Edge Rewrite
everything Source code View original
// HTMLRewriter · presentation

This page was redesigned at the edge.

Cloudflare fetched the original article and streamed it through HTMLRewriter to apply an entirely new visual system without rebuilding the source page.

// request.cf · coarse context

A page that knows where it met you.

Only coarse request metadata is shown. This demo does not display or persist visitor IP addresses.

Country
US
Cloudflare location
CMH
Connection
HTTP/2
Language
Not provided

Ray ID: a231eb04898ef4d4

Jump to content

// Workers AI · dad joke modeWho's Jean to everyone? A swan son.

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jean Swanson
CM
Swanson in 2012
Vancouver City Councillor
In office
November 5, 2018[1] – November 7, 2022
Personal details
Born1942 or 1943 (age 83–84)[2]
PartyCOPE
Occupation
  • Activist
  • writer
Awards
Order of Canada

Jean Swanson CM (born 1942 or 1943)[2] is a Canadian politician, anti-poverty activist, and writer in Vancouver, British Columbia. She represented the left-wing Coalition of Progressive Electors on Vancouver City Council as one of Vancouver's 10 at-large city councillors from 2018 to 2022.[1]

Activism

[edit]

In the 1980s, Swanson worked with the BC Solidarity Coalition, as well as Vancouver's Downtown Eastside Residents Association (DERA).[3]

Swanson is the coordinator of the Carnegie Housing Project, and formerly coordinator of the Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP), an organization dedicated to the welfare of the Downtown Eastside, one of Canada's poorest neighbourhoods.[4][5] Swanson also founded and works with the group End Legislated Poverty, a British Columbia coalition with stated aims to "educate and organize in order to make governments reduce and end poverty".[6][3] She was national chair of the National Anti-Poverty Organization (NAPO).[7] She authored Poor Bashing: The Politics of Exclusion.

Vancouver City Council

[edit]

During Swanson's time on Vancouver City Council, she consistently voted for social housing while opposing market-rate housing developments.[8]

In 2017, during her campaign for Vancouver City Council, she called for a rent freeze.[9] She said that she would not support the construction of market-rate housing, as she believed it would cause gentrification and increase rents.[10] In 2019, she voted against allowing a 5-storey apartment building (where one-fifth of the units were below market rates) in Kitsilano, a 35-storey building in Woodland, and 79 rental units in the Hastings-Sunrise neighbourhood, arguing they would gentrify the neighbourhood and displace residents.[11][12][13] That year, she also voted against allowing the conversion of a single-family lot into 21 townhomes, arguing that the rents would be too high and that only the landlord would benefit.[14]

In 2022, she voted against a 39-storey building (with one-fifth of the units set aside for below market rate rents), arguing that the building would lead to increases in rents in nearby buildings.[15]

In 2021, she voted in favour of allowing 12-storey apartment buildings of social housing without a rezoning application.[16]

In 2022, she voted against a major rezoning plan for the Broadway corridor that permitted 40-storey mixed-use developments near SkyTrain stations, as well as the replacement of older, small 10-unit buildings with 15- to 20-storey buildings. She argued that this was not the "housing we need for the working class".[17] During the debates on rezoning, she asked "If people are driving into Vancouver for jobs, wouldn't it be better to increase the jobs elsewhere outside of Vancouver so people don't have to drive so far?"[18]

Awards and recognition

[edit]

In 2016, she was inducted into the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honour, with the grade of member.[19] Swanson was also the recipient of the 2007 Carleton University Kroeger College Award for Citizenship and Community Affairs, an award recognizing "creativity, persistence, and overall leadership in demonstrating the value of a locally based initiative."[3] Swanson was chosen for the award "for her tireless work against poverty in Canada. (She) is a private individual living in Vancouver who the jury concluded best represented the qualities of commitment, leadership, and community ties."[3]

In 2021, she was the subject of Teresa Alfeld's short documentary film Jean Swanson: We Need a New Map.[20]

