Zhou supportive housing

Good morning, 

Nate with you today. There’s rarely a harmonious moment at City Hall these days, and we thought we’d pull back the curtain on a contentious series of events that occurred yesterday.

Reporters were informed on Tuesday morning of a news conference on a “serious issue” happening a few hours later. Showing up without a clear sense of topic, I was clued in by another reporter who already had the scoop on what was to come. 

After getting one side of the story, media members, including yours truly, headed upstairs to the lobby outside the Mayor’s offices in hopes of speaking with Lenny Zhou before council went into a private session after lunch. Justin McElroy stopped an elevator full of city councillors and staff for us by putting his foot in the door.

We saw Mayor Sim (who said he didn’t have time to talk), lots of senior city staff (“what’s going on,” they whispered), and most of the other councillors, but Zhou never showed. The effort didn’t bear much fruit, but it’s a window into the wiliness and collegiality of the city’s journalists, who work in a unique grey zone between competitors and comrades. 

With the scene set, let’s get to the details of today’s story.

— Nate Lewis, Vancity Lookout

As always, you can send your tips, leads, and story ideas to Nate at [email protected].

PS - If you find this newsletter valuable, please consider forwarding it to your friends. New to the Lookout? Sign-up for free. 

WEATHER

Wednesday: 8 🌡️ 4 | 🌧️

Thursday: 8 🌡️ 4 | 🌧️

Friday: 7 🌡️ 1 | 🌤️

CITY HALL

Councillors accuse colleague of defamation, code of conduct violation over social media video

Read the story online.

ABC councillor Lenny Zhou has apologized for inaccurate comments he made about city council colleagues outside his party. In a now-deleted video posted on the Chinese social media platform WeChat, Zhou asked Vancouverites to oppose a motion to reconsider the ban on new supportive housing, which ABC implemented a year ago.  

In the video, Zhao speaks to the camera in Mandarin, referring to Councillor Rebecca Bligh as “extreme,” calling supportive housing “drug houses,” and saying that “several non-ABC councillors are drug users themselves and have openly distributed drugs on the street,” according to a copy of the video shared with media by Bligh. 

If Zhou is “willing to say that in Mandarin on WeChat, and he's not willing to say the exact same thing in English and council chambers, we have a serious problem,” Bligh said.

In a statement through the Mayor’s Office, Zhou said his “remarks regarding other Vancouver city councillors… were based on incorrect information, and for that I unequivocally apologize. I am retracting my statement, and I’ve taken down the video.” The video was shared more than 1,300 times before being removed. 

Zhou’s apology did not clarify if he was also retracting his statements about Bligh being “extreme” and supportive housing being “drug houses,” and representatives for the Mayor’s Office did not respond to Vancity Lookout’s request for clarification before publication.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Bligh was joined by the other non-ABC councillors, Pete Fry, Lucy Maloney, and Sean Orr, to share the comments and push back on Zhou's remarks.

Fry said it was an “egregious falsehood and misinformation” for Zhou to claim that several non-ABC counsellors are drug users and distribute drugs. Fry said the comments violate the city’s code of conduct, which prohibits false communications, and could be grounds for a defamatory libel case, as it “not only damages our reputations, but actually puts us at significant public risk,” Fry argued.

“On a very personal level, I live in a predominantly Chinese neighbourhood where my neighbours speak Chinese, and the insinuation that I somehow might be a drug dealer … is frankly outrageous,” Fry, who lives in Strathcona, said. 

“The idea that my wife and I can't walk around our neighbourhood without people thinking we might be drug dealers is remarkably offensive, and my wife is incredibly upset to think that that is how we're being characterized in our home,” Fry added.

Orr also commented on the impact Zhou’s inaccurate claims could have on his standing in the Chinese community, reflecting on the time he spent this weekend at Lunar New Year celebrations.

“Were they thinking the whole time, ‘look at these drug users’? It kind of makes me sick to think, because it was such a positive and beautiful celebration of community, and now that seems tarnished,” Orr said.

Maloney said Zhou’s comments were “so far across the line” and “obviously designed to make people think less of us.” 

Zhou’s video directly called on viewers to sign up and speak in opposition to Bligh’s motion on Wednesday, which, if passed, would direct staff to assess the impact of Vancouver’s temporary ban on new supportive housing, with an eye to lifting it. The ban, which has now been in place for a year, was one of the wedge issues between Bligh and ABC that resulted in Bligh being booted from the governing party last February. Given that context, it’s unlikely the motion will get the required support from any councillor in the ABC majority. 

Bligh told Vancity Lookout on Tuesday night that she plans to go ahead with the motion on Wednesday, despite the potential that some public speakers signed up based on the inaccurate information in Zhou’s video.     

