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Vancouver’s civic byelection candidates are pledging to take council to task for its failure to effectively solve the city’s housing crisis.

Nine people are competing for a seat in council chambers vacated over the summer by Vision Vancouver’s Geoff Meggs, who took a job with Premier John Horgan as chief of staff.

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Thursday at Simon Fraser University’s Vancouver campus, seven candidates spoke at a public forum where they pitched their platforms and answered questions from 60 voters about government spending, protecting small businesses and addressing the dearth of affordable housing. Vision’s Diego Cardona and independent Joshua Wasilenkoff did not attend.

Most questions led to discussions about housing, with each candidate promising to disrupt the status quo at city hall should they be elected Oct. 14.

Independent Jean Swanson, a longtime advocate for the homeless, reiterated her proposal for a “mansion tax” on homes assessed at $5 million or more, pledging to use $174 million in annual proceeds to house the homeless, build co-op and social housing and return land to First Nations. She used as an example Chip Wilson, who last year paid $194,920 in property tax on what is Vancouver’s most valuable home. Under her scheme Wilson would pay $1.56 million in property tax based on last year’s assessment.