On behalf of our 57 member organizations, representing over 700,000 people across British Columbia, Metro Vancouver Alliance congratulates John Horgan, Andrew Weaver, and the BC NDP and BC Green Party caucuses on the historic agreement they reached this week.

MVA also calls on Christy Clark to convene the Legislature without delay, so that all the parties can begin to work together for the betterment of the province. To that end, we will be asking Liberal Party representatives and MLAs to meet with us to discuss the proposals MVA brought forward at our Provincial Accountability Assembly in April and MVA Leaders will be meeting soon to discuss how to move forward with the commitments made by Mr. Horgan and Mr. Weaver.

Metro Vancouver Alliance is a broad-based alliance of 57 civil society institutions who work together for the common good. Our member and sponsoring organizations represent 200,000 people in Metropolitan Vancouver and over 700,000 people across the Province.  

At our Municipal Election Accountability Assembly October 19, 2014, we received commitments from local politicians on our civic agenda. On April 4th, we will be asking the provincial party leaders to support our efforts on Economic Justice, Affordable Housing, Accessible Transit and a Strong Foundation for Healthcare at the provincial level.

The MVA Fundraising Committee has a challenge to all members of the MVA!

Take one capacity building action by November 29th as part of Giving Tuesday - a new Canadian movement for giving and volunteering, which takes place each year after Cyber Monday. Giving Tuesday is the day where charities, companies and individuals join together to share commitments, rally for favourite causes and think about others.

Our largest Leadership Training yet!



Over 60 people from from 34 labour, faith community and educational organizations attended Metro Vancouver Alliance's Community Leadership Training on November 7th and 8th. The training explored the basic principles and tools of community organizing, giving participants a chance to listen to each others stories and find common ground.

Peggy Trendell-Jenson of St. Clements Anglican Church said she found it "energizing to have conversations outside of the usual day/job work milieu. It's so easy to stay in one's "bubble" and so important to step out of it on regular basis."

Jennifer Kimberley of Surrey Teachers Association said she  welcomed the chance to work collaboratively with non-labour groups on issues of interest beyond her own organization.



Support our RouteSpeak project!

Members of MVA's Transit Campaign Action Team will be presenting on our RouteSpeak project at Vancouver SOUP - a public crowdfunding dinner that supports people who are making positive changes in our city - on November 16th at Groundswell Cafe in Vancouver.

A crowdfunding dinner?

• Projects that need funding pitch their ideas on how to make Vancouver a better, friendlier, or more sustainable city.
• You attend the dinner for an evening of food, fun, conversation, and grassroots democracy. A $10 minimum donation gets you in the door.
• The project with the most votes gets the money raised for the night.

Do you want to connect with your neighbours? Do you want to learn about and support projects making positive change in Vancouver? Join us for a fun evening of good food, good conversation, and voting for community-building projects (including ours!). Find out more and RSVP at VancouverSOUP.com.

Thanks for reading!

MVA's project submission to the Avivia Community Fund has been approved and the vote period just opened. We need your help to make our project a reality - please take a moment to vote for Beyond the Conversation.

Here's how ...

• Visit our project page at avivacommunityfund.ca for some information about the project.

• Register an account at the website using Facebook or your email address. Be sure to write down your password in case you need it later.

• You'll be given 18 votes - you can use all of them to vote for Beyond the Conversation.

• Be sure to share with your networks on facebook, twitter, or via email.

Beyond the Conversation is a project that MVA, in partnership with the South Vancouver Neighborhood House, undertook earlier this year as a response to the social isolation that many seniors in South Vancouver reported experiencing.

The project not only provides immigrant seniors with the opportunity to learn conversational English free of charge, but it situates this learning within a broader vision of relationship building and community development. The skills, confidence and friendship that participants acquire will not only expand their own horizons but strengthen the communities of which they are a part.

We  believe that Beyond the Conversation not only fills a vital gap in the social fabric of Vancouver but also helps to reweave it in a stronger and more sustainable way - please help us continue this work by casting your vote for the project.

Vote today! Together we help reduce social isolation in Vancouver.

In partnership with Matchmaker Productions, we are happy to offer a discount to MVA members to a production of a new comedy about the Vancouver housing crisis. Satirizing issues familiar to all Vancouver audiences, The Concierge of Vancouver looks at the consequences of skyrocketing real estate prices and living costs. It is the second in a trilogy of new Canadian plays, written by local playwright Shaul Ezer.

Speakers from MVA's Housing Campaign Action Team will be making a presentation after the October 11th show.

Visit theatrewire.ca and enter coupon code GROUPB book tickets for $20 (regular adult admission is $31). Members who make use of this discount are asked to consider donating the savings (or a portion thereof) to Metro Vancouver Alliance. Visit our donations page to find out more about how your donation supports our work.

The play runs October 6 to 16, 2016 at Studio 1398, Granville Island. For more information, visit www.matchmakerproductions.com.

Representatives from MVA's member organizations gathered on September 22 2016 at the Annual General Meeting to elect a new board, ratify the financial report, receive an update on MVA activities for 2015-2016, and plan for 2016-2017.

MVA spent the past year actively engaged campaigning around the issues identified by our members. At the same time, we continued to focus on leadership training, institutional development and recruitment of new member organizations.

Read the full 2015-2016 update below and visit the MVA Facebook page for some photos.

The MVA Housing Campaign Action Team is proud to announce a victory for OUR HOMES CAN’T WAIT! — a campaign and community vision for 58 West Hastings Street, Vancouver.

Today, at the Carnegie Community Centre, Mayor Gregor Robertson, along with five of the City’s housing management staff and Councillor Andrea Reimer, in front of 60 community members representing 15 local organizations, signed an agreement to begin the process to build 100% welfare rate housing at the city-owned site at 58 W. Hastings (opposite Army and Navy).

MEDIA ADVISORY                                                              Friday, May 27, 2016

Members of the Metro Vancouver Alliance are gathering at Champlain Heights Mall on Saturday May 28 to survey residents and businesses and collect information about transit needs in the neighbourhood. MVA is particularly interested in the impact of the planned rerouting of the bus service along 49^th avenue this summer.

The information gathered from this survey and others planned over the summer will be developed into a proposal that will be brought forward in a proposal to TransLink designed to bring reliable and accessible transit service to the Champlain Heights area of Vancouver.

Date: Saturday May 28, 2016
Time: 10:30 AM
Location: Champlain Square Mall, 7132 Kerr St, Vancouver

RouteSpeak is a citizen led transit improvement network which will develop proposals intended for TransLink to address and and will provide accountability back to the community. The project’s goal is to make transit more accessible, affordable and reliable and to build a civic structure which will increase the strength of our communities through engagement and leadership development.

RouteSpeak will develop a true consultative relationship between TransLink and interested citizens and replace cynicism with positive action through education and prioritized needs of local communities.

For more information: Jack Jardine, jack@sparxc.ca

Web: http://www.metvanalliance.org/routespeak

Since the founding assembly in 2014 the Metro Vancouver Alliance has grown by leaps and bounds. This year, for the first time ever, the International Areas Foundation Northwest Regional Leadership Training was held in Canada - right here in BC - hosted by the Metro Vancouver Alliance.

39 activists from Seattle, Spokane, Portland, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton and Brisbane, Australia, participated in training from February 5th - 9th at Capilano University to gain a thorough understanding of the organizing practices and principles developed by Industrial Areas Foundation member organizations over its 74-year history.