Vancouver Trump tower will become a magnet for protest, says councillor Kerry Jang

The grand opening of a multi-million dollar luxury high-rise and hotel in downtown Vancouver would normally be cause of celebration, but Vancouver city councillor Kerry Jang, today is an "unfortunate" day.  

The hotel in question is the controversial Vancouver's Trump International Hotel and Tower.

Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., the sons of U.S. president Donald Trump, are in Vancouver today for the official ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Jang sat down with guest host Stephen Quinn on The Early Edition to talk about the development and what it will mean for the city going forward.

What does it mean for Vancouver to have the Trump name on such a high-profile building?

It's really unfortunate for Vancouver. 

There was a time when the Trump name represented lifestyles of the rich and famous and I think that's what the original idea for the building was. Since he's opened his mouth during the election campaign and as president, it's become sexism and bigotry all the time.

You can't separate Trump's policies from his name?

I don't think you can. A name is a name. It's what defines all of us.

This was a $360 million project. What kind of message do you send when we say we don't like your name, but we'll take the money?

Those types of ideas — where you treat women like a piece of meat, you label entire ethnic or religious groups as murderers and rapists and things like that —  isn't Vancouver, isn't welcome here, and is un-Canadian.

You'd be a superhero in this town if you changed the name.- Councillor Kerry Jang

We said 'change the name'. This is the city of Vancouver. You will sell out that building even if you named it after my cat. Everybody's been buying Vancouver. Everybody wants to visit Vancouver. We've got top-end hotels all over the place without the Trump name on it and they're always full.

The Mayor asked the Holborn group to change the name in 2015 in an open letter and a petition also circulated. Why hasn't the developer changed the name?

I keep urging the developer to please change the name. I've said 'you'd be a superhero in this town if you changed the name.'

The developer says he's locked into a deal with Trump, but all the other hotel consultants I've spoken to, they all have escape clauses. He says he has an affinity with the Trump boys. They're both from rich families and all that kind of stuff. So instead of talking about it and thinking about ways of doing that, he's decided to double down and keep the name there. He just doesn't understand Vancouver.     

Is there anything else the city can do to change the name?

We did look into that. There's nothing we can legally do as a city.

What about protests?

Vancouverites get upset and tell us very clearly what they think about a lot of different things in this town. That place will become a magnet. For the international rich who want to holiday in Vancouver, if they want discretion and privacy, they probably won't get it at the Trump tower.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

To listen to the interview, click on the link labelled City Councillor Kerry Jang on Vancouver's Trump Tower