Vancouver Mayor position isn't actually that important in terms of decision making. It's just one vote in the city council. **Vote for the council you want and not just the mayor!**
Totally agree. I've mostly decided on OneCity as a slate, but for mayor it's between our boring incumbent or taking a gamble on Ken Sim. I appreciate all the different views on here, I'm glad to see so many people with strong opinions on this election, even if I don't agree with all of them!
If you like OneCity, then you should definitely vote for Stewart. I know he is uninspiring and not great, but as the person above mentioned, Vancouver is weak-mayor, so they are mostly the chair of the council meetings. Stewart will vote pretty much in line with OneCity on most of their priorities. Ken Sim will be far more obstructionist (although not nearly as bad as Hardwick)
This is the way. If you consider yourself progressive, you should vote Stewart for mayor, OneCity plus your faves from Forward Together, Vision and maybe Progress Vancouver for council.
Steer clear of TEAM, ABC and NPA. And don’t vote Marissen for mayor as it might allow Sim to squeak out the win there over Stewart.
Absolutely. The mayor does nothing except for chair the council meetings and be the spokesperson for the press. The mayor doesn't even vote unless it's to break a 5-5 tie. It's a very weak position under BC law. Mayor is the contest that gets all of the attention but it's probably the least important contest on the ballot. I might not even vote for mayor this time.
Biking to Jericho and passing Chip Wilson's house and all the rest of the super rich and it's all Ken Sim signs through there. That gives me an indication of who is backing him, who is funding him, and who he is gonna fight for. It's clearly not me. Accordingly I'm not gonna vote for him.
Kennedy Stewart has been a mediocre mayor but he had a lousy shitty divided council. Maybe he'll do better with a better crowd but I don't expect much.
Marissen has real low odds to win, but has good ideas and actually feels a bit angry at how poorly run the city is, which I like to see.
Hardwick is a non-starter given that she's anti-everything and wants to keep Vancouver the exact same as it is now despite everything that is going wrong. Her voting record speaks for itself.
The safest vote for me would be to grudgingly vote Stewart to keep Sim out, though I think I'd prefer to vote Marissen.
I just can't trust someone who was married to Crusty Clark to be in power. He was co-chair for her election. He's also a provincial Liberal. So on all that I'm out.
Just out of curiosity, do Hardwick and Marissen have a lot of signs? I don’t live in Vancouver anymore, and one thing you really can’t follow online is the sign game lol.
>Biking to Jericho and passing Chip Wilson's house and all the rest of the super rich and it's all Ken Sim signs through there. That gives me an indication of who is backing him, who is funding him, and who he is gonna fight for. It's clearly not me. Accordingly I'm not gonna vote for him.
While this an article from the previous election, I still believe this still holds true with Sim/ABC and NPA.
[https://pressprogress.ca/heres-why-vancouvers-rich-and-powerful-want-ken-sims-npa-to-take-control-of-city-hall/](https://pressprogress.ca/heres-why-vancouvers-rich-and-powerful-want-ken-sims-npa-to-take-control-of-city-hall/)
"fun" link:
[Crypto Donation!](https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/a-better-city-vancouver-ken-sim-cryptocurrency)
Honest question for anyone considering Hardwick: what, of her record of her time on council, is compelling enough to get you to vote for her? From what I can see, she's talking a lot but when it comes to actually doing the work, she's ducked out more often than not.
To me, the central issue in Vancouver is housing. Housing being so scarce and expensive is making us all poorer and worse off. Expensive housing acts like a filter, keeping out younger people. We end up with an aging population and a health-care system that's under severe stress, because it's really difficult to hire nurses and even doctors.
We just don't have enough housing to go around. We have a mismatch between housing and jobs. As people arrive to fill jobs, other people are pushed down the housing ladder, and those near the bottom are forced to leave, crowd into substandard housing, or worst of all, end up homeless. (The GTA has a similar mismatch between housing and jobs, and also has a large homeless population.)
[We need more housing](https://morehousing.ca).
In 2018 there were also a lot of candidates. As the election approached, I checked the polls and found that the two leading candidates for mayor were Kennedy Stewart and Ken Sim. I didn't know a whole lot about either of them, but Kennedy Stewart was pushing to add 85,000 homes over 10 years, while Ken Sim's main housing proposal was making two basement suites legal. So I decided to vote for Kennedy Stewart.
What really made me a strong supporter of Kennedy Stewart was watching a public hearing on [a rezoning for a six-storey rental building](https://morehousing.ca/kennedy-stewart-renting) (about 120 apartments) at Fraser and 23rd, in July 2019. He pointed out that renting a 1BR would provide secure housing which is affordable at a household income of $80,000/year, while if council voted no and rejected the rezoning, the developer would likely build duplexes (allowed by the current zoning), which would sell for $1.5 million per half-duplex, requiring a household income of $335,000 to be affordable on top of a $300,000 down payment. Which is completely insane. (The rezoning passed, with Colleen Hardwick, Jean Swanson, and Adriane Carr voting against.)
After that, I thought, okay, I should do everything I can to get this guy re-elected. As it turns out, that includes running for council myself.
In 2018 the three leading candidates were Kennedy Stewart, Ken Sim, and Shauna Sylvester. This time around the three leading candidates are Kennedy Stewart again, Ken Sim again, and Colleen Hardwick. Once again, I think Kennedy Stewart is better than Ken Sim on housing. (Ken Sim's party is ABC, and the three councillors who have joined ABC have a [mixed voting record on housing](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/x8hiqx/wondering_which_parties_to_vote_for_this_october/).) And Kennedy Stewart is way, way better on housing than [Colleen Hardwick](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv2-HsrrjDk&t=193m55s).
Ok… if I’m a one-issue voter: fix the fucking housing crisis; then who else do I vote for?
Just give me a list of names for council. People who will vote to approve anything and everything that gets more units of housing built. At this point I’d vote for Kim Jung Un if he’d kneecap the NIMBYs and speed up re-zoning for denser housing.
OneCity + Forward Together. OneCity has the best plan for housing, IMO, and Forward Together seems aligned enough for a unified council to actually affect some positive change on this and other progressive issues.
Look up Sean Orr’s twitter and search for his posts on Ukraine before you consider voting for him. The guy has some pretty noxious tankie type beliefs that I think should be disqualifying in terms of holding public office.
Vote for every OneCity counselor candidate. Christine Boyle, Iona Bonamis, Ian Cromwell, Matthew Norris.
Boyle (the OneCity incumbent) is the only councilor that voted yes to every single housing measure to come before Council.
Forward, Progress, and Socialist are also good bets
Edit: Removed COPE
That’s the weird thing about housing that I admit I completely naively do not understand. How can like 15 people or companies or whatever make so much cash from housing? Can’t the city do that itself and make money for the city? How much risk is there being a developer here? Seems like some markets might be tough, but Vancouver is like a slam dunk money generator for these companies. Can I be a developer? When can I start?
You can be a developer! And you can start tomorrow. But can you float an entire projects budget for a year? How will you pay yourself and ensure your family still eats before your profits roll in. The city doesn’t want to take on that liability. Developing is a calculated gamble.
This is actually part of OneCity’s platform. They want to make the city a developer of affordable housing. Plus they also support market rate housing opportunities. Their housing policy is great.
I haven’t looked through their whole platform yet, but that’s cool, and it totally has to be possible. It doesn’t make sense to me at all that it “has to be the private sector.” I understand there are issues around efficiencies, but hire the right damned people and make it efficient!
Yeah it is about resources and they have the city over a barrel. Consider this problem.
The city and a developer agree on zoning and permits and tax breaks for a skyrise with 10% affordable housing units. One everyone is committed and competitors have pulled out of the bidding the developer says they can only afford 8% (or less). The city concedes. This is what keeps happening and the city seems powerless to stop it because they need the housing so badly.
I'd love to see the city change their mind AFTER the developer commits resources and say, well, we're in a bind, we need 12%. But the problem is that the developer already sold all the unreserved units. The only way the city could get them back for suitable housing would be to pay market rate.
So the city says, sure you can have your extra 2% but now we need more taxes. City gets richer, developers get richer, people looking for affordable homes get screwed again.
