Western and Northern Canada had a unique political environment for 200 years. The Hudson’s Bay Company was the legal government according to King Charles II Charter. Parliament tried several times to overturn the Charter and open the vast territory to settlement but it failed. It was only in 1858 when the West Coast statutory grant expired and finally in 1870 with the purchase by Canada that settlement could proceed.

But during those intervening years, the collision of the industrializing great Britain with the hunter gatherer societies of Canada created the need for a new people that was an indigenous response to the changing needs. The ethnogenesis of this people often manifested with race people. HBC prevented its employees from becoming settlers by requiring them to return to Montreal after their contracts to get paid.

They developed new cultural norms like holding land individually and excelling in communications and technology. They developed hybrid languages like Michif and Chinook Jargon.

Métis people were a significant presence on the West Coast before the creation of British Columbia before 1858 and before the province joined confederation in 1871.

Kumtuks is a video blog that shares knowledge and explores new narratives especially related to British Columbia. Some quotes and descriptors have been adjusted for clarity and brevity. Please subscribe if you would like to be notified of new videos. If you would like to receive commentary and invitations and support more videos https://www.patreon.com/kumtuks

Sam Sullivan narrates this video. He is a Member of the Order of Canada, a former Mayor of Vancouver and Cabinet Minister responsible for Cities, Culture and Transit, a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia.

Gerald Sutton Brown, Chief Planner 1952-1973, represented the last of the British/London model of development in Vancouver, where development happens organically, incrementally and is resilient, responding quickly to market forces. Because of this, the price of housing remained stable despite rapid growth.

The West End, the Vancouver Special, high-rise residential on the industrial waterfront and the sprinkling of townhouses, mid-rise and high-rise buildings throughout low density areas are part of his legacy. He wanted high-density living only in the most liveable areas away from arterial streets. This is why the West End, the highest density neighbourhood in the city, has mostly one storey retail with no residential on busy thoroughfares.

He was born and raised in Jamaica and worked as an urban planner in England, rising to head planner of Lancashire, the second largest County in Britain after London, which contained cities like Manchester and Liverpool. He is credited with keeping UK cities functioning during the bombing of World War Two.

He was hired under Mayor Fred Hume, a descendant of Royal Engineers who had been sent to British Columbia to prevent a US takeover. He wanted to hire someone from the Commonwealth to reduce the influence of US planning which had been brought in by Harland Bartholomew. Bartholomew had introduced Zoning and Comprehensive Plans to prevent market forces from bringing density to detached house areas, politicize development by freezing neighbourhoods in place, segregating them by demographic categories.

The system of Comprehensive Plans for cities had been championed by the Soviet Union and had been introduced to Britain by the Labour Government shortly before Sutton Brown left. Sutton Brown developed a hybrid model called Discretionary Zoning which he described as “distinct from the United States and United Kingdom”. It harnessed the powers granted under the newly approved Vancouver Charter of 1953; his 3575 Zoning and Development Bylaw remains the foundation of the planning regime.

He created the Civic Design Panel of mostly architects to encourage good design. His Technical Planning Board had all senior department heads meeting every Friday so they could quickly approve new developments. Gerald Sutton Brown represented the British Civil Service tradition; he never defended himself from critics and never criticized others who came after him. He championed the establishment of the Planning Institute of BC becoming its first President and was asked to Chair regional planning initiatives that recommended bridges at Second Narrows, Annacis Island and Port Mann as well as the design of the Vancouver International Airport.

He was asked to Chair the committee for a freeway to link with the federal/provincial network although he had warned that a downtown freeway would be “a drastic measure for a drastic price”.

His reluctance to over-regulate led Vancouver to have the second highest density of neon signs in the world after Shanghai. He negotiated rights of way for waterfront walkways in Coal Harbour and English Bay and all around False Creek. He was constantly looking for new opportunities for housing to meet the growing demand to prevent a rise in prices.

He was working on converting industrial waterfront to high-rise residential on Coal Harbour, over the waterfront rail tracks downtown and on North False Creek when a new political party TEAM (The Electors Action Movement) took power and fired him. This move was criticized by City Councillors on the left and right and newspaper editorials.