“You can disagree on supportive housing, you can advocate for a different approach to public safety. This is legitimate political debate, but personal allegations and inflammatory characterizations moves us away from debate and toward division,” Bligh said. 

“This makes it incredibly difficult to have nuanced conversations around policy” on issues like harm reduction and supportive housing, Orr said, adding that Zhao’s claims promote fear and misinformation, similar to the moral panics of the 1980s. 

“This is a moralization of a health issue,” Orr said. Zhou’s video included photos of people sitting or lying down on sidewalks, needles on the ground, and someone sleeping near the side of a road with their belongings. 

Bligh shared a translation of Zhou’s video with Vancity Lookout and other media, noting that it was prepared by a Mandarin speaker who is not affiliated with her party. Vancity Lookout solicited its own independent translation of Zhou’s comments as well, which largely matched the translation shared by Bligh. Fry and Maloney said members of their respective parties also provided translations of the video, which matched Bligh’s version.   

“[We] made sure that they all were the same translation, and they are. So we feel very confident about that,” Bligh said. 

“I want to thank Councillor Zhou for acknowledging his mistake and taking responsibility for sharing information that was not accurate,” Mayor Ken Sim said in a statement. “Councillor Zhou has always been a passionate advocate for Vancouver’s Chinese community. He works hard to ensure residents, especially seniors and families who rely on in-language updates, understand what’s happening at City Hall and how it affects them,” Sim added. 

Zhou said he’s proud to engage his community in civic dialogue, but “did not live up to the standards that I strive for,” in this case. 

Fry called for Zhou to face disciplinary action, but, beyond his apology, that appears unlikely, unless the non-ABC councillors pursued the matter in civil court. Possible violations of the city’s code of conduct are investigated by the city’s Integrity Commissioner, and any penalties are ultimately voted on by city council, where Zhou’s ABC colleagues have a majority.

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THE VANCOUVER NUMBER

130

That’s how many public hearings for rezonings could be held at City Hall in 2026, significantly higher than the 65 rezoning hearings the city averaged in each of the previous three years. Read more. [BIV]

COMMENT OF THE DAY

“I find the off-leash dog story frustrating, from both sides! I agree, we need more spaces to exercise dogs, but as a reactive dog owner, I need them to leash up on the on-leash trails – my dog deserves to go to these spaces too, and if their dog is leashed, we have a very quick uneventful passing without any negative energy from dogs or humans... I hate having to say she's unfriendly all the time!”

— Sam, in response to our story on Vancouver pet owners fighting back against changes to the off-leash dog areas in Pacific Spirit Park.

THE AGENDA

❌ Mayor Ken Sim said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are not welcome in Vancouver during the FIFA World Cup, and that all policing will be conducted by the Vancouver Police Department. Sim’s statement comes in response to a motion at council today asking the mayor to share Vancouver’s opposition to the deployment of ICE agents with the federal government and the City of Toronto Read more. [CityNews]

📈 Vancouver sidewalks will be getting an upgrade in the next five years after council unanimously approved $104 million to be added to the city’s 2027-2031 capital plan. That investment is a significant increase from the $34 million approved in the previous plan. Read more. [Business in Vancouver]

🐕‍🦺 W.C. Shelly Park in Grandview-Woodland is getting upgraded, with new features including a dog off-leash area, a food and cultural garden, a picnic area, and an expanded playground. The park was expanded by 50 per cent thanks to a 2022 acquisition of a few neighbouring residential lots. [Park board]

⚠️ In an ironic twist of fate that underscores what the organization is fighting for, a Vision Zero Vancouver advocate had her wrist broken when she was struck by a vehicle last week. The advocate, who was riding an e-scooter at the time, noted she was hit in an East Van neighbourhood without dedicated bike infrastructure, a gap which Vision Zero had previously flagged as dangerous. Read more. [National Observer]

⛴️ Burrard Inlet could see larger oil tankers passing through now that the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has officially applied to dredge the Inlet, starting in late September. A public engagement process will be launched as part of the plans, with the organization saying it will boost trade for the Port of Vancouver. In December, we spoke with marine scientists who called for better monitoring of the environmental impacts of dredging. Read more. [Vancity Lookout, Business in Vancouver]

👮 B.C.’s Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner has found that two Vancouver officers committed misconduct after a 20-year-old Indigenous woman, Tatyanna Harrison, was found dead in Richmond in 2022, after failing to conduct a missing person’s risk assessment. The officers were not identified. Read more. [Vancouver Sun]

☀️ Patio season is right around the corner, and council has approved changes to make it easier to open patios (thank goodness) by dropping permit renewals by 50 per cent, waiving fees for private small patios, and simplifying applications. Here’s to more summer fun! Read more. [COV] 

