Kits Point residents’ petition to stop Indigenous-led development dismissed by court

A petition to stop the largest Indigenous-led housing development in Canada has been dismissed by the BC Supreme Court.

Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) Coun. Sxwíxwtn Wilson Williams tells CityNews the move is a step forward.

“It feels good to continue to build that relationship with not just the city, but with our neighbours,” Williams said.

The decision, which came down on Friday — the day before National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, came after the Kits Point Residents Association (KPRA) filed the petition back in October 2022.

The residents’ group cited concerns over the Sen̓áḵw housing development’s size and density.

Williams says it’s not the first time the KPRA has attempted to halt the development, “But we want to be the best neighbours we can be, and I ask people to have that open heart.”

“We have been out of sight and out of the mind in our village of Sen̓áḵw for over 100 years.”

The Sen̓áḵw development includes 11 towers, with the tallest building standing at just under 60 stories and over 6,000 units spread over the almost 11-acre lot.

The KPRA also noted the height of the towers — along with the potential for congestion and traffic — would impact an established neighbouring residential area.

Williams says now that the case has been dismissed, the project can go forward with ease and bring much-needed housing to not only Host Nations’ members but Vancouver residents as well.

The Squamish Nation received 80 acres of land from the government in 1877, just a small portion of the original and forcibly stolen Sen̓áḵw village that spanned from Kitsilano into False Creek. Williams notes that, as Vancouver grew, the government kept removing parts of their allocated reserve lands.

“We never surrendered our lands, it was taken away. Eighty-point-four acres were taken back in the early 1900’s.”

Legal action taken in the 1970s to reclaim Kitsilano ended with the Nation receiving just under 11 acres in 2003 — that land now being a part of the Sen̓áḵw development.

“Everyone knows Vancouver as the ‘Big City’ and how it developed and how it is now, but what was it before?” Williams asked.

“These are the stories we are revitalizing — that connection to the land — because it creates an identity not just for Indigenous people, but for the City of Vancouver.”

CityNews has reached out to the KPRA for comment on the ruling.