“It’s only after we begin to see a street as our street, a public park as our park, a school as our school, that we can become engaged citizens.”

Matthew Desmond, Evicted, 2016.

View the most up to date trailer for the film below:

A SHORT SYNOPSIS of THE FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
If you heard me talk recently with Stephen Quinn on CBC RADIO’s Early Edition and want to know more about the release date of my feature documentary Champions of Little Mountain/FORGETTING LITTLE MOUNTAIN follow me on facebook and twitter!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.vaisbord

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If you want to be placed on my MAILING LIST for updates on the funding campaign please send your request to my email: vaisbord@gmail.com

Just say:  Add me to the Champions Mailing List!

David Vaisbord
___________
Champions of Little Mountain now FORGETTING LITTLE MOUNTAIN

Begun in 2008 and in continuous evolution and production since that time, The Little Mountain Project is a multi-platform hyperlocal documentary project. It is both a continuously updated website that provides independent information about the redevelopment of the Little Mountain Housing Project, and a place where you can gain insight into the progress of the feature documentary film Champions of Little Mountain. Newly titled: “FORGETTING LITTLE MOUNTAIN” (2023)

FORGETTING LITTLE MOUNTAIN is currently in post production. Twelve years in the making, it requires post production funding to complete.

The Little Mountain Housing Project was built in 1954 and was Vancouver’s oldest and most successful social housing complex.

Then…

In 2006 the Canadian Government divested its Public Housing properties to the provinces.

Then…

In 2007, the BC government embarked on an aggressive plan to demolish its newly acquired public housing properties, and sell the lands to private developers.  Little Mountain was to be the first of many to be redeveloped. They argued that it was best to build high density market housing on the property and retain a small portion of the land to be retained as Public/Social Housing (the same number of units as was originally built at Little Mountain. Working on behalf of the BC government, BC Housing claimed that profits from the sale would be spread across the province to other communities suffering similar housing crises, and would be used in Vancouver, to fund the construction of new “Social Housing” in Vancouver, aimed at alleviating homelessness based on mental health and drug addiction issues.

It’s very important to understand that there was to be no new funding available for the construction of additional Public/Social Housing in Vancouver — the kind of housing that Little Mountain represented. The definitions of Public Housing and Social Housing have been blurred over the past decade to the advantage of the B.C. government, and both forms of housing are hugely important to the future of this city. When the Minister of Housing, Rich Coleman stated that they were building new Social Housing for occupants of the Downtown East Side, they were in fact rebuilding “Supportive Housing.” Supportive housing a form of housing defined by mental health professionals as housing that contains the supports necessary for individuals who require professional help for substance addiction or other psychological disorders associated with poverty and homelessness. The homeless in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side need supportive housing.  The plan therefore, was to use dollars generated through the destruction of low-income Public/Social Housing in order to rebuild the mental health infrastructure of British Columbia. 

Many of the tenants with strong support of the surrounding neighbourhood, argued that in a city facing a housing crisis this was a policy headed for disaster.  They protested the demolition of their well established community at many well organized events from 2007 to 2009. They protested that the plan was wrong because the government had no plan in place for the redevelopment of their community; that precious social housing should be preserved until the developer was ready to build; that (although they were not against higher density) a much higher portion of the property should be reserved for low income housing; and that the tenants should be meaningfully consulted about the future of their community.

Relentlessly, BC Housing drew Little Mountain’s families into their on-site Relocation Office and had them sign their exit contracts with the (unwritten) promise that they would return to new Public Housing by 2010. Most of them assumed that their new lodgings were temporary and therefore were ready to accept the short term loss of their friends, neighbours, and social connections which were so essential to the well being of their families – their social capital.

Social Capital is a common term used by civic planners and housing policy-makers to describe how communities are interconnected. Social capital is essential to low income communities which have an economy of sharing and caring for one another.  This has a value in terms of the social services that they provide free of charge to one another. The occupants of the Little Mountain Housing Project did not realize however, that the BC Government had no real interest in the redevelopment of Little Mountain. Their interest was focussed on what they were planning to do with the money from the sale of the land.

By the end of 2009 BC Housing’s Relocation Office had almost relocated everyone, and as Vancouver’s largest and oldest social housing complex was flattened into rubble, the silhouette of one building remained. In that last building were the last three families who had pushed back: an elderly mother and her adult daughter; an aged blind couple, and a middle-aged woman and her cat. In the court of public opinion, they had swayed City Council, successfully challenged BC Housing’s relocation tactics and won the right to remain in their homes until new Public Housing was built.

FORGETTING LITTLE MOUNTAIN tells their story and that of the community who stood beside them and helped them make their case. But there was more to come.

