Vancouver City Council passed the 2012 City Operating Budget tonight at a Special Council Meeting, investing in affordable housing, parks and recreation services, and libraries, as part of a forward-looking fiscal plan for the coming year.

“Even in the midst of a challenging economic climate and a $52 million budget gap, we’ve delivered a budget that is balanced, progressive, and pragmatic,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson. “This budget fully protects and supports programs that impact Vancouver’s most vulnerable, including priority investments for homelessness and affordable housing, child care and seniors. We’re protecting all funding and support for arts and culture programming, continuing our support for Vancouver’s Greenest City goals, and increasing support for Vancouver’s public libraries and parks and recreation services.”

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Op-Ed as published in The Globe and Mail online

By Gregor Robertson and Naheed Nenshi

If you’re one of the 80 percent of Canadians who lives in one of our country’s cities, chances are you’re fiercely proud of it. Our cities can match anywhere in the world for vibrancy, quality of life, entrepreneurial spirit and creative and civic culture.

But there’s no guarantee that will last. Canada’s cities face big challenges in the next few decades: managing growth, improving liveability, becoming more sustainable, and making city living far more affordable.

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