Electoral record

[edit]
2018 Vancouver municipal election: City Council
Party Candidate Votes%Elected
Green(I) Adriane Carr69,73939.52Green tickY
GreenPete Fry61,80635.03Green tickY
NPA(I) Melissa De Genova53,25130.18Green tickY
COPEJean Swanson48,86527.69Green tickY
NPAColleen Hardwick47,74727.06Green tickY
Green(O) Michael Wiebe45,59325.84Green tickY
OneCityChristine Boyle45,45525.76Green tickY
NPA(O) Lisa Dominato44,68925.33Green tickY
NPARebecca Bligh44,05324.97Green tickY
NPA(O) Sarah Kirby-Yung43,58124.70Green tickY
NPADavid Grewal41,91323.75
GreenDavid H. Wong40,88723.17
Vision(I) Heather Deal39,52922.40
COPEDerrick O'Keefe38,30521.71
NPAJustin P. Goodrich37,91721.49
COPEAnne Roberts36,53120.70
OneCityBrandon O. Yan36,16720.50
NPAJojo Quimpo34,60119.61
IndependentSarah Blyth29,45616.69
VisionTanya Paz28,83616.34
VisionDiego Cardona27,32515.49
Vision(O) Catherine Evans25,12414.24
Independent(O) Erin Shum23,33113.22
Vancouver 1stKen Low21,90812.42
IndependentAdrian Crook17,3929.86
VisionWei Q. Zhang16,7349.48
Coalition VancouverKen Charko16,3669.28
Coalition VancouverJames Lin16,1919.18
IndependentWade Grant15,4228.74
IndependentTaqdir K. Bhandal15,3268.69
Vancouver 1stElizabeth Taylor15,1848.61
Coalition VancouverPenny Mussio14,8868.44
Yes VancouverBrinder Bains13,9487.90
Yes VancouverStephanie Ostler13,5307.67
Coalition VancouverJason Xie13,4247.61
Yes VancouverGlynnis C. Chan13,2187.49
Coalition VancouverGlen Chernen13,1487.45
Coalition VancouverMorning Li12,6147.15
Vancouver 1stNycki K. Basra12,1336.88
Yes VancouverJaspreet Virdi12,1246.87
Coalition VancouverFranco Peta11,1936.34
Yes VancouverPhyllis Tang11,9026.75
IndependentRob McDowell11,8286.70
IndependentPenny Noble11,4356.48
IndependentGraham Cook11,0846.28
Vancouver 1stMichelle C. Mollineaux8,8195.00
ProVancouverRaza Mirza8,7834.98
Vancouver 1stJesse Johl8,6094.88
IndependentBarbara Buchanan8,1804.64
ProVancouverBreton Crellin7,8564.45
Vancouver 1stElishia Perosa7,4894.24
IndependentAnastasia Koutalianos7,4694.23
IndependentAbubakar Khan7,2394.10
Vancouver 1stJohn Malusa6,5973.74
IndependentLisa Kristiansen6,5063.69
ProVancouverRohana D. Rezel6,3363.59
IndependentFrançoise Raunet5,8913.34
IndependentHamdy El-Rayes5,3813.05
IndependentHsin-Chen Fu5,0072.84
IndependentJustin Caudwell4,4882.54
IndependentHarry Miedzygorski4,3082.44
IndependentGordon T. Kennedy4,2972.44
IndependentAshley Hughes3,9652.25
IndependentKelly Alm3,4401.95
IndependentMarlo Franson3,3161.88
IndependentJohn Spark3,2871.86
IndependentKatherine Ramdeen3,0821.75
IndependentSpike Peachey2,8631.62
IndependentLarry J. Falls2,7681.57
IndependentElke Porter2,5151.43
IndependentTed Copeland1,9461.10
'(I)' denotes incumbent city councillors.
'(O)' denotes incumbents of other municipal positions.
Vancouver municipal by-election, October 14, 2017: City Council
Resignation of Geoff Meggs
Party Candidate Votes%Elected
NPAHector Bremner13,37227.83Green tickY
COPEJean Swanson10,26321.36
GreenPete Fry975920.31
OneCityJudy Graves632713.17
VisionDiego Cardona541111.26
Sensible VancouverMary Jean Dunsdon17373.62
IndependentGary Lee8861.84
IndependentDamian J. Murphy1570.33
IndependentJoshua Wasilenkoff1310.27
NPA gain from Vision Swing –
1988 Vancouver mayoral election[21] Vote %
Gordon Campbell (NPA)75,54562.58
Jean Swanson (COPE / NDP)45,17837.42