The Province editorial headline was ‘A Guillotine Job’ and described him as “an outstanding civic official with nearly 21 years of brilliant service behind him” and “who is acknowledged by all who have seen him in action to be one of the most knowledgeable and intelligent decision makers in Vancouver’s civic history”. Sutton Brown refused to comment on his firing and refused to criticize the new Council that reversed many of his policies.

Kumtuks is a video blog that shares knowledge and explores new narratives. Some quotes and descriptors have been adjusted for clarity and brevity. Please subscribe if you would like to be notified of new videos. If you would like to receive additional commentary and notices and support more videos https://www.patreon.com/kumtuks.

Sam Sullivan is a Member of the Order of Canada, a former Mayor of Vancouver and Cabinet Minister responsible for Cities and Transit, a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia.

TEAM (The Electors Action Movement) was a political organization that won Vancouver City government in 1973. Just prior to the vote, the new NPA Mayoral candidate was caught up in a scandal causing the NPA vote to implode. Although the TEAM vote remained less than was historically required it was enough to elect a Mayor and 8 Councillors.

From 1952 to 1973, the most respected voice in City Hall was Gerald Sutton Brown, born and raised in Jamaica, responsible for Britain’s second largest city through World War II, he brought a British Commonwealth approach that was very different from US cities. His West End, Vancouver Special and high density residential on the industrial waterfront with public walkway does not have equivalents in the US. He ensured city development responded quickly to market forces so the price of housing remained affordable.

TEAM candidates were among the academic and managerial elite of the city and they brought about such a sea change in Vancouver history that we can consider we are still in the TEAM Era. Their first acts were to fire Sutton Brown and downzone the West End and they introduced processes to ensure there would be no more loss of single detached house neighbourhoods. They brought this approach to Metro Vancouver and rejected numerous reports from economists and the real estate industry warning this would lead to rising house prices and other dysfunctions. Today there are less people living in most residential neighbourhoods than in 1973, even while many of the smaller old houses were demolished and replaced with much larger ones.

TEAM brought new direction to Vancouver by supporting a federal Just Society LIP Grant for people living in low income SRO hotels around the downtown. The city helped incorporate a nonprofit political advocacy group called the Downtown Eastside Residents Association (DERA). This is the first time the Vancouver public heard the words Downtown Eastside. This area had been economically and socially healthy in the past and was experiencing revitalization. Instead government intervened in these natural processes and the area became the focus of government free housing and services. This countered Sutton Brown’s efforts to create healthy mixed communities in every area of the city. The Downtown Eastside is unique in Canada as other cities did not intervene as in Vancouver.

This video attempts to correct the mythology that has grown around TEAM and Gerald Sutton Brown over the last decades. Sutton Brown was a quintessential British civil servant who never defended himself against reputational attacks. One of the most enduring myths is that TEAM stopped the downtown freeway. In fact, TEAM proposed in May 1969 a freeway running through Downtown South and Yaletown and opposed the alternative of connecting the proposed freeway with the third crossing by a tunnel under Chinatown. Stopping a freeway was not in the TEAM 1970 or 1972 election platforms. There were many freeway proposals to take commuters off the residential streets of East Vancouver but the only serious one went through industrial lands and the Grandview Cut ending at the Georgia Viaduct.

Gerald Sutton Brown championed the conversion of industrial waterfront to high density residential with a public seawall walkway. He began this by opposing a pulp mill proposal which instead became the Bayshore Inn. He negotiated a seawall right-of-way along Coal Harbour to Stanley Park and began purchasing seaside land along Beach Avenue. His plans for False Creek show a waterfront walkway around the whole area. He was fired before his projects were built.

This is the fourth video in a series of four on the development history of Vancouver.

Here are the previous videos in the series:

Part 1: Streetcar City 1886-1928

Part 2: US City Harland Bartholomew 1928-1952

Part 3: Gerald Sutton Brown 1952-1973

Global Civic supports civic leadership in nonprofits, business or local government. It encourages a respect for British Columbia and its history. More info here: Kumtuks is a video blog that shares knowledge and explores new narratives. Some quotes and descriptors have been adjusted for clarity and brevity. Please subscribe if you would like to be notified of new videos. If you would like to receive commentary and invitations and support more videos https://www.patreon.com/kumtuks.

Sam Sullivan is a Member of the Order of Canada, a former Mayor of Vancouver and Cabinet Minister responsible for Cities and Transit, a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia.

