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Director Hurley (Burnaby Mayor) slammed the UDI’s stranglehold over Provincial housing policy at the Oct 17, 2025 Metro Vancouver Mayors Committee Special Meeting: “You got everything you wanted”.

“All the changes that the province have made are the result of lobbying by UDI and by the development industry. And they got exactly what they wanted. They got exactly what they asked for.“

“Now the development community got exactly what they wanted. Now they have it. They’re still complaining.“

By Sasha Izard

Nov 18, 2025

The video can be viewed at the following link starting at Director Hurley’s comments:

https://vimeo.com/1128012710?fl=pl&fe=sh#t=1h10m56s

Transcript:

Director Mike Hurly (Burnaby mayor)  01:11:00 –

Yeah, I hear a lot of times, you know, people speaking up on behalf of the development industry.

Let’s be very clear.

All the changes that the province have made are the result of lobbying by UDI and by the development industry. And they got exactly what they wanted. They got exactly what they asked for.

The Premier even said it. Last week when he spoke to UDI, “we took on municipalities on your behalf”. That was the Premier’s words.

Now the development community got exactly what they wanted. Now they have it. They’re still complaining.

Now they want to get rid of DCCs and anything else that they see as a barrier to them.

We cannot fix this. Government cannot fix this. The market is going to drive it, and it’s going to drive where it finishes up.

And we have made a lot of adjustments, taking payment later on in the process. And I don’t see that there’s anything more that we can do.

And just remind, when those developers come to talk to you, you got everything you wanted.

The Premier said it. You got everything you wanted.

Yet we’re still bending over backwards, trying to correct a market that has downturned completely. And the changes that have been made have created so much uncertainty that no one wants to invest. So, you know, sometimes it’s a be careful what you ask for because you just got it and now you still don’t like it. So I want us to be very careful about thinking that we can correct the market. We can’t.

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See also:

Index of articles revealing major lobbying influence on B.C. Provincial Housing Bills and Housing Targets. – CRD Watch Homepage

How the Development and Real Estate Lobby Pressed Mandatory Housing Targets, Mass Upzoning, Captured Official Community Plans, and Made the Shutting Down of Public Hearings the Norm in British Columbia Under the NDP Government – CRD Watch Homepage

Freedom of Information reveals that the Province of B.C. was working to implement what the registered lobbying organization, the Urban Development Institute, had been pushing for. This culminated in the recent Housing Bills that override local government authority on zoning.  – CRD Watch Homepage

Public release of UDI March 10, 2022 presentation slides, agenda, and lobbying letters to David Eby. – CRD Watch Homepage

The Urban Development Institute lobbied the Province of BC to implement what they called “Global Housing Targets”. The Province would deliver new Housing Bills in response. – CRD Watch Homepage

The “Hong Kong Model, transit density – Setting expectations and having clear guidance. MDE [Minister David Eby] First step target approach”. UDI Executive Committee Meeting in April 13, 2022 with David Eby when he was the Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Housing. – CRD Watch Homepage

Documents obtained by Freedom of Information reveal that the Urban Development Institute (UDI) and the Province of BC collaborated on the Housing Supply Act. The Act would lead to Provincially mandated housing targets and advisors being appointed for some municipalities. – CRD Watch Homepage

The Government of British Columbia had top figures in the most powerful lobbying organization for development and real estate interests in the province, sign Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) as they advised the Province on adopting mandatory/enforceable targets for municipalities and for other upcoming housing legislation to be able to override local government autonomy. – CRD Watch Homepage

Index of Articles Related to BC Bill M216 – CRD Watch Homepage

The Usual Suspects: Big Business including aligned groups such as The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, the UDI lobby, and YIMBY pressure group Homes For Living, are pushing Bill M216 in British Columbia, which would override municipal sovereignty and the public voice, if passed. – CRD Watch Homepage