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 Fumano, Dan (November 6, 2018). "Collegiality reigns as Vancouver's new council starts work". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  2. 1 2 Campbell, Chris (June 30, 2018). "Order of Canada recipient arrested at Burnaby pipeline protest". Burnaby Now. Archived from the original on July 1, 2018. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "News Release: Carleton University's Kroeger College Announces 2007 Winners of the Arthur Kroeger Awards", March 28, 2007, quoted at [permanent dead link]
  4. ↑ Swanson, Jean. Downtown Eastside Seeks Foreign Aid, The Tyee Magazine, October 18, 2007
  5. ↑ Swanson, Jean. Why poverty is worse than it was 30 years ago, Canadian Dimension Magazine, February 21, 2006
  6. ↑ "End Legislated Poverty homepage". Archived from the original on May 12, 2008. Retrieved April 20, 2008.
  7. ↑ Thobani, Sunera. Exalted Subjects: Studies in the Making of Race and Nation in Canada, University of Toronto Press, 2007, ISBN 0-8020-9454-6
  8. ↑ Ward, Doug (January 12, 2021). "Inside Vancouver City Hall's Housing Wars". The Tyee. Retrieved April 16, 2026.
  9. ↑ McElroy, Justin (September 14, 2017). "Where candidates for Vancouver city council stand on affordable housing". CBC. Retrieved April 16, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Why a city councillor won't support 'gentrifying' projects amid Vancouver housing crisis". CityNews. September 13, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2026.
  11. ↑ McElroy, Justin (December 18, 2019). "5-storey rental apartment approved for Kitsilano". CBC. Retrieved April 16, 2026.
  12. ↑ McElroy, Justin (September 18, 2019). "Vancouver approves more market rental housing after contentious public hearing". CBC. Retrieved April 16, 2026.
  13. ↑ Chan, Kenneth (January 20, 2019). "Vancouver City Council approves two new buildings with 79 rental homes". Daily Hive. Archived from the original on January 23, 2019.
  14. ↑ "Vancouver council rejects townhouse development next door to hospice". CBC. January 26, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2026.
  15. ↑ "Vancouver approves 39-storey tower for corner of Broadway and Granville Street". CBC. April 27, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2026.
  16. ↑ "Vancouver rejects councillor's proposal to fast track future social housing towers". CBC. May 26, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2026.
  17. ↑ McElroy, Justin; Lindsay, Bethany (July 22, 2022). "Vancouver city council approves Broadway Plan after long debate". CBC. Retrieved April 16, 2026.
  18. ↑ Chan, Kenneth (May 18, 2022). "Vancouver City Councillor Jean Swanson suggests pushing jobs out of city". Daily Hive. Retrieved April 16, 2026.
  19. ↑ "Olympians, jurists, researchers among 113 new appointments to Order of Canada". CBC. June 30, 2016. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  20. ↑ Smith, Charlie (September 23, 2021). "Five Canadian films to watch in VIFF Short Forum". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved April 16, 2026.
  21. ↑ Lee, Jeff (November 21, 1988). "Wilking the only new face". Vancouver Sun. p. 4. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Swanson&oldid=1349397219"