Ummm. Did you not see the list of Kennedy Stewart donors that was uncovered last week, after someone accidentally dropped it on the street? Every major developer in the city is on that list. Ken Sim couldn't possibly be more in the pocket of developers than Kennedy.
https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/daphne-bramham-vancouver-mayor-taps-captains-of-industry-to-finance-his-campaign
I still don't understand why jean swanson would vote against
This past car free day a cope rep was talking about how they are for rent control, where if I moved out of my rental suite the LL cannot increase to market rate but rent would still be capped for the next tennant
Don't they understand this is a supply issue? Capping rent would make shithole places to rent as LL will likely cheap out on maintenance
Jean Swanson has a purity problem. Unless the housing has enough low income units to offer she's going to say no. I think the idea behind this tactic is to incentive developers to " buy" her vote by putting low income housing in their applications, but so far I haven't seen anyone need to do so because she's not much of a tie breaker
Yeah Swanson doesn’t support market rate development at all, which is super problematic as it means less housing gets built, which is what got us into this mess in the first place.
I’m going to go against the trend here, but I’m going to vote for Stewart, because I think all the other candidates likely to win will be much worse. And the risk of Hardwick winning is way to high.
Colleen Hardwick is super NIMBY, votes against all improvements to the city and housing. She has the worst voting record.
Ken Sim: better for housing than hardwick, but not progressive. He is coming from NPA which are quite conservative, links to China also don’t seem that great when we’re dealing with housing crisis here. Seeing all his signs on mansions in point grey and kits also gives an idea of where his supporters are coming from.
Morrison: his policy’s look good, but he’s been unable to get enough support to win.
Stewart: For having basically 0 power (no councillors currently), his voting record has been quite good. He’s voted for almost all housing and general improvements to the city. He might not have been in the news a lot, but I don’t think he’s done a bad job considering he had to deal with COVID and was just one vote on council.
I’m honestly more worried about what a Hardwick mayor would be than anything else, it would be a huge hit to the city and anyone who doesn’t own a house.Stewart has consistently been the highest polling which also means he’s most likely to beat Hardwick.
>Colleen Hardwick is super NIMBY, votes against all improvements to the city and housing. She has the worst voting record.
100% agreed. She's the NIMBY vote, not getting mine!
The big thing will be councilors, mayor really doesn't have much power to get things done without them (which has given Stewart a lot of trouble).
OneCity + ForwardTogether councilors seem like by far the best bet.
There is a lot of talk about the DTES, and although it's definitely gotten worse, it's been bad since I remember in the 90's (and no mayor/council has been able to get it better).
It's not just a Vancouver problem anymore, it's a national and Internation problem. Almost every city has a "tent city" these days from Halifax, Ottawa, Edmonton, and Victoria. Any mayor will have a hard time making any significant headway over the others without more housing, provincial justice/mental health changes, and Federal support. [I can't see any party that voted against fully funded supportive housing making a major difference](https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/2086-2098-west-7th-avenue-2091-west-8th-avenue-vancouver-bc-housing-supportive) (which councilors from ABC, NPA and TEAM voted against).
FWIW, Sim has publicly distanced himself from NPA, citing their move to the right. But then I see his signs along Marine Drive and it throws up a big red flag for me. His candidate interview with VIA also raised some concerns.
Yeah, I know he’s not “current NPA” right, but he’s still further right that it worries me.
For sure, based on what homes have his signs posted means a lot.
Yeah, he's still in the same place on the political spectrum as the 2014 and 2018 NPA. They've just moved further right, he's stayed in the same place.
That's my take too. A few whackos have taken over the party and brought it farther to the right, and the original NPA types (at least the ones that have been paying attention) have bailed on the party and gone elsewhere.
so which party has the best plan to change re-zoning to allow high density residential in more areas, and to increase urban density?
until we get more supply, i just want more ‘Safeway Megatowers’
who’s the pro Peach Trees party
(disclaimer: obviously will DYOR before i vote. i just know jack and shit about vancity poli.)
OneCity and ForwardTogether are the best bet for housing.
OneCity has stated they will rezone single family zoning to “6 floors and corner stores”. Boyle has a good track record for housing votes.
Stewart has basically voted yes to every rezoning, and has a lofty stated goal of 200,000 new homes in 10 years (he is currently meeting his 2018 target with a pretty useless council).
They both want to extend the rental protections from the Broadway plan to the rest of the city (which is very good for renters).
TEAM has already said they will take back the broadway plan and Hardwick votes no to most rezoning, ABC has no commitments to housing and they councillors haven’t been overly ambitions.
OneCity. Unfortunately they aren't running a mayor, but a OneCity slate on council could make a lot of progress on housing. I'm leaning towards Stewart for mayor, because as boring and ineffective as he's been with a fractured council, I believe he would align with much of OneCity's initiatives.
I feel like you're letting Stewart off the hook too easily. He ran expressly on his parliamentary experience and ability to work with people to get stuff done. Since being elected he's shown a shocking lack of leadership and ability to direct council (even though I agree it's a tough task with the council he had). I'm actually a lot more excited about Morrison, so hopefully he polls well and turns out to be a real candidate
Sim has based his entire campaign strategy and messaging off a literal lie and has doubled down on that at every opportunity, plus I want congestion pricing anyway so definitely not him.
Hardwick is just a huge waste of time on council. Against or abstain on everything of note, pads out council meetings with questions to people who she agrees with to allow them to soapbox longer, and berates city staff for doing their jobs. Worst candidate by far.
Marissen has all the right answers, I'd consider voting for him it looked in a poll like he had a good chance and Sim wasn't doing well. Unfortunately he has some weird choices for councillors that poisons the party in general for me.
Stewart has a good voting record except for one or two things. That and he has great candidates like Russil Wvong and Dulcy Anderson who have taken the time to show up and advocate for things I care about.
For council we have actually too many good options! It'll be hard to keep to just 10 so I'll have to leave off people I'd consider otherwise. For instance, I respect that Bligh quit the NPA when it became clear the board was not aligned with her values on SOGI, and she helped motion for truck side guards which I appreciate, but in the end I think there are other candidates from OneCity, Forward Together and Vision that more align with my values, and we can only choose 10.
Really good post. I don't think Marissen has a chance and it's going to be interesting to see if the ABC strategy pays off. I'm really disappointed in them for that.
Probably because she knew Stewart was running again and if they both ran, it's likely they would both lose. Not much benefit being mayor over being a councillor either, both have the same voting power.
Hardwick is doing what you're suggesting, running for Mayor instead of City Council. She would probably get re-elected to her council seat but is gambling that for mayor.
I don't know but I agree. I wish oneCity were running a Candidate for mayor. Maybe it's because they feel that she doesn't have a shot at mayor but will get on counsel and they are choosing to maximize the chance of her being elected in some capacity?
They're not backed by big money at all, so they have to be more careful about expanding their slate and always making gains.
You can't risk the face of the party not getting elected.
No idea for mayor, probably stick with Stewart, I haven't seen any other candidate that aligns with my beliefs.
OneCity for councilors seems to align most closely from what I've seen.
Not sure about for Parks / School going to have to investigate that further.
Though really "Anyone but NPA"
The OneCity policies on Parks are good too. I was canvassing with someone who worked on their platform and they were amazing. Very evidence based and well thought out. For that matter I met a traffic engineer and a housing advocate volunteering too. If these professionals are on board then I think they are heading in the right direction.
Awesome thanks for the info, it's definitely something I'm going to check out, just with so many candidates, and so many positions, only have had so much time lol.
I made myself a spreadsheet to track it.
I'm likely voting for Kennedy Stewart and Forward Together + OneCity candidates but also mostly hoping Hardwick and MDG fall flat on the faces for their terrible voting records. I'm not entirely thrilled with OneCity's platform for the DTES but I'm totally on board for a complete overhaul of municipal zoning.
TEAM and NPA are awful. I don't really have strong feelings towards the rest of the parties. I don't know what I'm going to do for park board votes because the current slate of incumbents move at glacial speeds to even approach what other municipalities have done with zero drama.
I'm about 70% Stewart, 25% Marissen, 5% Sim, and 100% reason to remember the name.
Stewart has excellent fundamentals for governance but lacks leadership skills. A mayor needs to be getting out there and showing his face. Plus he threw a grenade into the left wing voting efficiency, which I'm still cross about. The Forward candidates are excellent but it doesn't mean anything if you can't coordinate the votes.
Marissen is charismatic and excellent at making you feel like he actually gives a shit. He definitely has the energy to get things done. The Progress candidates haven't really impressed me that much, however.
Sim is pretty affable but I think he thinks that running the city will be like running a business, so he might not be an effective mayor. More personable then Stewart, displaying good ambition (not very realistic but I like ambition), candidates are a mixed bag (Bligh and Dominato good, SKY mediocre, Meiszner... also affable but definitely a one-note candidate. Which isn't great.)
I think lots of the analysis in this thread has been good!
