Lawyer/Housing Activist David Eby to Run for City Council After All

In February David Eby rejected a run for a city council nomination for personal reasons.

But Thursday the well-known housing advocate and lawyer announced he had changed his mind and is seeking a council nomination from Vision Vancouver.

Announcing his intentions Thursday morning in front of the Carnegie Community Centre at Main and Hastings, Eby, a lawyer with Pivot Legal Society, said a sense of urgency on homelessness, the loss of rental housing and the city's move to fund private security throughout Vancouver changed his mind.

He said the decisive turning point came in May. The city's NPA councillors voted against a motion forwarded by Vision Coun. Tim Stevenson asking staff to explore the feasibility of sending a planner once a month to the Carnegie to update community members on the developments planned for their neighbourhood and receive their input.

Eby believes this decision reflects a disconnect between NPA councillors and the broader community. "And it started almost from day one with the citizen committees [being reviewed and dissolved] and it continued right up until what I would call the smallest ask possible, that the community in the Downtown Eastside be involved in what's happening to this neighbourhood."

Eby won't be the spokesperson for Pivot Legal Society during the nomination run and he'll take a leave from the organization if he succeeds in winning a Vision nomination and a municipal seat.

Pivot co-founder John Richardson is poised to fill Eby's shoes for policing and security, and a newly hired lawyer, Laura Track, will work on housing.

Eby, 31, said COPE also asked him to run. "I chose Vision because when it comes right down to it, I was interested in electability," he said. "Vision is a big tent, they have a lot of people, they have appeal across the city and I think that's really important for the solutions we're going to need."

He remains hopeful that COPE and Vision will reach an agreement going into the election. While Eby said many from the community encouraged him to run, others discouraged him from doing so. They'd rather have him working on the ground during the Olympics. "On balance, it worked out better for me to attempt to be on city council," he said.

During his time at Pivot, Eby has been a significant voice arguing on behalf of tenants who've been ousted from low-income hotel rooms. In 2007, he was invited to Geneva, Switzerland to make a presentation to the International Olympic Committee and UN Habitat. He also hosted the UN special rapporteur for housing during the rapporteur's first visit to Vancouver.

Vision's nomination meeting for city council is set for Sept. 20.