The Colony of British Columbia was established in 1858 after 30,000 fortune seekers from the US crossed the 49th parallel and fought their way up the Fraser River against native resistance. Up until that time there had been no settlers, no military and no religious missions on the entire mainland of what is now British Columbia.

Unlike other parts of North and South America, First Nation communities and cultures remained intact because of the unusual governance structure in western and northern British North America.

The Hudson’s Bay Company was the legal government and they had a “no settlement policy” for employees who were obligated to return to Montreal every few years to get paid. According to the 1763 Proclamation of King George Third, First Nations were sovereign although the Company enforced the British anti-slavery laws and intervened to stop inter-tribal warfare.

The presence of US settlers had already resulted in a loss of territory below the 49th parallel. There was a real chance that with no British settlers the territory would be annexed. The Aborigines Protection Society was a politically powerful organization based in London. It was generally against colonies but it supported them in South Africa and British Columbia because they thought the alternative was worse for aboriginal people. They urged the British government to act.

Herman Merivale, a Professor at Oxford, was a fierce critic of British colonies and he was recruited head the Colonial Secretariat. He worked with the Minister Edward Lytton to implement best practices in establishing the Colony of British Columbia. A key part of this formula was to appoint a Governor who was not beholden to a Democratic legislature who was personally committed to creating adjust society for all.

James Douglas was part black, married to an aboriginal woman, he spoke the Chinook Jargon trade language and had already successfully opposed the legislature in Victoria which had wanted to remove the local Songhees reserve. He was appointed first Governor of British Columbia and he and Colonial Secretary Lytton established the Colony on two key principles.

1. First Nations communities would remain permanently in place permanently. This was in opposition to what had happened just south of the 49th parallel where people were moved to distant reservations.
2. Native people could preempt land privately off of the reserves but this land would also be available to new immigrants.

Lytton instructed Douglas that he should welcome “All peaceful settlers without regard to nation”. He said that “Naturalization should be granted to all who desire it”. Because this involved swearing allegiance to Queen Victoria many US miners left the Colony.

Douglas invited 600 black settlers fleeing persecution in the US and found a legal loophole so they could vote for the first time. He also welcomed Hawaiians who were forced to leave Oregon by race laws there as well as Chinese from California.

The Colony of British Columbia only lasted for 12 years. As soon as he was gone the democratically elected leaders started to undo many of Douglas’s policies. They reduced the size of the reserves and introduced mandatory residential schools and banned the potlatch.

The QM Institute for Civic Leadership in Vancouver British Columbia offers online and in-person learning sessions to encourage and support civic leadership in nonprofits, business or local government on the principles of stability and prosperity. The first sessions are hosted by Sam Sullivan under the title, “Things I wish I knew before I became Mayor”. You can learn more and sign up here: https://qminstitute.ca​

Kumtuks is a video blog that shares knowledge and explores new narratives in support of QMI. Some quotes and descriptors have been adjusted for clarity and brevity. Please subscribe if you would like to be notified of new videos. If you would like to receive additional commentary and notices and support more videos https://www.patreon.com/kumtuks​.

Sam Sullivan is a Member of the Order of Canada, a former Mayor of Vancouver and Cabinet Minister responsible for Cities and Transit, a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia.

The United States originated in the English Colonies that were established in the 1600s. But in 1707, four nations of England, Wales, Scotland and later Ireland came together in one political union under the symbol of the Constitutional Monarchy. They called this British. It was at its core multicultural and inclusive.

The different cultures and assumptions lead the north American colonies to split into two different countries, Canada and the United States. These characteristics remain today. The English Colonists called themselves Patriots; the British Colonists called themselves loyalists. Canadians are still uncomfortable with overt displays of patriotism.

The United States remains monocultural and is referred to as a melting pot. Canada remains multicultural and is referred to as a mosaic. It is comfortable being a country of many nations including First Nations. Its form of government has been developed incrementally over millennia whose formulation was described by Aristotle as an ancient traditional Monarchy, an appointed Council which is our Senate and an elected Assembly, our House of Commons. Together this constitutes our Parliament and is called a Balanced Constitution.