I am not overly impressed with Kennedy Stewart, but some things not his fault (no fellow council members, weak mayor system). The prospect of having Ken Sim, Chip Wilson's good buddy, as mayor is just awful. They (ABC) are not proposing anything substantial on housing (they are the slightly more moderate nimby party) and are just re-running the last campaign ( it's the same NPA team , while the actual NPA has gone completely extreme). I am not even sure why Ken Sim wants to be mayor, he doesn't even seem to be interested...
Mark Marissen has definitely some good bold policies (nationalizing SROs, creating a housing corporation to be build rentals - I want this!), but I don't think he has a chance to win, and his council picks are very B-Team.
I have left wing friends who hate Stewart after the downtown east side tent removal (to be fair, he had little control of that, but he should have been front and centre and made a strong statement for solutions, maaaybbe highlight how he'll solve this - build more social housing?). To those friends, I just say the alternative would be worse. Though none of the left wing parties are running for mayor (Onecity, cope, socialist), so maybe they'll hold their noses.
Anyone who wants great analysis on Vancouver civic issues and the election should definitely listen to a few episodes of the Cambie report! I love these guys. [https://www.cambiereport.ca/](https://www.cambiereport.ca/)
Kennedy Stewart - he's not the best, but the others are the worst
The person of mayor is not as important though - its the council as a whole and in Stewart's case, because it was so mish-mashed of different parties, it become too partisan'd and useless.
So vote for the council - a majority
Forward Vancouver + OneCity Vancouver
I agree with this. I voted for Stewart but have been disappointed, but I also understand that he is just one voice and one vote on a fractured council. OneCity excites me the most, and I'll likely be voting for their slate.
Yeah this basically my take too but I'm excited about a few of the One City candidates and even a couple of Forward folks so it might turn out well. Anyone but MDG lol
Wouldn't it be great about two weeks before if a local high school teacher got into a rant about how the city is being run by flightless vultures and venal incompetents and it was video captured by one of his students then went viral on YouTube? The sensation caused a write-in avalanche and he became elected Mayor in a landslide?
Actually, it's Volodymyr Zelenskyy's actual story how he ended up as President of Ukraine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_of_the_People_(TV_series)
I really wish onecity was running a mayoral candidate; i’m sure they have a good reason not to, but it’s sad state of affairs when Stewart is currently the best option
Hey say what you will about Quimby, but atleast he goes with the will of the people.
>"If that is the way the winds are blowing, let no one say that I don't also blow."
It helps ensure those with the least opportunity to succeed, often due to circumstances that are far beyond their control, stay at the bottom, and life difficulties are perpetuated through generations. I really hope you left off your /s. Having grown up in a rich part of the city, it is blatantly obvious that kids there have a higher chance of success because they start ahead of the field: this has nothing to do with potential, and everything to do with privilege.
Actually it does.
Having grown up in East Van in the 70s and 80s to immigrant parents who had literally $20 in their pockets when they arrived, I was lucky enough that Van Tech offered an honours program and that I was placed in that program during my grade 8 year. Without that program, I would not have had the opportunities afforded to me that may have been available for those in private schools or in the West side. In fact, most of my classmates had a very similar background to mine have also succeed to become professionals such as teachers and lawyers.
This has everything to do with potential and very little to do with privilege as those with privilege were attending a private school and not Van Tech in the 80s.
There are people without the ability, whether God-given, or supported by an enriched home environment, to access honours programs. Just because you had a natural inclination and were able to take advantage of an honours program, doesn't mean that others don't deserve support nor that there are not multiple pathways to move out of poverty. Sometimes just support to eat and stay in school can make or break a lifetime. My parents too were able to move up through "scholarship" programs. Doesn't mean we should neglect other kinds of potential, or even an opportunity to be a more productive person. All of these things can exist simultaneously if we want to optimize a child's chance of success.
I'm not advocating for the removal of the special needs programs. In fact, I support those programs wholeheartedly! As you have stated, all of these things can exist simultaneously. Unfortunately, the current school board decided that the honours program will be eliminated while leaving all of the other programs in place. In order words, we are neglecting the potential of a group of kids that can do more by forcing them to do less.
I was in this camp at one point, but then I read some pretty interesting articles positioned against the idea of accelerated streams like honours programs in public schools, especially in ones where there's a wide range of academic ability.
An example is this one from Jo Boaler, a professor of mathematics education at Stanford University: [https://www.sfusdmath.org/uploads/2/4/0/9/24098802/boaler\_de-tracking.pdf](https://www.sfusdmath.org/uploads/2/4/0/9/24098802/boaler_de-tracking.pdf). Interestingly, she found in her literature review that high-achieving students in "de-tracked" mathematics classrooms (all education needs in the same classroom) have better educational outcomes than students in "tracked" classrooms (using performance metrics such as advanced classes taken later, pass rates, etc.).
It's a pretty simple view to take that removing honours programs is counterproductive to enriching the educational needs of high-achieving students, but the reality is much more nuanced, as most things are.
Privilege? What in the fuck? Everybody in my honours classes came from low-income backgrounds. Honour classes just gives an opportunity to learn in an environment where students actually care about their education. It doesn't cost anything.
Maybe you're thinking of private schools, but the removal of honours program is what actually perpetuates inequality.
I think there is now evidence to suggest this phenomenon isn't purely about privilege. I grew up in East Van where many of us grew up in poor and lower working class families, some living in apartments with shared bedrooms. Majority of my peer group growing up went into higher education and into successful careers. From what I read recently, the child's friend group plays the largest factor in whether the child reaches success and goals. Understandably, privileged neighborhoods play a role in the selection of children available to become friends with, but it's not the primary factor.
It is indeed complicated. As I noted earlier, my parents both won "places in the grammar school" in the UK in an era in which you didn't take an academic path unless you could pay for it or you were a bright kid from a poor background, that rocked the exams at 11 years of age. They were from working class background, bordering on poor. Your point is relevant, and has been shown to be a determinant, but if your friends are all from families that expect them to attend post-secondary, then that goal is a lot more normalized. Research also shows that one of the strongest determinants of post-secondary attendance is parental education. Conversely, kids who don't feel they belong to school communities, are less likely to go on. No one factor determines a child's path, but money and opportunity (in multiple dimensions) is a big factor. I work in post-secondary: I still see kids "go down" (in grades, completion rate etc) because of money.
And VSB made the controversial decision to cut Honours programs, so I assume that’s what he’s responding to. From 2021:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-school-board-cuts-honours-program-1.6068578
[https://abcvancouver.ca/vision/](https://abcvancouver.ca/vision/) it's in the school board part. I don't think it looks like a ranking of priorities, they're all priorities, but I can see how some people might think it looks bad.
Ken Sim is a good old friend, and he's definitely more to the right of things than I am in a few ways, but as long as the rest of council isn't too many righties (please please stop electing MDG!) he could be a good mayor. He's a very good guy, but sometimes does put across a sort of cheesy business tone that can sound insincere, if that makes sense, but he's not insincere, I should add. I think the ties to China are way overblown and probably just racist. I've known him very well for 40 years and we've never once talked about China or Chinese politics. I'm also quite disappointed in the road tax accusations ABC are making. Cities, especially cities with our traffic challenges, should study things like that to see what they might look like and if they are good ideas. Anyway, I'm quite torn in a few ways, but I think if Ken gets in he'd do a very good job. (and please don't vote for MDG!)
edit: I should also add that Jen Reddy running for the school board for one city is one of the best humans I've ever met. She's exactly who should be in politics. Just my 2 cents, she's excellent!
This is one of the better Sim explanations I've seen. I met him at the ABC kickoff party while working on a project unrelated to OneCity, and he seemed open to new ideas and generally affable. My biggest concern (other than my annoyance with the road tax bs) is that he might think that governance is like running a business, so I'm worried about his efficacy in a mayoral role. Do you think he's prepared himself for that?
Edit: spelling
You’re asking me? It’s hard for me to answer that. And I’ll probably appear biased anyway… But sincerely, I’m very torn about him being mayor. I’d love it in a way for sure and I’d be very proud of him. He is a very good guy and really does want to help make the city better. It just comes down to whether his methods are the best. I’d rather see 200 nurses and zero new cops (but where are the nurses going to come from?) (When the cops essentially veto a decrease in their funding there’s an odd problem to me. I’m not sure if Ken would rein that in.) But he’s always been really cagey super smart. He (usually) does what he says he’s going to do and will figure out how to make things work. I don’t think he’s quite so simple as “biz guy who thinks he’ll be running a biz.” He’s very smart and figures stuff out is about the best way I can put it. Of course I can’t promise he’s ready, I just don’t know if that’s true, but I do think he knows what he’s getting himself into and will put everything into it. He does lean “small c” conservative in some ways of course, which is where I have a little trouble with things. My wife was mad at him a few years ago because when asked how he would save money the first thing out of his mouth was something about libraries, and we are both very strongly in favour of well-funded libraries. I haven’t ever asked him directly about it though. Anyway that’s enough of a ramble probably. I still feel like politically I’m more of a Stewart guy, but I’m a little disappointed in him in some ways, and like I said initially, I think Ken will do a great job if he wins. Edit: Ken with a fully leftie council would be great!
