Ethical Gregor Robertson
October 2nd, 2010
British Columbia and the city of Vancouver once had high hopes for the sales of the Millennium Water development, formally the Olympic Village built to accommodate the athletes for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Now, however, the 737 units have still not all been sold, with the value of the units declining 15-25 percent.
Class 3 of Comm101 discussed the importance of ethics in business, and I have a lot of respect for the mayor Gregor Robertson after reading an article about the social housing units he promised in the Olympic Village. “Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said the city will proceed, if necessary, to find operators for social housing units at the Olympic village without the logistical assistance of the province.” was adapted from Olympic village social housing will proceed despite lack of provincial aid. Although BC housing doesn’t look to be funding the social housing project, the mayor insists on continuing on with the plan, because he feels it would be very unethical otherwise.
It is very unfortunate what has happened to the prospect of social housing in Vancouver – 10,000 people are on the waiting list for social housing and yet all the bids for suitable operators have been rejected by the B.C. Housing Minister. I have found a new respect for the mayor of Vancouver because despite these drawbacks, he still insists on going through with the original social housing plans, additional funding or not, because what truely matters to him is to “get people into these units before winter”.