By the end of 2012, a short hiatus was over, and hostilities resumed. BC Housing struck once again at the remaining tenants. Claiming that “groundwater testing” and the imminent start of new construction necessitated the demolition of the last building, they proceeded to serve eviction notices to the last tenants. Once again the community mobilized around them. As the eviction date loomed, I recorded the human drama that took place within the homes of tenants facing eviction.  A series of screenings of short unfinished films, hastily edited together from my years of filmmaking at Little Mountain served to focus public attention on the crisis, and generated significant press coverage.

In October of 2012, I presented to Vancouver City Councillors, a five minute excerpt from the Little Mountain Project titled “The Eviction of Sammy and Joan”. This was one piece in the campaign to beat the evictions. The campaign included the Renters Union and their many volunteers, many former Vancouver civic planners and educators who were ready to speak out at a public rally, and David Chudnovsky, a tireless advocate who argued on behalf of the tenants at their official hearing.

And in the end the rally was cancelled because the tenants had won their final victory to be heard and respected.

THESE CHAMPIONS CHANGED HOUSING POLICY: Municipal bylaws came into existence in order to put a halt to premature demolition of Vancouver’s existing Public Housing assets.  This bylaw protected the community at Heather Place – which is currently undergoing phased redevelopment – from destruction.  In terms of civic planning, the bylaw was neither new nor innovative, but brought Vancouver’s planning department up to par with other cities which have protections for their low income communities.  The experience at Little Mountain demostrated that planning must take into account the needs of the communities that exists in place, and protect their democratic and human rights. Though far from perfect, the redevelopment at Heather Place has at least ensured phased development of the project.

The city and provincial goverment fast-tracked the construction of one new building at Little Mountain: a four story building containing 54 units of Public Housing for senior citizens on the site, years ahead of any significant movement by the developer to build any other new housing.  And although it’s a truism it bears repeating that we have no rights unless we fight for them, here as in anywhere else in the world.

But the victory was bitter sweet.  The battles with BC Housing took their toll on the health of the blind couple, Sim (Sammy) and Joan Chang, the oldest tenants at Little Mountain. I watched their health deteriorate throughout the following two years. I recorded their life stories for the documentary, before they passed away.  Of the other two champions still living at Little Mountain.  Ingrid Steenhuisen moved into the new building, and Karin Nicholetti moved away.

I continue to work on the feature documentary. I shot the ribbon cutting of one new building in March of 2015.  Vancouver City Council approved the developer’s rezoning application in July of 2016. I joined my Little Mountain Advocates, Calm and RPSC in the creation of the celebration of The Rich Coleman Vacant Lot in 2017.

Advocates continued to keep the story alive and in 2018 created takebackthemountain.com (#takebackthemountain) and launched a series of court challenges over several years, to uncover the secret deal between the Province of BC and the Holborn Properties.

In August of 2021 the land holder’s legal team gave up the fight, and the contract was revealed. David Chudnovsky was one of the advocates who spearheaded the legal challenge. He officially announced the news at a press conference on August 31, 2021.

In 2023 I changed the name of the media project to FORGETTING LITTLE MOUNTAIN. FORGETTING LITTLE MOUNTAIN will end with the revelation of that “sweetheart deal,” and the political consequences that ensue.

The ultimate goal has been to “take back” Little Mountain for the purpose of building social and affordable housing for the people of Vancouver. That may not ever happen. The developer for certain would like us to forget about the Little Mountain Housing Project and focus on the “Great Story” that he’s writing for the future of the site. Our previous government was in favour of that story, and our new government seems not very much interested in making things right for the former tenants. It seems clear that continued advocacy and protest will be necessary to bring social justice to the former tenants.

For information go to: https://littlemountainproject.com/the-contract-is-public-information/

David Vaisbord
FORGETTING LITTLE MOUNTAIN
vaisbord@gmail.com

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2023

 

What is a Hyperlocal Documentary?

For more about The Hyperlocal Documentary click this link.

Other voices

The RPSC and CALM (Community Advocates for Little Mountain)  fought for a community-based vision since the beginning. Read this article from The Mainlander, and Tommy Thomson’s definitive MA thesis on Little Mountain, The life and death of the Little Mountain Housing Project.

“Follow me”

The link at the top-right of this web-page does not automatically keep you updated of new postings – though it should (don’t ask me why it doesn’t) You need to set up RSS on your own computer. It’s very easy, so click on this link for a YouTube video about it.

NOTE: This project has NO AFFILIATION WHATSOEVER with the  City of Vancouver Planning Department or The Holborn Group, the developer of the property, or the Government of British Columbia/BC Housing. Please be aware that the project that calls itself The Little Mountain Project Newsletter, is a publicity arm of The Holborn Group.