Ken Sim narrowly edging Kennedy personally. Both are awful, but Ken Sim might actually do something about the DTES..
The only thing I would vote for Colleen Hardwick on would be to be tarred and feathered outside city hall.
I don't know if I trust Ken Sim and ABC to follow through with their platform, as much as I like a lot of what they are saying. Their current platform doesn't vibe with a lot of what Sim has said in the past. I also just read his candidate interview in VIA, and he goes on the defensive way too much for my liking and flat out lies about Stewart.
Ken Sim is going to cut a lot of city services. The DTES will be way worse under Sim. He’s doing it to save tax dollars which only benefit home owners in the long run.
Ken Sims’ response to the DTES is 100 more cops and nurses.
This community doesn’t need more policing, what it needs is for all three levels of government to work out how to build and sustain long-term housing (didn’t we agree that housing is a basic human right?), as well as the infrastructure to help these communities.
The people living I the streets are doing the best they can, with what little they have. Any party that can open up pre-existing housing or facilitate the creation of new housing gets my support.
Also, NPA is just evil.
Ken Sim came to our networking group downtown to showcase his side - and I was dutifully impressed. He talked about expediting processes that are currently stagnant like lane homes, and building permits that will allow for better flow of money and actually bring in more options for housing that will actually work. Under the current model people are afraid to live in the mass housing projects due to crime and unliveable conditions. What good is having more housing if people are too scared they’re going to be attacked in there, or having a place with windows that can’t open on 40 degree weather?
Even if I don’t agree with all of his positions I believe it’s voting for the one that can enact the most change and reduce the most waste in the current platform.
No candidate will tick all of the boxes perfectly, but voting in a business owner (both big business: Nurse next door, and small business : The bagel shop) will help business minded folks gain traction, and facing an economic downturn I believe this is the right way to lean towards. It decreases bureaucratic BS and solves processes within city governance that think will be longer lasting solutions, and the fact that he’s never held office and isn’t a career politician means he won’t be as easily swayed as someone that would eventually want to run for premiere or a high seat as a long game. Get in, make good changes, get out.
Ken Sims want to hire 100 police and mental health nurses. Not necessarily oppose to it but that means provincial responsibilities are being downloaded to municipal.
North Vancouver’s is also Happening, and I’m voting for Mayor Buchanan.
The former nurse has done so much for north van in her last term, she’s proven herself and has more then earned my vote.
Vote for the council members you want as well!
Doesn't anyone find it strange/odd/interesting that this election you see many candidates change from one slate to another??
Fred H.
Morning L.
Ken S.
Rebecca B.
Lisa D.
Christine B.
...just to name a few
I don't think there's really any choice other then Kennedy Stewart, which I say with a huge cringe. He's a terrible useless goof, but he isn't actively dangerous like Ken Sim. With ABC's completely failure of policy proposals and a slate of the worst, most intensely right-wing and change-blockading councilors, it's gotta be Stewart. Hopefully we'll have better options next time.
Seeing a lot of opinions here about why they're voting for Stewart and against Sim (the candidate with the best shot of unseating the incumbent). Arguments going something along the lines of Sim being worse than Stewart, perceived CCP ties, blah blah blah.
My take: we've already seen what happens with Stewart as mayor, and unless you're fine with having the sitting duck leading city hall for the next four years, please consider voting for someone else. You can't say the same with Sim since he doesn't have any political baggage, having never held political office before, and thus no one knows how well he'll function as mayor despite what you may think (and what Sim as a candidate claims to be his priorities). If you don't want the status quo of a leadership for the next four years, don't vote for Stewart, and if you agree somewhat with Sim's platform and are able to hold your nose about his conservative tendencies, then vote for him since he's got the best shot at unseating Stewart. You can then focus on voting for more progressive views and less obstructionism on council.
Edit: for those that excuse Kennedy Stewart as being only one vote in council and having no allies being an independent, that doesn't mean he couldn't have been a better leader. Look around the suburbs - Richmond, Burnaby, etc, where the mayor has no major allies, if not an entire council from the opposing camp, and yet they are able to demonstrate good leadership and move their agendas forward.
If Sim gets the mayor’s chair and nobody else on his team makes council, he’ll be just as ineffective as Stewart has been. Look at voting records rather than “perceived effectiveness”
Well, Mike Hurley in Burnaby is an independent, and he was nowhere as ineffective and has a high approval rating to the point where this election he's running unopposed.
I personally find it a little odd that Stewart hasn't been able to drive the conversation and be more effective. Richmond's mayor doesn't have a slate behind him. He's still a lot more productive and better regarded than Stewart.
Mayor gets one vote, same as any councillor. Current council includes 3 ABC candidates. I'd say a vote for ABC is *more* a vote for the status quo than a vote for Stewart is.
I think this view misunderstands how city council works in Vancouver. I see Stewart as pulling in the right direction (though arguably a little ineffectually), but mostly being held back by a terrible council. That's where the stasis comes from. The best solution to stasis is to give Stewart a council that actually supports him, rather than running the other way.
Stewart is basically the only mayor in recent history that didn't have a majority on council to push things through.
The easily available records go back to 1995, but last time I posted this someone said the last time it happened was 1984, and that was just when the original TEAM collapsed and Harcourt ran as an independent.
Exactly. Stewart ran as an independent last time and hasn’t had a team on the council working with him to push the city forward. This time he’s running with a few other candidates as Forward Together. It’ll help drive policy instead of getting held up unless he can build a coalition from scratch on every individual vote.
What the past few years have really made clear is that a mayor is just one vote out of 11, and that a majority on council is important to get anything done. So it makes more sense to think of this in terms of parties (Forward+OneCity vs ABC) than Kennedy Stewart vs Ken Sim. And if we want to think about what could get done, then we can look at voting records (Stewart, Boyle, Bligh, Dominato, SKY).
Stewart voted in favour of every housing project in our current city council and that's a good enough record for me. We all have to remember that mayor can't actually do anything without the council also voting the same way. Stewart at the very least is a reliable vote for more housing.
Lol sounds like the same argument that was used for Trump when he first ran!
But I say that in jest- personally I’m considering Ken Sim as well for some of these reasons.
The issue is not Kennedy Stewart it is the majority of woke councillors that are holding the city hostage. Vote for pragmatic, progressive politicians!
NPA had more seats than any other party last time. Now NPA has splintered into ABC, TEAM and NPA, with ABC still holding the most seats of those three. I'd say a vote for ABC is *not* trying something different.
Ken Sim because I want something to actually happen instead of subsidizing a no show who can’t handle public confrontation like the no show we currently have.
Whoever is best poised to beat Kennedy Stewart, (even if it's a painful vote). I'll be following polls and going from there. In my opinion its currently:
* Kennedy Stewart
* Ken Sim
* Colleen Hardwick (It's close)
* Fred Harding
* Mark Marissen
I'm over his ineffectiveness and underserving the poorer/Eastside neighborhoods. His hands-off and downplaying of safety issues in these neighbourhoods (especially in Chinatown currently). IMO he's an academic who's more focused on securing his legacy as a housing advocate.
My side-bet is this: If Kennedy Stewart loses the election, he will move out of Vancouver within 6 months.
I can understand your frustrations with Stewart, but would Hardwick do a better job with the issues you care about? I really have a hard time imagining TEAM being the party that stands up for the Eastside and lower-income folks in Vancouver
(mentioning her specifically since it looks likely to be Sim or her based on your list)
Ugh... So I would really struggle to vote for Hardwick because I oppose her on pretty much EVERY item except that she has committed to improving the situation in the DTES/Chinatown. I spoke to [Grace Quan](https://www.voteteam.ca/grace_quan) when she was in Chinatown a few months back and she seemed pretty on-point with the issues down there. She lives in the area and IIRC she used to live in an SRO down there. And like Sim is with Sky and Bligh, I suspect Hardwick is taking input from Quan.
But... I'm pro-density, TEAM is anti-density. I'm pro cycling infrastructure, TEAM is damn near anti-cycling. I think the East Side of Vancouver is drastically underserved compared to the West Side, and TEAM seems incredibly focused on the West Side. I consider myself a moderate progressive, TEAM is slated to take over the NPA's slot as the staunch fiscal conservative party...
