Vancouver business owners voice fears, demand compensation amid latest subway construction disruptions

Frustration was the prevailing feeling at a public town hall meeting in Vancouver Monday night.

Business owners lined up to voice their displeasure about a major road closure they fear will put some of them out of business.

Beginning next month, Broadway between Main Street and Quebec Street will be closed for up to four months as crews remove the traffic deck and rebuild the road above what will eventually be the Mount Pleasant Station.

The Mount Pleasant Business Improvement Association (MPBIA) hosted the meeting. Business owners like Ron MacGillivray of Fable Diner attended to say the impact of the work that’s been ongoing since 2020 has been brutal.

“The last three years, we’re down about 45,000 guests a year, and we’re down about $1.3 million in sales,” MacGillivray shared.

Others at the meeting had similar stories, and were calling on the province for compensation.

“It’s very frustrating. And we need all the financial support from the provincial government,” said Tara Shayegan of Uphoria Yoga. “Without them, we’re not going to be able to survive.”

Ryan Mitton with the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses says it makes sense for the government to help with problems caused by a project it started.

“The province needs to compensate you, needs to compensate your businesses for the damage they’re doing,” Mitton told the meeting attendees.

But, at an unrelated event Monday morning, B.C. Minister of Transportation and Transit Mike Farnworth dismissed the idea out of hand.

“We will continue to work with the businesses that are affected, but in terms of compensation and grants, that is not something that any government in this province has done on infrastructure projects,” Farnworth explained.

In a recent overview, the MPBIA says it discovered more than 80 storefronts along its seven-block stretch of Broadway have shut down since SkyTrain construction began in 2020.

“Those are jobs gone, families that have been impacted, and financial losses that will stay with folks for a long time. And again, the province has no response, no help, no anything,” Neil Wyles, MPBIA executive director, told 1130 NewsRadio.

At Monday’s meeting, he reminded attendees — and the absent provincial government — of how business owners affected by the construction of the Canada Line reacted.

“It was hugely devastating to that area, and those businesses ended up taking the government to the Supreme Court,” Wyles explained, referring to a 2018 case in which three businesses were initially awarded $180,000 in damages.

Wyles asked of the B.C. government, “Have we learned nothing?”