Colleen Hardwick (born September 17, 1958) is a Canadian politician, media executive and producer in Vancouver, British Columbia, who served on Vancouver City Council from 2018 to 2022. Hardwick is the daughter of former Vancouver alderman Walter Hardwick and the granddaughter of former Vancouver park commissioner Iris Hardwick.
Early career
Hardwick starter her career in production in the TV and movie industry. She eventually founded a Vancouver-based production company called New City Productions.
Hardwick developed MovieSet Inc., a platform to monetize movies under production. The company raised Series A venture capital, but ceased operations in 2011 following the financial crisis.
In 2010, she founded PlaceSpeak, a location-based civic engagement platform designed to consult with people within specific geographic boundaries.Sinoski, Kelly. “New online survey bridges virtual gaps” The Vancouver Sun 26 October 2012, page 5 PlaceSpeak received B Corporation certification in 2021.
Political career
Hardwick announced her candidacy for Vancouver City Council in the summer of 2005. She campaigned with the Non-Partisan Association (NPA) against a proposal to use assets from Vancouver's Property Endowment fund to build housing that would not yield a return on the investment, claiming her Vision Vancouver opponents "don't even understand how market housing works."Bula, Frances. “Southeast False Creek: Pie in sky or timely idea?” The Vancouver Sun 15 November 2005, page 5 Hardwick was endorsed by Vancouver Sun’s editorial board ahead of the November election.”Vancouver's challenges need cautious custodians” The Vancouver Sun 18 November 2005, page 18 With ten councillors to be elected, she placed thirteenth.The Province 20 November 2005, page19
In 2018, again running under the NPA banner, Hardwick came fifth and was elected to the council. On a council with no party majority, she frequently questioned some of the initiatives and policies brought forth, and regularly voiced concerns about what she calls "scope-creep" where the municipal government dedicates resources to issues traditionally in the realm of other levels of government.Fumano, Dan. “A councillor's quiet protest” The Vancouver Sun 4 July 2019, page 1
Hardwick was elected as a member of the NPA but resigned from that organization in April 2021 to sit as an independent councillor. Five months later, Hardwick announced her affiliation with a new civic party, TEAM for a Livable Vancouver, and on March 13, 2022 was acclaimed as TEAM's mayoral candidate for the 2022 municipal election. Hardwick came in third in the mayoral race with 9.97% of the vote.
While on council, Hardwick sought the establishment of an independent auditor general for Vancouver.
Stances on housing and upzoning Hardwick opposes upzoning to increase land inflation. She has argued that upzonings and greater density have greatly exacerbated Vancouver's housing affordability crisis, and that increasing revenue through boosted housing supply is akin to a Ponzi scheme.
In 2019, Hardwick voted against allowing construction of a 5-storey apartment building in Kitsilano, citing concerns raised by the neighbors of the proposed building.
In 2020, Hardwick launched a public consultation initiative involving meetings in Vancouver neighbourhoods about accommodating growth. The project could not be completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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 15-20 storey buildings. She argued the added housing supply would lead to increased house prices. During her 2022 election campaign, she campaigned on spending $500 million toward building co-op housing and on creating neighbourhood-specific zoning plans.
In 2023, Hardwick opposed proposals to allow for denser housing developments (such as sixplexes) in Vancouver as unnecessary, saying that "Vancouver already has the possibility for more housing under existing policies," under which almost every lot in the city is already eligible to have a main house, a basement suite and a laneway house on it.
In 2022, as a city councillor during a re-zoning hearing for a 12-tower housing project by MST Development Corporation (a partnership of the Musqueam Indian Band, Squamish Nation and Tsleil-Waututh Nation) on land owned by it and Canada Lands Company (a federal crown corporation), Hardwick asked the question "How do you reconcile Indigenous ways of being with 18-storey high-rises?" Hardwick voted in favour of the re-zoning, commenting, "It is moving forward in the exact right direction that reconciliation was intended to be."
Electoral record
Personal life Hardwick has been married to her husband Garry Chalk since September 2013.
References
External Links IMDB Profile