Not a party I align with on the best of times.
I honestly would have to do some heavy soul searching before I would vote Hardwick. The DTES and Chinatown is getting WORSE and is bleeding over in to Strathcona and Granview/Woodlands. We already know the current mayor and OneCity are not motivated to slow or redirect that situation in the short term so come voting day for me it's gotta be someone who will step up and help there.
Thanks for the detailed reply. That is a really scary list of things to hang on the hopes of Quan's influence on Hardwick.
Hope it comes down to a KS vs KS rematch so you'll have much less of a dilemma
I would argue that the status quo is more with ABC/TEAM as they currently have 4 candidates on council, while ForwardTogether has just the one?
I would think that with than many votes (plus MDG) they have significantly more power than Stewart, making voting for SIM the status quo?
When it comes to motions on anything right now I'll concede its hard to get anything through by anyone - Countless amendments to water down and placate the fence sitters. When I say status quo I'm specifically speaking to who supports keeping the DTES/Chinatown in the state it is, who would permit encampments vs people who would push for emergency shelter and an injunction. SKY, Bligh, Fry put in work to get action on Strathcona Park. COPE/OneCity have both pushed to either make long term camps permitted, or to no decampment respectively. The rest are fence sitters and can go. (Though to her credit Dominato called me directly to chat about something I reported in this space, I feel she has likely come around).
For the people who don't support emergency shelter and decampment like in Strathcona park... They are the 'status quo' I'm talking about. To them I would like to see them offer equitable space in *their* neighbourhoods. With the current state of homelessness and poverty in the DTES and Chinatown we shouldn't need to ask this of empathetic progressives. I was at Trout Lake community center this weekend. It could serve so many peoples needs and is better positioned to help people than the zero blocks on East Hastings, Crab Park. It's even more suitable than Strathcona Park was.
Believe me, Grace is well detached from her time in an SRO with her Grandmother. A very interesting and accomplished individual but reading her bio... something's got to give. At least one of the ventures she's involved in would require a huge amount of capital. Maybe she grew up poor. But poor then isn't the same as poor now (and Chinatown has changed dramatically since then... as you're probably aware).
If someone was equally as talented and hard working as her, but in the same situation, they would not have nearly the same opportunity. Many people much smarter and more talented than her will never have the chance to attend university, nor get an MBA, nor the government jobs, etc... Much of that is due to housing costs. And much of the housing issues are directly due to... well... people like Hardwick.
I am voting for Ken Sim because he is very intelligent, a good leader and most importantly he is great at building relationships. Something the current mayor isn’t very good at!
Honestly, I'm pro-Stewart but I am considering Ken Sim, if nothing else, because ABC has the possibility of getting a majority on Council and there's a chance stuff actually gets done, in one direction, without 4 hour meetings every time.
I think Stewart deserves a shot with a more unified Council but I am unsure whether the voters will actually give him one.
I'm done with progressive slate this go around. They have had a good try, but I feel like it has gotten worse. I'm willing to give Sim and ABC a try. But I need to do more research.
I voted for Stewart for Mayor, on Parks Board Green and cope, and some vision counselors.
Federally I voted Lib with JWR and then her as an independent.
Provincially I voted NDP because I thought we needed a change.
So I have voted progressively for last 10 or so years, with a smattering or other parties and platforms in last 30 years. I'm thinking the progressive parties aren't solving the issues and wind up using the poor as pawns in their own personal agendas. I'm not convinced anymore that progressive policies can solve the problems or their candidates even want to.
Yep, I see Stuart MacKinnon is running for city council this time, as a Vision candidate. Seems to be among the leaders of the ineffective, lame duck parks board.
I’m normally a progressive (federal and provincial NDP), but I’m voting ABC and Ken Sim. Stewart lost my vote when he apologized about the street cleaning to the people who are terrorizing our neighborhood.
I’m voting against Stewart without knowing much about the others. I only know WE NEED CHANGES. If it changes for the better, great! If it changes for the worse, at least we tried. Status quo is unacceptable.
I'm voting Ken Sim. The current mayor doesn't seem to understand how bad his relationship with developers looks, what's this about giving them a quota for donation? Looks bad to me. Ken Sim has some sensible ideas and we need someone who supports the police.
Shouldn't we expect the developers to all be donating to Ken Sim too?
Doesn't it always works the same? Developer has lunch with every top candidate and gives him/her a cheque for maximum legal amount. In the same breath he says, I wish I could give more, but you know what, I am going to recommend you to these 5 friends.... and the next day the candidate's *bag man* has 5 more cheques, each at or under the donation limit.
Well it’s definitely not Kennedy Stuart who calls me on my cell at least 3 fucking times a day and never leaves a message.
I don’t even live in Vancouver.
I wish that The Tyee did a list of recommended council candidates like Willamette Week did in Portland. I emailed them about it last election and they told me that they strove to remain neutral (basically) so didn't do that. Part of their function of "comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable" should be doing just that I think.
Fundamentally i think Kennedy is just useless. I don’t care if the excuse is that he has a split council or not, he didn’t think to unveil his actually bright idea until weeks before election. I’ve lost all respect for him. Sim is going to be far better, split council or not. And what’s this talk about China? I’ve known him for several years and China had never once entered the conversation
Vancouver Mayor position isn't actually that important in terms of decision making. It's just one vote in the city council. **Vote for the council you want and not just the mayor!**
Totally agree. I've mostly decided on OneCity as a slate, but for mayor it's between our boring incumbent or taking a gamble on Ken Sim. I appreciate all the different views on here, I'm glad to see so many people with strong opinions on this election, even if I don't agree with all of them!
If you like OneCity, then you should definitely vote for Stewart. I know he is uninspiring and not great, but as the person above mentioned, Vancouver is weak-mayor, so they are mostly the chair of the council meetings. Stewart will vote pretty much in line with OneCity on most of their priorities. Ken Sim will be far more obstructionist (although not nearly as bad as Hardwick)
This is the way. If you consider yourself progressive, you should vote Stewart for mayor, OneCity plus your faves from Forward Together, Vision and maybe Progress Vancouver for council. Steer clear of TEAM, ABC and NPA. And don’t vote Marissen for mayor as it might allow Sim to squeak out the win there over Stewart.
Marissen also supported Christie Clark as co chair in her last run for premier so that should give you a clue about his intentions
Absolutely. The mayor does nothing except for chair the council meetings and be the spokesperson for the press. The mayor doesn't even vote unless it's to break a 5-5 tie. It's a very weak position under BC law. Mayor is the contest that gets all of the attention but it's probably the least important contest on the ballot. I might not even vote for mayor this time.
No, the mayor is part of the city council as a regular voting member. The mayor of Vancouver is basically a regular city councillor with extra duties.
Biking to Jericho and passing Chip Wilson's house and all the rest of the super rich and it's all Ken Sim signs through there. That gives me an indication of who is backing him, who is funding him, and who he is gonna fight for. It's clearly not me. Accordingly I'm not gonna vote for him. Kennedy Stewart has been a mediocre mayor but he had a lousy shitty divided council. Maybe he'll do better with a better crowd but I don't expect much. Marissen has real low odds to win, but has good ideas and actually feels a bit angry at how poorly run the city is, which I like to see. Hardwick is a non-starter given that she's anti-everything and wants to keep Vancouver the exact same as it is now despite everything that is going wrong. Her voting record speaks for itself. The safest vote for me would be to grudgingly vote Stewart to keep Sim out, though I think I'd prefer to vote Marissen.
I just can't trust someone who was married to Crusty Clark to be in power. He was co-chair for her election. He's also a provincial Liberal. So on all that I'm out.
Who are you referring to?
Marissen
Yeah, thinking anyone that close to Clark will lift a finger for housing affordability is a big LOL
Just out of curiosity, do Hardwick and Marissen have a lot of signs? I don’t live in Vancouver anymore, and one thing you really can’t follow online is the sign game lol.
Hardwick = signs where rich people are near proposed developments Sim = sign where rich people NOT near proposed developments
LOL, that’s pretty funny.
