VANCOUVER— There is no subject more hotly debated in Vancouver than housing, and there’s a place on Twitter for people who are deeply obsessed with all things real estate: it’s called #vanre.

Now, a social media debate that has raged for years between “supply-siders” and “demand-siders” has spilled over into the real-life arena of city politics during an election year.

Raza Mirza and Justin Fung, two members of a group called HALT (Housing Action for Local Taxpayers), have launched separate conflict of interest complaints against Hector Bremner, a city councillor with the Non-Partisan Association who was elected in an October byelection and now hopes to seek his party’s mayoral candidacy.

HALT advocates believe foreign buyers have played a major role in boosting property prices and advocates for policies to reduce real estate speculation.

Bremner happens to be interested in ideas put forward by another group called Abundant Housing Vancouver. It argues that single-family zoning needs to be opened up to allow multi-family housing. Back in the fall of 2017, Bremner attended an Abundant Housing walking tour of Vancouver’s affluent Point Grey neighbourhood, where multi-million dollar homes sit on large lots.

In December, Bremner introduced a motion to rezone Point Grey to allow apartment buildings.

Bremner has said that the conflict of interest complaints are baseless and “being brought up by political people for political reasons.” In an email to StarMetro, he added: “It’s no secret that the complaints against me have been made by political opponents who do not want me nominated as the NPA Mayoral candidate. The plan has been to throw dirt and see what sticks.”

Fung said it’s true that he does not want Bremner to become mayor. He and Mirza are both members of the NPA, and they are backing another NPA candidate, Glen Chernen, instead. (The NPA confirmed both men are active members of the party.) Chernen previously sued Mayor Gregor Robertson, claiming the mayor was in conflict of interest over a city-owned building leased to HootSuite, a local tech company. Chernen’s suit was dismissed.

Fung said he and Mirza did not co-ordinate their complaints. Both of the complaints centre around Bremner’s ongoing work as vice-president of PACE Group, a public relations and lobbying firm.

Mirza is complaining that Bremner voted on several land-use plans that Mirza alleges could benefit two large developers who are clients of PACE. Fung claims Bremner should have recused himself from a March 2017 vote on liquor bylaws because in 2015 he spoke to the City of Maple Ridge about a liquor policy on behalf of the B.C. Wine Institute and Overwaitea Foods in 2015.

Fung said the two complaints have nothing to do with Bremner’s interest in Abundant Housing’s policy ideas. But Fung is concerned about what he believes is Bremner’s close association with real estate developers.

“I think there are some candidates that can’t be bought by property developers, that do have citizens’ best interests in mind and I’m more confident in them than in Mr. Bremner,” he said.

Other members of HALT have become members of Vision Vancouver and the Green Party in hopes of being part of those candidate nomination processes as well, Fung said.

Daniel Oleksiuk, a member of Abundant Housing Vancouver, said his group doesn’t have any formal association with Bremner. Although two members of the group, Scott de Lange Boom and Adrian Crook, are now seeking NPA nominations, Oleksiuk said the members of the group have various political leanings.

He added that while Abundant Housing focuses on opening up single-family zoning to allow multi-family buildings, the organization is “on record” as supporting higher property taxes, a demand-side measure.

The social media animosity between HALT and Abundant Housing has at times been vicious. But Oleksiuk and Fung — who regularly accuse each other of lying and trolling on Twitter — both say that if the debate is heated at times, it’s because people in Vancouver are passionate about the issue.

“I think people are upset,” Oleksiuk said. “People have seen their future get harder, their presents get harder, some people have gotten very rich, other people are struggling.”

Correction- May 2, 2018: This article was edited from a previous version that misspelled Adrian Crook’s surname. As well, Glen Chernen’s surname was misspelled in one reference.

Jen St. Denis is a Vancouver-based reporter covering affordability and city hall. Follow her on Twitter: @jenstden

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