work with me. I think it’s realistic, on some issues, that if two progressive candidates are elected to replace Christine Boyle and Adriane Carr, there is a very likely chance that ABC councillors — who've demonstrated their courage in voting against the mayor's office’s position [on reversing the gas ban] — will be able to achieve a 6-5 majority on some issues. I don't agree with those councillors on every issue, but I have excellent working relationships with them, and I'm confident that I have a really good chance of working with them to achieve a majority on some issues. That's better than just throwing your hands up and doing nothing and waiting for the next election.