---
title: "Colleen Hardwick says all 259 rezoning applications approved during her council term"
description: "The TEAM mayoral candidate told the Vancouver Sun that city staff shifted from community-based planning to prioritizing the volume of rezoning approvals."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/news/colleen-hardwick-rezoning-interview-october-2"
last_updated: "2026-10-10T04:01:14.492Z"
---

Colleen Hardwick told the Vancouver Sun on October 2, 2026 that every rezoning application considered by Vancouver city council during her 2018-to-2022 term was approved.

In a video interview with broadcaster Stuart McNish for the Conversations That Matter series, published by the Vancouver Sun, Hardwick said the shift she observed at city hall was a move away from community-based planning and toward measuring staff success by the number of rezoning applications processed. "When I was on council in the 2018 to 2022 period, there were 259 rezoning applications. Do you know how many were approved? 100 per cent," she told the Sun.

## Real estate and economic planning

Hardwick told the Sun that Vancouver has concentrated too much of its economic activity in real estate. She described a pattern in which developers committed to one type of project, then changed course when profit margins fell. "When the market took a downturn, we've seen a bunch of bait and switch has happened. We can't make money at luxury condos. Now we're going to do rental buildings... the latest one is we're not making money at rental. We're going to switch to hotels," she said.

She said the city needs to focus on what she called economic infrastructure alongside roads, schools and community centres, arguing that the city and the region have not been planning these in balance. She said her goal as mayor would be to develop housing and the full range of city services together, rather than in response to market cycles alone.

## Drug policy and the Downtown Eastside

Hardwick told the Sun that harm reduction has crowded out enforcement and prevention in the city's approach to addiction, and that concentrating people with complex needs in a single area makes conditions worse. She described her memory of 1985, when she said the closing Riverview psychiatric hospital sent residents to the Downtown Eastside, and said the same pattern of centralization continues.

She said the city needs a more distributed approach rather than continuing to concentrate services in one area. She drew a comparison: placing someone trying to stop a harmful habit in a setting where that habit is constantly available does not help them stop. The Vancouver Sun reported these as her own views from the interview.

## What voters can do

[Colleen Hardwick's candidate page](/candidates/colleen-hardwick) has her full profile and party details. Voters choosing between the major mayoral candidates can compare all profiles at voche.me. The election takes place on October 17, 2026. Advance voting is open now, and the [where-to-vote page](/where-to-vote) has locations and hours.

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](/sitemap.md) for all pages.