Colleen Hardwick

Canadian politician and business owner From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Colleen Hardwick is a Canadian politician, media executive and producer in Vancouver, British Columbia, who served on Vancouver City Council from 2018 to 2022. Hardwick is the daughter of former Vancouver alderman Walter Hardwick[1] and the granddaughter of former Vancouver park commissioner Iris Hardwick.[2]

Born (1958-09-17) September 17, 1958 (age 67)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
PartyTEAM for a Livable Vancouver (2021–present)
Other political
affiliations
Quick facts Vancouver city councillor, Personal details ...
Colleen Hardwick
Vancouver city councillor
In office
November 5, 2018 – November 7, 2022
Personal details
Born (1958-09-17) September 17, 1958 (age 67)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
PartyTEAM for a Livable Vancouver (2021–present)
Other political
affiliations
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Early career

Hardwick worked on dozens of film and television projects through a twenty-five year career.[3]

Hardwick won a 1997 "Forty under 40" award in entrepreneurship from Business in Vancouver.[4]

Evolving from film production to film industry technology, Hardwick developed MovieSet Inc., a platform to monetize movies under production. The company raised Series A venture capital and won a 2006 Marshall McLuhan Award, but ceased operations in 2011 following the financial crisis.[5][6]

In 2010, applying technology to the information-gathering phase of urban planning, she founded PlaceSpeak, a location-based civic engagement platform designed to consult with people within specific geographic boundaries.[7] PlaceSpeak achieved B Corporation certification in 2021.[8]

Political career

Hardwick announced her candidacy for Vancouver city council in the summer of 2005. She campaigned with the Non-Partisan Association (NPA) against a proposal to use assets from Vancouver's Property Endowment fund to build housing that would not yield a return on the investment, claiming her Vision Vancouver opponents "don't even understand how market housing works."[9] Hardwick had the endorsement of the Vancouver Sun’s editorial board ahead of the November election.[10] With ten councillors to be elected, she placed thirteenth.[11]

In 2018, again running under the NPA banner, Hardwick came fifth and was elected top the council. On a council with no party majority, she frequently questioned some of the initiatives and policies brought forth, and regularly voiced concerns about what she calls "scope-creep" where the municipal government dedicates resources to issues traditionally in the realm of other levels of government.[12]

Hardwick was elected as a member of the NPA but resigned from that organization in April 2021 to sit as an independent councillor.[13] Five months later, Hardwick announced her affiliation with a new civic party, TEAM for a Livable Vancouver,[14] and on March 13, 2022 was acclaimed as TEAM's mayoral candidate for the 2022 municipal election.[15] Hardwick came in third in the mayoral race with 9.97% of the vote.[16]

While on council, Hardwick sought the establishment of an independent auditor general for Vancouver.[17]

Stance on housing

Hardwick opposes increases in housing supply.[18] She has argued without evidence that upzonings and greater density have greatly exacerbated Vancouver's housing affordability crisis.[18] She has argued that increased revenue through boosted housing supply is akin to a Ponzi scheme.[18]

In 2019, Hardwick voted against allowing a 5-storey apartment building (where one-fifth of the units were below market rates) in Kitsilano, arguing "why are we promoting development to the detriment of our residents?"[19]

In 2022, she voted against a major rezoning plan for the Broadway corridor that permitted 40 storey mixed-use developments near SkyTrain stations, as well as the replacement of older, small 10-unit buildings with 15-20 storey buildings.[20] She argued the added housing supply would lead to increased house prices.[21] During her 2022 election campaign, she campaigned on spending $500 million toward building co-op housing and on creating neighbourhood-specific zoning plans.[21]

In 2023, Hardwick opposed proposals to allow for denser housing developments (such as sixplexes) in Vancouver as unnecessary, noting that "Vancouver already has the possibility for more housing under existing policies," under which almost every lot in the city is already eligible to have a main house, a basement suite and a laneway house on it.[22]

In 2022, as a city councillor during a re-zoning hearing for a 12-tower housing project by MST Development Corporation (a partnership of the Musqueam Indian Band, Squamish Nation and Tsleil-Waututh Nation) on land owned by it and Canada Lands Company (a federal crown corporation), Hardwick questioned the suitably of the height of the buildings, asking "How do you reconcile Indigenous ways of being with 18-storey high-rises?", before ultimately voting in favour of the re-zoning, commenting, "It is moving forward in the exact right direction that reconciliation was intended to be."[23][24]