🅿️ Expect to start paying for parking, like right now, at Hillcrest, Kerrisdale and Trout Lake community centres. To be clear, the first three hours are still free, with a $3.50 per hour charge beyond that. Read more. [Vancouver is Awesome]

🛩️ Flights to Puerto Vallarta have resumed after the flare of violence over the weekend. That will likely be more useful for Vancouverites leaving the Mexican city than anyone going there, as fighting between the drug cartels and the Mexican military continues. Read more. [CTV]

🚍 It’s becoming more common to see vandalized bus shelters in Metro Vancouver, perhaps with pebbled glass still covering the ground and caution tape strung up across the frame. Officials say they’ll look to use alternative materials to reduce vandalism on current bus shelters, which feature large panes of glass. Read more. [Global]

HOME OF THE WEEK

In the past, buying a one-bedroom for under $500,000 was a challenge. But with housing prices falling, you can now find some deals (by Vancouver standards at least). 

So how does this one stack up? This one-bedroom is in a great spot near Commercial Drive, with in-suite laundry, a fireplace, and a balcony, along with a parking spot. It also has low strata fees, which are better than the alternative.

So how much under $500,000 is it? You’ll have to check it out…

VANCOUVER ARTS GUIDE

Performance

Hamlet, Prince of Darkness reimagines the classic play through dance. On from March 19-21 at the Vancouver Playhouse.

Nunsense is a hilarious musical about five nuns who are forced to deal with a financial disaster after a bad cooking experience. It’s on at Metro Theatre from Feb. 27-Mar. 21

Art

Tupananchiskama: Ancient Andean Cosmovision at the Museum of Anthropology excavates the ancient Andean civilization, with over 100 works of pre-Columbian art that go back as far as 2,500 years. This show opens on March 19.

We who have known tides at the Vancouver Art Gallery, on until Apr. 6, is an exploration of how living next to the Pacific Ocean has shaped Indigenous artists, with works from the gallery’s permanent collection. 

Music

For those who love folk music, you don’t want to miss the House of Folk: A Lost Canadian Folk Show, exploring folk music from the 1960s. On until March 8 at the Firehall Arts Centre.

Omar Sosa & Seckou Keita SUBA Trio is an uplifting exploration of jazz from the diverse performers’ perspectives, including Afro-Caribbean and West African roots. Check it out on March 13 at the Chan Centre. 

Anyone who likes harp music will enjoy Matt Dupon’s performance on March 8 at 1 p.m. at the Roy Barnett Recital Hall.

Movies

The Vancouver Film Critics Circle named One Battle After Another as the best film of 2025. Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie also won best Canadian film (seriously, go see it, it’s getting rave reviews, even if it’s set in Toronto). [Vancouver Sun]

VIFF is featuring all of this year’s Oscar-nominated shorts. Other movies we’d recommend seeing are Never Rarely Sometimes Always, The Painted Life of E.J. Hughes, the haunting Mr. Nobody Against Putin and the Voice of Hind Rajab. 

Cinematheque is showing Magellan throughout March, about the Portuguese 16th-century explorer Ferdinand Magellan, to interrogate European imperialism. It’s also beautifully shot. 

Want to see your event here? Submit them to our event calendar. 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Can Vancouver’s progressive parties unify?

After at least six months of private negotiations, the debate amongst Vancouver’s left-leaning political parties on unity talks is now being done in public. 

As we reported in December, OneCity, the Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE), and the Green Party of Vancouver have been in discussions since last fall to agree on strategies to avoid vote splitting and give the three parties the best chance of electing a progressive majority in the October 2026 municipal election. 

Earlier this week, William Azaroff, OneCity’s newly elected candidate for mayor, held a press conference to announce a “progressive primary,” proposing a formal election process to select one left-leaning candidate for mayor. But representatives for COPE and the Greens were unaware of the proposal until it was announced by Azaroff. 

Read the story

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• This is one of the best dim sum places in Vancouver and it’s not even close. [Vancity Lookout]

• Ever wondered what a $10 million Vancouver condo looks like? Here you go. [Daily Hive]

• St. Lawrence’s Cabane à Sucre is a unique food experience in Vancouver — but it’s missing one thing. [Vancity Lookout]

• A popular Taiwanese tea chain is shutting two places in Metro Vancouver. [Vancouver is Awesome]

• While not techncailly in Vancouver, you can pop over to our neighbour city for the Bite of Burnaby, on from March 1-31

• Want to have your announcement featured? Learn how here.

GAME TIME

PHOTO OF THE DAY

It was shocking to see how many people lined up at Container Brewing before 5 a.m. this weekend to get a seat and watch the men’s gold medal hockey game. While the result was disappointing, it was a reminder of the community and joy that sports can foster. 🥈