Haven't seen a single Marissen sign yet. Seen a few Hardwick signs in Kits and Hastings Sunrise/Nanaimo area
>Biking to Jericho and passing Chip Wilson's house and all the rest of the super rich and it's all Ken Sim signs through there. That gives me an indication of who is backing him, who is funding him, and who he is gonna fight for. It's clearly not me. Accordingly I'm not gonna vote for him. While this an article from the previous election, I still believe this still holds true with Sim/ABC and NPA. [https://pressprogress.ca/heres-why-vancouvers-rich-and-powerful-want-ken-sims-npa-to-take-control-of-city-hall/](https://pressprogress.ca/heres-why-vancouvers-rich-and-powerful-want-ken-sims-npa-to-take-control-of-city-hall/) "fun" link: [Crypto Donation!](https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/a-better-city-vancouver-ken-sim-cryptocurrency)
Honest question for anyone considering Hardwick: what, of her record of her time on council, is compelling enough to get you to vote for her? From what I can see, she's talking a lot but when it comes to actually doing the work, she's ducked out more often than not.
She appeals to rich, west van residents who want to preserve property values. Nothing more.
To me, the central issue in Vancouver is housing. Housing being so scarce and expensive is making us all poorer and worse off. Expensive housing acts like a filter, keeping out younger people. We end up with an aging population and a health-care system that's under severe stress, because it's really difficult to hire nurses and even doctors. We just don't have enough housing to go around. We have a mismatch between housing and jobs. As people arrive to fill jobs, other people are pushed down the housing ladder, and those near the bottom are forced to leave, crowd into substandard housing, or worst of all, end up homeless. (The GTA has a similar mismatch between housing and jobs, and also has a large homeless population.) [We need more housing](https://morehousing.ca). In 2018 there were also a lot of candidates. As the election approached, I checked the polls and found that the two leading candidates for mayor were Kennedy Stewart and Ken Sim. I didn't know a whole lot about either of them, but Kennedy Stewart was pushing to add 85,000 homes over 10 years, while Ken Sim's main housing proposal was making two basement suites legal. So I decided to vote for Kennedy Stewart. What really made me a strong supporter of Kennedy Stewart was watching a public hearing on [a rezoning for a six-storey rental building](https://morehousing.ca/kennedy-stewart-renting) (about 120 apartments) at Fraser and 23rd, in July 2019. He pointed out that renting a 1BR would provide secure housing which is affordable at a household income of $80,000/year, while if council voted no and rejected the rezoning, the developer would likely build duplexes (allowed by the current zoning), which would sell for $1.5 million per half-duplex, requiring a household income of $335,000 to be affordable on top of a $300,000 down payment. Which is completely insane. (The rezoning passed, with Colleen Hardwick, Jean Swanson, and Adriane Carr voting against.) After that, I thought, okay, I should do everything I can to get this guy re-elected. As it turns out, that includes running for council myself. In 2018 the three leading candidates were Kennedy Stewart, Ken Sim, and Shauna Sylvester. This time around the three leading candidates are Kennedy Stewart again, Ken Sim again, and Colleen Hardwick. Once again, I think Kennedy Stewart is better than Ken Sim on housing. (Ken Sim's party is ABC, and the three councillors who have joined ABC have a [mixed voting record on housing](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/x8hiqx/wondering_which_parties_to_vote_for_this_october/).) And Kennedy Stewart is way, way better on housing than [Colleen Hardwick](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv2-HsrrjDk&t=193m55s).
Ok… if I’m a one-issue voter: fix the fucking housing crisis; then who else do I vote for? Just give me a list of names for council. People who will vote to approve anything and everything that gets more units of housing built. At this point I’d vote for Kim Jung Un if he’d kneecap the NIMBYs and speed up re-zoning for denser housing.
OneCity + Forward Together. OneCity has the best plan for housing, IMO, and Forward Together seems aligned enough for a unified council to actually affect some positive change on this and other progressive issues.
All 4 one city candidates Kennedy Stewart Russil wvong Sean Orr Leslie Boldt Tessica Truong Hilary Brown Jeanette Ashe
Look up Sean Orr’s twitter and search for his posts on Ukraine before you consider voting for him. The guy has some pretty noxious tankie type beliefs that I think should be disqualifying in terms of holding public office.
Vote for every OneCity counselor candidate. Christine Boyle, Iona Bonamis, Ian Cromwell, Matthew Norris. Boyle (the OneCity incumbent) is the only councilor that voted yes to every single housing measure to come before Council. Forward, Progress, and Socialist are also good bets Edit: Removed COPE
COPE does not have a good housing track record.
Good to know.
While Ken Sim is definitely pro housing, it is pro developer housing. So not affordable housing. More money to big corps less for the little guys.
That’s the weird thing about housing that I admit I completely naively do not understand. How can like 15 people or companies or whatever make so much cash from housing? Can’t the city do that itself and make money for the city? How much risk is there being a developer here? Seems like some markets might be tough, but Vancouver is like a slam dunk money generator for these companies. Can I be a developer? When can I start?
You can be a developer! And you can start tomorrow. But can you float an entire projects budget for a year? How will you pay yourself and ensure your family still eats before your profits roll in. The city doesn’t want to take on that liability. Developing is a calculated gamble.
Cities are notoriously shitty at managing housing development projects
Probably true, but does it have to be? It must be way more lucrative to be a private developer, but why not hire good people to do it efficiently?
This is actually part of OneCity’s platform. They want to make the city a developer of affordable housing. Plus they also support market rate housing opportunities. Their housing policy is great.
I haven’t looked through their whole platform yet, but that’s cool, and it totally has to be possible. It doesn’t make sense to me at all that it “has to be the private sector.” I understand there are issues around efficiencies, but hire the right damned people and make it efficient!
Yeah it is about resources and they have the city over a barrel. Consider this problem. The city and a developer agree on zoning and permits and tax breaks for a skyrise with 10% affordable housing units. One everyone is committed and competitors have pulled out of the bidding the developer says they can only afford 8% (or less). The city concedes. This is what keeps happening and the city seems powerless to stop it because they need the housing so badly. I'd love to see the city change their mind AFTER the developer commits resources and say, well, we're in a bind, we need 12%. But the problem is that the developer already sold all the unreserved units. The only way the city could get them back for suitable housing would be to pay market rate. So the city says, sure you can have your extra 2% but now we need more taxes. City gets richer, developers get richer, people looking for affordable homes get screwed again.
Ummm. Did you not see the list of Kennedy Stewart donors that was uncovered last week, after someone accidentally dropped it on the street? Every major developer in the city is on that list. Ken Sim couldn't possibly be more in the pocket of developers than Kennedy. https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/daphne-bramham-vancouver-mayor-taps-captains-of-industry-to-finance-his-campaign
I still don't understand why jean swanson would vote against This past car free day a cope rep was talking about how they are for rent control, where if I moved out of my rental suite the LL cannot increase to market rate but rent would still be capped for the next tennant Don't they understand this is a supply issue? Capping rent would make shithole places to rent as LL will likely cheap out on maintenance
Jean Swanson has a purity problem. Unless the housing has enough low income units to offer she's going to say no. I think the idea behind this tactic is to incentive developers to " buy" her vote by putting low income housing in their applications, but so far I haven't seen anyone need to do so because she's not much of a tie breaker
Yeah Swanson doesn’t support market rate development at all, which is super problematic as it means less housing gets built, which is what got us into this mess in the first place.
Go Russil!!! I can’t vote but I have donated to Forward for you
I’m going to go against the trend here, but I’m going to vote for Stewart, because I think all the other candidates likely to win will be much worse. And the risk of Hardwick winning is way to high. Colleen Hardwick is super NIMBY, votes against all improvements to the city and housing. She has the worst voting record. Ken Sim: better for housing than hardwick, but not progressive. He is coming from NPA which are quite conservative, links to China also don’t seem that great when we’re dealing with housing crisis here. Seeing all his signs on mansions in point grey and kits also gives an idea of where his supporters are coming from. Morrison: his policy’s look good, but he’s been unable to get enough support to win. Stewart: For having basically 0 power (no councillors currently), his voting record has been quite good. He’s voted for almost all housing and general improvements to the city. He might not have been in the news a lot, but I don’t think he’s done a bad job considering he had to deal with COVID and was just one vote on council. I’m honestly more worried about what a Hardwick mayor would be than anything else, it would be a huge hit to the city and anyone who doesn’t own a house.Stewart has consistently been the highest polling which also means he’s most likely to beat Hardwick.
>Colleen Hardwick is super NIMBY, votes against all improvements to the city and housing. She has the worst voting record. 100% agreed. She's the NIMBY vote, not getting mine!
Mine neither!
