Gilbert Jacob (Chief Gibby)

Some people in Kitts Point had real rational concerns.

They worried that the towers would bring lots of traffic, that the parks would be overrun.

And some said that the high-rises would disrupt the migratory birds.

And meanwhile, the people who potentially benefit from high rises like Sunak...

they probably don't live in that neighborhood yet.

They might not even live in Vancouver yet.

So they're not around to vote for pro-housing politicians or advocate for the project.

Jacob says, in the early stages of the Sanak Project, they heard a lot from this very vocal minority.

But some of the complaints, he says, seemed to have this other undercurrent.

It seemed like people were calling the Squamish greedy.

Some even questioned why indigenous people were trying to build tall, modern high-rises at all.

A former city councillor told a reporter that there was a, quote, big gap between these big concrete high-rises and, quote, an indigenous way of building.

Normally, developers have to be very careful about not offending the neighbors, even if the neighbors are saying kind of offensive things.

But in this case, Jacob and the Squamish Nation could more or less ignore the critics because this was their land.

The Squamish got to make their own zoning laws.

But they did listen to the criticism.

They agreed to fund upgrades to help with traffic, like maybe a new transit hub for buses or adding bike lanes to the area.

And when they were looking for funding, the Canadian government gave them a huge $1.4 billion low-interest loan.

That's Canadian dollars, so about a billion in US dollars.

And this loan was a big show of support.