Electoral record

More information Party, Candidate ...
Vancouver municipal by-election, April 5, 2025: Vancouver City Council
Resignation of Christine Boyle and Adriane Carr
Party Candidate Votes%Elected
COPESean Orr34,44850.69Green tickY
OneCityLucy Maloney33,73249.63Green tickY
TEAM for a Livable VancouverColleen Hardwick17,35225.53
GreenAnnette Reilly15,04522.14
TEAM for a Livable VancouverTheodore Abbott11,58117.04
ABC VancouverJaime Stein9,26713.64
ABC VancouverRalph Kaisers8,91513.12
IndependentJeanifer Decena6520.96
IndependentGuy Dubé4590.68
IndependentKarin Litzcke4330.64
IndependentRollergirl4040.59
IndependentCharles Ling3520.52
IndependentGerry McGuire2760.41
Total number of voters 67,962100.00
Rejected ballots 00.00
Turnout 67,96215.09
Eligible voters 450,503–
Percentage of votes shown is percentage of voters who voted, not votes cast.
Source: City of Vancouver[25][26]
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More information Party, Candidate ...
2022 Vancouver municipal election: Mayor
Party Candidate Votes%Elected
ABC VancouverKen Sim85,73250.96Green tickY
Forward TogetherKennedy Stewart (incumbent)49,59329.48
TEAM for a Livable VancouverColleen Hardwick16,7699.97
Progress VancouverMark Marissen5,8303.47
NPAFred Harding3,9052.32
IndependentLeona Brown1,5190.9
IndependentPing Chan1,1540.69
IndependentFrançoise Raunet1,1160.66
IndependentSatwant Shottha9940.59
IndependentImtiaz Popat4110.24
IndependentLewis Villegas3630.22
IndependentMike Hansen3140.19
IndependentGölök Buday1950.12
IndependentRyan Charmley1830.11
IndependentDante Teti1420.08
ABC Vancouver gain from Forward Together Swing +11.02[a]
"2022 Election results - list view". results.vancouver.ca. City of Vancouver. Retrieved June 8, 2025.
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  1. [a]
    Calculated using Ken Sim's and Kennedy Stewart's 2018 results.
More information Party, Candidate ...
2018 Vancouver municipal election: City Council
Party Candidate Votes%Elected
Green(I) Adriane Carr69,73939.52Green tickY
GreenPete Fry61,80635.03Green tickY
NPA(I) Melissa De Genova53,25130.18Green tickY
COPEJean Swanson48,86527.69Green tickY
NPAColleen Hardwick47,74727.06Green tickY
Green(O) Michael Wiebe45,59325.84Green tickY
OneCityChristine Boyle45,45525.76Green tickY
NPA(O) Lisa Dominato44,68925.33Green tickY
NPARebecca Bligh44,05324.97Green tickY
NPA(O) Sarah Kirby-Yung43,58124.70Green tickY
NPADavid Grewal41,91323.75
GreenDavid H. Wong40,88723.17
Vision(I) Heather Deal39,52922.40
COPEDerrick O'Keefe38,30521.71
NPAJustin P. Goodrich37,91721.49
COPEAnne Roberts36,53120.70
OneCityBrandon O. Yan36,16720.50
NPAJojo Quimpo34,60119.61
IndependentSarah Blyth29,45616.69
VisionTanya Paz28,83616.34
VisionDiego Cardona27,32515.49
Vision(O) Catherine Evans25,12414.24
Independent(O) Erin Shum23,33113.22
Vancouver 1stKen Low21,90812.42
IndependentAdrian Crook17,3929.86
VisionWei Q. Zhang16,7349.48
Coalition VancouverKen Charko16,3669.28
Coalition VancouverJames Lin16,1919.18
IndependentWade Grant15,4228.74
IndependentTaqdir K. Bhandal15,3268.69
Vancouver 1stElizabeth Taylor15,1848.61
Coalition VancouverPenny Mussio14,8868.44
Yes VancouverBrinder Bains13,9487.90
Yes VancouverStephanie Ostler13,5307.67
Coalition VancouverJason Xie13,4247.61
Yes VancouverGlynnis C. Chan13,2187.49
Coalition VancouverGlen Chernen13,1487.45
Coalition VancouverMorning Li12,6147.15
Vancouver 1stNycki K. Basra12,1336.88
Yes VancouverJaspreet Virdi12,1246.87
Coalition VancouverFranco Peta11,1936.34
Yes VancouverPhyllis Tang11,9026.75
IndependentRob McDowell11,8286.70
IndependentPenny Noble11,4356.48
IndependentGraham Cook11,0846.28
Vancouver 1stMichelle C. Mollineaux8,8195.00
ProVancouverRaza Mirza8,7834.98
Vancouver 1stJesse Johl8,6094.88
IndependentBarbara Buchanan8,1804.64
ProVancouverBreton Crellin7,8564.45
Vancouver 1stElishia Perosa7,4894.24
IndependentAnastasia Koutalianos7,4694.23
IndependentAbubakar Khan7,2394.10
Vancouver 1stJohn Malusa6,5973.74
IndependentLisa Kristiansen6,5063.69
ProVancouverRohana D. Rezel6,3363.59
IndependentFrançoise Raunet5,8913.34
IndependentHamdy El-Rayes5,3813.05
IndependentHsin-Chen Fu5,0072.84
IndependentJustin Caudwell4,4882.54
IndependentHarry Miedzygorski4,3082.44
IndependentGordon T. Kennedy4,2972.44
IndependentAshley Hughes3,9652.25
IndependentKelly Alm3,4401.95
IndependentMarlo Franson3,3161.88
IndependentJohn Spark3,2871.86
IndependentKatherine Ramdeen3,0821.75
IndependentSpike Peachey2,8631.62
IndependentLarry J. Falls2,7681.57
IndependentElke Porter2,5151.43
IndependentTed Copeland1,9461.10
'(I)' denotes incumbent city councillors.
'(O)' denotes incumbents of other municipal positions.
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References

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