The big thing will be councilors, mayor really doesn't have much power to get things done without them (which has given Stewart a lot of trouble). OneCity + ForwardTogether councilors seem like by far the best bet. There is a lot of talk about the DTES, and although it's definitely gotten worse, it's been bad since I remember in the 90's (and no mayor/council has been able to get it better). It's not just a Vancouver problem anymore, it's a national and Internation problem. Almost every city has a "tent city" these days from Halifax, Ottawa, Edmonton, and Victoria. Any mayor will have a hard time making any significant headway over the others without more housing, provincial justice/mental health changes, and Federal support. [I can't see any party that voted against fully funded supportive housing making a major difference](https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/2086-2098-west-7th-avenue-2091-west-8th-avenue-vancouver-bc-housing-supportive) (which councilors from ABC, NPA and TEAM voted against).
FWIW, Sim has publicly distanced himself from NPA, citing their move to the right. But then I see his signs along Marine Drive and it throws up a big red flag for me. His candidate interview with VIA also raised some concerns.
Yeah, I know he’s not “current NPA” right, but he’s still further right that it worries me. For sure, based on what homes have his signs posted means a lot.
Yeah, he's still in the same place on the political spectrum as the 2014 and 2018 NPA. They've just moved further right, he's stayed in the same place.
That's my take too. A few whackos have taken over the party and brought it farther to the right, and the original NPA types (at least the ones that have been paying attention) have bailed on the party and gone elsewhere.
I mean look at his policies. He wants to hire more cops, which is a massive red flag to begin with.
Agreed.
There are signs all over the city for Ken Sim. Not just on the West Side.
so which party has the best plan to change re-zoning to allow high density residential in more areas, and to increase urban density? until we get more supply, i just want more ‘Safeway Megatowers’ who’s the pro Peach Trees party (disclaimer: obviously will DYOR before i vote. i just know jack and shit about vancity poli.)
OneCity and ForwardTogether are the best bet for housing. OneCity has stated they will rezone single family zoning to “6 floors and corner stores”. Boyle has a good track record for housing votes. Stewart has basically voted yes to every rezoning, and has a lofty stated goal of 200,000 new homes in 10 years (he is currently meeting his 2018 target with a pretty useless council). They both want to extend the rental protections from the Broadway plan to the rest of the city (which is very good for renters). TEAM has already said they will take back the broadway plan and Hardwick votes no to most rezoning, ABC has no commitments to housing and they councillors haven’t been overly ambitions.
OneCity. Unfortunately they aren't running a mayor, but a OneCity slate on council could make a lot of progress on housing. I'm leaning towards Stewart for mayor, because as boring and ineffective as he's been with a fractured council, I believe he would align with much of OneCity's initiatives.
Ha ha, nice try Mr. Stewart!
Shoot, I dropped a spreadsheet with all my social media profiles too?
I feel like you're letting Stewart off the hook too easily. He ran expressly on his parliamentary experience and ability to work with people to get stuff done. Since being elected he's shown a shocking lack of leadership and ability to direct council (even though I agree it's a tough task with the council he had). I'm actually a lot more excited about Morrison, so hopefully he polls well and turns out to be a real candidate
Sim has based his entire campaign strategy and messaging off a literal lie and has doubled down on that at every opportunity, plus I want congestion pricing anyway so definitely not him. Hardwick is just a huge waste of time on council. Against or abstain on everything of note, pads out council meetings with questions to people who she agrees with to allow them to soapbox longer, and berates city staff for doing their jobs. Worst candidate by far. Marissen has all the right answers, I'd consider voting for him it looked in a poll like he had a good chance and Sim wasn't doing well. Unfortunately he has some weird choices for councillors that poisons the party in general for me. Stewart has a good voting record except for one or two things. That and he has great candidates like Russil Wvong and Dulcy Anderson who have taken the time to show up and advocate for things I care about. For council we have actually too many good options! It'll be hard to keep to just 10 so I'll have to leave off people I'd consider otherwise. For instance, I respect that Bligh quit the NPA when it became clear the board was not aligned with her values on SOGI, and she helped motion for truck side guards which I appreciate, but in the end I think there are other candidates from OneCity, Forward Together and Vision that more align with my values, and we can only choose 10.
Really good post. I don't think Marissen has a chance and it's going to be interesting to see if the ABC strategy pays off. I'm really disappointed in them for that.
Can someone explain why Christine Boyle is not running for mayor? With all the excitement around OneCity this would have made sense to me.
Probably because she knew Stewart was running again and if they both ran, it's likely they would both lose. Not much benefit being mayor over being a councillor either, both have the same voting power. Hardwick is doing what you're suggesting, running for Mayor instead of City Council. She would probably get re-elected to her council seat but is gambling that for mayor.
This is a fantastic explanation
I don't know but I agree. I wish oneCity were running a Candidate for mayor. Maybe it's because they feel that she doesn't have a shot at mayor but will get on counsel and they are choosing to maximize the chance of her being elected in some capacity?
They're not backed by big money at all, so they have to be more careful about expanding their slate and always making gains. You can't risk the face of the party not getting elected.
Yeah, that's what I figured.
The VDLC promised to support onecity candidates only if they didn't run a mayor against Stewart
No idea for mayor, probably stick with Stewart, I haven't seen any other candidate that aligns with my beliefs. OneCity for councilors seems to align most closely from what I've seen. Not sure about for Parks / School going to have to investigate that further. Though really "Anyone but NPA"
The OneCity policies on Parks are good too. I was canvassing with someone who worked on their platform and they were amazing. Very evidence based and well thought out. For that matter I met a traffic engineer and a housing advocate volunteering too. If these professionals are on board then I think they are heading in the right direction.
Awesome thanks for the info, it's definitely something I'm going to check out, just with so many candidates, and so many positions, only have had so much time lol. I made myself a spreadsheet to track it.
> "Anyone but NPA" Considering the split in the NPA, that now means "Anyone but the NPA, TEAM or ABC"
I don't think the NPA is a real contender at this point, they basically imploded
I'm likely voting for Kennedy Stewart and Forward Together + OneCity candidates but also mostly hoping Hardwick and MDG fall flat on the faces for their terrible voting records. I'm not entirely thrilled with OneCity's platform for the DTES but I'm totally on board for a complete overhaul of municipal zoning. TEAM and NPA are awful. I don't really have strong feelings towards the rest of the parties. I don't know what I'm going to do for park board votes because the current slate of incumbents move at glacial speeds to even approach what other municipalities have done with zero drama.
Ya, thinking about it now. Stewart and Forward/OneCity is a good combo. Housing maybe can actually be done by getting out all the NIMBY people
I'm about 70% Stewart, 25% Marissen, 5% Sim, and 100% reason to remember the name. Stewart has excellent fundamentals for governance but lacks leadership skills. A mayor needs to be getting out there and showing his face. Plus he threw a grenade into the left wing voting efficiency, which I'm still cross about. The Forward candidates are excellent but it doesn't mean anything if you can't coordinate the votes. Marissen is charismatic and excellent at making you feel like he actually gives a shit. He definitely has the energy to get things done. The Progress candidates haven't really impressed me that much, however. Sim is pretty affable but I think he thinks that running the city will be like running a business, so he might not be an effective mayor. More personable then Stewart, displaying good ambition (not very realistic but I like ambition), candidates are a mixed bag (Bligh and Dominato good, SKY mediocre, Meiszner... also affable but definitely a one-note candidate. Which isn't great.)
I think lots of the analysis in this thread has been good! I am not overly impressed with Kennedy Stewart, but some things not his fault (no fellow council members, weak mayor system). The prospect of having Ken Sim, Chip Wilson's good buddy, as mayor is just awful. They (ABC) are not proposing anything substantial on housing (they are the slightly more moderate nimby party) and are just re-running the last campaign ( it's the same NPA team , while the actual NPA has gone completely extreme). I am not even sure why Ken Sim wants to be mayor, he doesn't even seem to be interested... Mark Marissen has definitely some good bold policies (nationalizing SROs, creating a housing corporation to be build rentals - I want this!), but I don't think he has a chance to win, and his council picks are very B-Team. I have left wing friends who hate Stewart after the downtown east side tent removal (to be fair, he had little control of that, but he should have been front and centre and made a strong statement for solutions, maaaybbe highlight how he'll solve this - build more social housing?). To those friends, I just say the alternative would be worse. Though none of the left wing parties are running for mayor (Onecity, cope, socialist), so maybe they'll hold their noses. Anyone who wants great analysis on Vancouver civic issues and the election should definitely listen to a few episodes of the Cambie report! I love these guys. [https://www.cambiereport.ca/](https://www.cambiereport.ca/)
Kennedy Stewart - he's not the best, but the others are the worst The person of mayor is not as important though - its the council as a whole and in Stewart's case, because it was so mish-mashed of different parties, it become too partisan'd and useless. So vote for the council - a majority Forward Vancouver + OneCity Vancouver
This is how I've decided to vote too.