King George III defined the difference between Canada and the United States with his actions during the idealistic first part of his reign before he was stricken by episodic mental illness. The United States considers taxation among the most important reasons for the split, in particular the tax on tea.

Canadians are more likely to point to three other decisions. The Proclamation of 1763 confirmed that aboriginal nations were sovereign until a Treaty was signed with the Crown meaning land held by wealthy Americans like George Washington were illegal. The decision not to appeal Somersett Case of 1772 meant King George III became the first Great Emancipator of American slaves; 15,000 slaves including Americans were released as a result. This galvanized slave owners like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison and others. The Quebec Act gave legal status to the French language and allowed Catholics to serve in governmental and legal positions.

The American Revolution led to an endorsement of democracy as the only legitimate form of government. This was a true revolution against the British form of government that had incrementally developed from the system first described by Aristotle. The form of government that will achieve the most stability and avoid extremes is the Balanced Constitution.

The Balanced Constitution has three parts: a traditional and ancient form, an Appointed Council and an Elected Assembly. In Canada, this is the Monarchy, the Senate and the House of Commons which together comprise the Parliament. The presence of all three gives the greatest balance to society. It provides balance against domination buy a numerically superior group. The English Colonists prefer pure democracy which plays to their greater numbers. The British prefer the Balanced Constitution which protects minorities better.

Throughout the English-speaking world, the British and the English continue to struggle, patriots versus loyalists or in modern parlance the nationalists versus globalists. It is important for civic leaders in British Columbia to understand their inheritance and to defend it.

The story of urban reform in Canada can be understood in terms of waves. Here are some highlights of how Vancouver, Victoria, New Westminster and other BC cities were affected.

British Columbia and Vancouver history can be better understood through this analysis.

The Municipal Reform Act of 1835 initiated by Earl Grey brought cities in the UK into the modern world.

This reform wave hit Canada in the form of the Baldwin Act of 1849 which set the standard for all Canadian cities.

The Progressive Movement arose in the late 1800s in the US. It was a reaction against the corruption and incompetence that came out of earlier democratic reforms. Science, technology and professionals were revolutionizing life; people were hopeful about applying these to civic government.

The emphasis on technology and professionals arising out of the Second Wave was not the panacea hoped for.

Citizen groups pushed back against experts in Canada’s Third Wave of urban reform.

In the late 1800s, the Parliaments of British Columbia and Canada voted in racist laws against the Chinese minority. One institution that stood against them was the Canadian Senate. Few elected politicians at that time were willing to oppose the racist views of the white majority.

When British Columbia was governed by the Honorable Hudson Bay Company, institutional racism was not tolerated. But in 1871 British Columbia became a full democracy in which the majority could make the rules for the minority. In the very first Parliament, the BC Legislature made it illegal for Chinese and native people to vote. When the Canadian Parliament passed the Chinese Head Tax the Canadian Senate revolted.

Canadian senators react to the 1871 Chinese head tax

Senator William Macdonald, former Hudson Bay Company man, called it,

“a diabolical Bill with not a shadow of justice or right on its side “

Senator William Macdonald

Senator Willliam Almon said, “how will we say there is a dividing line between Canada and the United States? Can we any longer point with pride to our flag and say that under that emblem all men… are equally free?”

When the legislation was sent to the Senate, Robert Haythorne said ‘it is difficult to amend a Bill based on a wrong principle, and

“…the principle is a bad and cruel one.”

Senator Robert Haythorne

Senator James Dever contrasted Canada with the United States and said he could not understand how Canada could “prohibit strangers from our hospitable shore because they are a different colour and have a different language“.

Senator Richard Scott said,

“[the head tax]…is so repugnant, one can hardly discuss it in a proper frame of mind”

Senator Richard Scott

The Parliaments ultimately prevailed, but the Senate delayed and moderated the legislation through amendments. After the loss, BC Senator Macdonald said,

“I wish to express my satisfaction that a people who have been treated so ungenerously found representatives to stand up on the floor of this house and speak on their behalf.”

Senator William Macdonald

The Canadian Senate has served as a balance to the democracy, a voice for minorities and unpopular opinions. Because it was unelected it could not take on spending projects nor paralyze government as in the US. It has taken on issues that few elected politicians would touch, like mental illness, assisted suicide and marijuana legalization. It has been an important influence in shaping our Canadian culture and identity.

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