Lawyer brings housing-flavoured Polka to Vancouver City Hall
Something interesting happened at Vancouver City Hall during a public hearing on housing last night, which might be unprecedented.
Peter Waldkirch, a lawyer and housing advocate, brought a friend with him as he got up to speak.
His friend was an accordion, and his message was housing-flavoured Polka activism. Or Polka-flavoured housing activism? In any case, you get the message. Despite the seemingly silly act, it comes from real passion for wanting to fix the housing situation in Vancouver.
“I wanted to have some fun at a public hearing. But I also wanted to highlight the absurdity of the whole situation. Vancouver has a severe shortage of housing, and yet City Council holds these public hearings where people need to take time out of their lives to ask for more housing,” he told Daily Hive Urbanized.
“So, I thought, if they want a song and dance–why not give them a song!”
And did he ever. He called it the Megatowers Polka, and you’ll want to watch till the end to see Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim’s reaction:
At the public hearing for the MEGATOWERS last night, I figured I would have some fun. Council wants a song and dance where we have to beg for more housing, despite a crushing housing shortage…so why not give them a song?
Enjoy the Happy Megatowers Polka! pic.twitter.com/FD4AtE0eYV
— Peter Waldkirch 華彼德 (@pwaldkirch) May 16, 2025
The song was inspired by the Safeway redevelopment proposal next to SkyTrain’s Commercial-Broadway Station. Many people oppose megatowers in the area, as the “NO MEGATOWERS” red lawn signs indicate.
“There’s zero displacement of renters. It’s mostly just a parking lot. This is a total no-brainer for building a lot of housing. Despite this, it’s taken about a decade of negotiations between the developer and the city just to get to this stage,” Waldkirch said.
A “NO MEGATOWERS at Safeway!” site at the front of a house a few blocks away from the Safeway site next to SkyTrain Commercial-Broadway Station. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)
May 2024 concept: redevelopment of Safeway at 1780 East Broadway, Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Westbank/Crombie REIT)
Waldkirch pointed out that the NIMBYs are referring to these developments as megatowers, even though the tallest building is 44 floors. He also pointed out that an 80-storey tower was just approved in Burnaby and a 65-storey tower was approved in Surrey.
Waldkirch advocates for more housing with Abundant Housing Vancouver. He’s not in the development industry or anything like that; he’s just someone who hates what the housing crisis is doing to the city.
We asked Waldkirch how he came up with the Megatowers Polka.
“I took the tune from The Happy Wanderer, which was popular in the 50s. Polka legend Frankie Yankovic (no relation to Weird Al!) does a great version of it that I was listening to recently; I knew right away it would be perfect for a song about MEGATOWERS!”
Waldkirch hopes this inspires action.
“Get involved, have fun, and say yes to housing!”
The public hearing only reached 27 of 127 speakers and will recommence on June 10.
With files from Kenneth Chan