The Divide in Vancouver: Housing, Wealth, and the Cost of Ignoring Inequality

 

By Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita

Vancouver is at a crossroads. The wealth divide here is staggering, and it’s impossible to ignore how luxury and excess thrive while so many people struggle just to survive. The city is in desperate need of bold action to address the systemic issues that perpetuate this divide—housing, transit, money laundering, and unchecked greed in real estate and luxury markets.

Redistributing Wealth for Housing and Transit

What if, starting today, everyone in Vancouver making $100,000 or more contributed to solving the city’s most pressing issues? Housing affordability and public transit are at breaking points, and it’s time for those with the most resources to step up. This isn’t about punishing success—it’s about recognizing that a thriving community depends on shared responsibility. The idea is simple: those who benefit most from living in a city like Vancouver should contribute to making it livable for everyone.

The Shadow of Corruption

Money laundering through casinos and real estate has been allowed to fester for far too long, driving up housing costs and destroying trust in the system. The so-called "luxury" Vancouver is known for has a dark underbelly, built on dirty money and speculation. It’s a system that benefits the few while pushing countless people into homelessness or poverty.

The Illusion of Wealth

Then there’s Bitcoin, crypto, and other forms of "imaginary" wealth. These assets, while hyped as revolutionary, are fragile—completely dependent on electricity and technology. If the power grid went out tomorrow, they’d vanish. Contrast that with the very real struggles of people in the Downtown Eastside who are ignored or displaced in the name of "cleaning up" the city for events like FIFA.

A Warning from the South

If this wealth divide continues unchecked, Vancouver risks inviting the same populist anger and division that has taken root in the U.S. The “Trump plague” is not just a political phenomenon—it’s a symptom of systemic inequality that leaves people desperate and angry. We cannot allow those dynamics to take hold here.

A Path Forward

The solutions are clear but require courage:

Regulate housing as a basic right, not a commodity.

Address money laundering with real enforcement and accountability.

Tax high earners and luxury markets to fund housing and transit.

Shift the focus from appearances (like for FIFA) to genuine, systemic change.

Vancouver has so much wealth, but it often feels like it’s all fake—a house of cards propped up by greed and short-term thinking. It’s time to build something real, something lasting, and something that works for everyone, not just the privileged few.