Housing advocate seeks to run for Vancouver City Council under OneCity | Daily Hive

Housing advocate and lawyer seeks to run for Vancouver City Council under OneCity party

Peter Waldkirch. (Peter Waldkirch)

Prominent housing advocate and community organizer Peter Waldkirch announced today that he is seeking the nomination of the OneCity Vancouver party to run for Vancouver City Council in the October 2026 civic election.

The lawyer is launching his bid with a message focused on affordability, growth, and breaking what he called a “status quo” at Vancouver City Hall.

In a video statement, Waldkirch said many residents are struggling to get by — crowding into basement suites, living with too many roommates, and spending too much of their time commuting to work. He said rising costs are pushing friends and neighbours out of the city and leaving others worried it is only a matter of time before they, too, are forced to leave.

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He states Vancouver faces serious shortages in housing and childcare, and that starting a small business has become increasingly difficult. Waldkirch said large parts of Vancouver have been kept “frozen in time,” while growth is concentrated in only a few areas, a pattern he blamed on decades of previous political leadership.

“The boat isn’t rocking. It’s not moving. So what do you see? Is the status quo working for you and the people that you care about?” he said.

“I think that Vancouver’s at a turning point. We can either pretend that we can freeze the city in amber or we can unlock the city’s potential.”

Positioning himself as a long-time advocate, Waldkirch said he has spent years fighting for housing and building community, work that has taken him to numerous public hearings, media interviews, and graduate studies in law, policy, and housing — along with the occasional accordion performance at City Hall. He asserts that experience has prepared him to bring determination and persistence to City Council if he is nominated and elected.

Much of Waldkirch’s housing advocacy over the years has been through Abundant Housing Vancouver, where he serves as a director.

@pwaldkirch/X | City of Vancouver

On his campaign website, Waldkirch describes himself as “a leader in Vancouver’s urbanism community.” Some of his top priorities include enabling six-storey apartment buildings on every street in every neighbourhood across the city, creating more suitable spaces for small businesses, enabling corner stores and cafes in residential areas, introducing higher density and a wider range of mixed uses in mansion neighbourhoods, and expanding areas where new music venues can operate as part of his vision of create a “world-class music scene.”

Last week, OneCity’s membership nominated William Azaroff as their mayoral candidate. The party is expected to select their candidates for City Council, Vancouver Park Board, and Vancouver School Board this May.

Azaroff stirred some controversy this week when he unexpectedly announced his party’s proposed terms for holding a progressive mayoral primary early this spring between the Green, COPE, and OneCity mayoral candidates.

Earlier this week, Mike Tan, an accountant who is perhaps best known for his advocacy against new developments in Chinatown, also announced his intention to run for City Council under the OneCity banner.

Currently, the party has two sitting elected officials — Lucy Maloney, who was elected to City Council in the 2025 by-election, and Jennifer Reddy, who was elected into the School Board in the 2022 civic election.

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