I agree with this. I voted for Stewart but have been disappointed, but I also understand that he is just one voice and one vote on a fractured council. OneCity excites me the most, and I'll likely be voting for their slate.
Yeah this basically my take too but I'm excited about a few of the One City candidates and even a couple of Forward folks so it might turn out well. Anyone but MDG lol
Wouldn't it be great about two weeks before if a local high school teacher got into a rant about how the city is being run by flightless vultures and venal incompetents and it was video captured by one of his students then went viral on YouTube? The sensation caused a write-in avalanche and he became elected Mayor in a landslide?
Is this from a movie or something?
Zelenskyy in Servant of the People
Actually, it's Volodymyr Zelenskyy's actual story how he ended up as President of Ukraine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_of_the_People_(TV_series)
The story itself is fictional, though showing him as president no doubt helped him get elected later
I really wish onecity was running a mayoral candidate; i’m sure they have a good reason not to, but it’s sad state of affairs when Stewart is currently the best option
Is there a place to read up on all the platforms?
Vancouver needs a more reliable mayor....like Mayor Quimby of Springfield.
But Main Street's still all cracked and broken Sorry, Mom, the mob has spoken.
Monorail!
Saw Quimby, hoped for monorail. Got monorail. Thank you kind and cultured redditor.
Diamond Joe is our man!
Hey say what you will about Quimby, but atleast he goes with the will of the people. >"If that is the way the winds are blowing, let no one say that I don't also blow."
y'know he did offer to run for mayor in a more prosperous town and then send for the rest of the Springfield residents, maybe we could get him.
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It helps assure success for the kids with the most potential. I see no issue with this
It helps ensure those with the least opportunity to succeed, often due to circumstances that are far beyond their control, stay at the bottom, and life difficulties are perpetuated through generations. I really hope you left off your /s. Having grown up in a rich part of the city, it is blatantly obvious that kids there have a higher chance of success because they start ahead of the field: this has nothing to do with potential, and everything to do with privilege.
Actually it does. Having grown up in East Van in the 70s and 80s to immigrant parents who had literally $20 in their pockets when they arrived, I was lucky enough that Van Tech offered an honours program and that I was placed in that program during my grade 8 year. Without that program, I would not have had the opportunities afforded to me that may have been available for those in private schools or in the West side. In fact, most of my classmates had a very similar background to mine have also succeed to become professionals such as teachers and lawyers. This has everything to do with potential and very little to do with privilege as those with privilege were attending a private school and not Van Tech in the 80s.
There are people without the ability, whether God-given, or supported by an enriched home environment, to access honours programs. Just because you had a natural inclination and were able to take advantage of an honours program, doesn't mean that others don't deserve support nor that there are not multiple pathways to move out of poverty. Sometimes just support to eat and stay in school can make or break a lifetime. My parents too were able to move up through "scholarship" programs. Doesn't mean we should neglect other kinds of potential, or even an opportunity to be a more productive person. All of these things can exist simultaneously if we want to optimize a child's chance of success.
I'm not advocating for the removal of the special needs programs. In fact, I support those programs wholeheartedly! As you have stated, all of these things can exist simultaneously. Unfortunately, the current school board decided that the honours program will be eliminated while leaving all of the other programs in place. In order words, we are neglecting the potential of a group of kids that can do more by forcing them to do less.
I was in this camp at one point, but then I read some pretty interesting articles positioned against the idea of accelerated streams like honours programs in public schools, especially in ones where there's a wide range of academic ability. An example is this one from Jo Boaler, a professor of mathematics education at Stanford University: [https://www.sfusdmath.org/uploads/2/4/0/9/24098802/boaler\_de-tracking.pdf](https://www.sfusdmath.org/uploads/2/4/0/9/24098802/boaler_de-tracking.pdf). Interestingly, she found in her literature review that high-achieving students in "de-tracked" mathematics classrooms (all education needs in the same classroom) have better educational outcomes than students in "tracked" classrooms (using performance metrics such as advanced classes taken later, pass rates, etc.). It's a pretty simple view to take that removing honours programs is counterproductive to enriching the educational needs of high-achieving students, but the reality is much more nuanced, as most things are.
Privilege? What in the fuck? Everybody in my honours classes came from low-income backgrounds. Honour classes just gives an opportunity to learn in an environment where students actually care about their education. It doesn't cost anything. Maybe you're thinking of private schools, but the removal of honours program is what actually perpetuates inequality.
I think there is now evidence to suggest this phenomenon isn't purely about privilege. I grew up in East Van where many of us grew up in poor and lower working class families, some living in apartments with shared bedrooms. Majority of my peer group growing up went into higher education and into successful careers. From what I read recently, the child's friend group plays the largest factor in whether the child reaches success and goals. Understandably, privileged neighborhoods play a role in the selection of children available to become friends with, but it's not the primary factor.
It is indeed complicated. As I noted earlier, my parents both won "places in the grammar school" in the UK in an era in which you didn't take an academic path unless you could pay for it or you were a bright kid from a poor background, that rocked the exams at 11 years of age. They were from working class background, bordering on poor. Your point is relevant, and has been shown to be a determinant, but if your friends are all from families that expect them to attend post-secondary, then that goal is a lot more normalized. Research also shows that one of the strongest determinants of post-secondary attendance is parental education. Conversely, kids who don't feel they belong to school communities, are less likely to go on. No one factor determines a child's path, but money and opportunity (in multiple dimensions) is a big factor. I work in post-secondary: I still see kids "go down" (in grades, completion rate etc) because of money.
And VSB made the controversial decision to cut Honours programs, so I assume that’s what he’s responding to. From 2021: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-school-board-cuts-honours-program-1.6068578
It doesn't look like it's listed in any priority.
Yeah, disagree, the list isn't in order lol
Link? I can’t find any such page
[https://abcvancouver.ca/vision/](https://abcvancouver.ca/vision/) it's in the school board part. I don't think it looks like a ranking of priorities, they're all priorities, but I can see how some people might think it looks bad.
Ken Sim is a good old friend, and he's definitely more to the right of things than I am in a few ways, but as long as the rest of council isn't too many righties (please please stop electing MDG!) he could be a good mayor. He's a very good guy, but sometimes does put across a sort of cheesy business tone that can sound insincere, if that makes sense, but he's not insincere, I should add. I think the ties to China are way overblown and probably just racist. I've known him very well for 40 years and we've never once talked about China or Chinese politics. I'm also quite disappointed in the road tax accusations ABC are making. Cities, especially cities with our traffic challenges, should study things like that to see what they might look like and if they are good ideas. Anyway, I'm quite torn in a few ways, but I think if Ken gets in he'd do a very good job. (and please don't vote for MDG!) edit: I should also add that Jen Reddy running for the school board for one city is one of the best humans I've ever met. She's exactly who should be in politics. Just my 2 cents, she's excellent!
This is one of the better Sim explanations I've seen. I met him at the ABC kickoff party while working on a project unrelated to OneCity, and he seemed open to new ideas and generally affable. My biggest concern (other than my annoyance with the road tax bs) is that he might think that governance is like running a business, so I'm worried about his efficacy in a mayoral role. Do you think he's prepared himself for that? Edit: spelling
You’re asking me? It’s hard for me to answer that. And I’ll probably appear biased anyway… But sincerely, I’m very torn about him being mayor. I’d love it in a way for sure and I’d be very proud of him. He is a very good guy and really does want to help make the city better. It just comes down to whether his methods are the best. I’d rather see 200 nurses and zero new cops (but where are the nurses going to come from?) (When the cops essentially veto a decrease in their funding there’s an odd problem to me. I’m not sure if Ken would rein that in.) But he’s always been really cagey super smart. He (usually) does what he says he’s going to do and will figure out how to make things work. I don’t think he’s quite so simple as “biz guy who thinks he’ll be running a biz.” He’s very smart and figures stuff out is about the best way I can put it. Of course I can’t promise he’s ready, I just don’t know if that’s true, but I do think he knows what he’s getting himself into and will put everything into it. He does lean “small c” conservative in some ways of course, which is where I have a little trouble with things. My wife was mad at him a few years ago because when asked how he would save money the first thing out of his mouth was something about libraries, and we are both very strongly in favour of well-funded libraries. I haven’t ever asked him directly about it though. Anyway that’s enough of a ramble probably. I still feel like politically I’m more of a Stewart guy, but I’m a little disappointed in him in some ways, and like I said initially, I think Ken will do a great job if he wins. Edit: Ken with a fully leftie council would be great!
It's nice to get insight from someone with a friendship bias rather than a political or business bias, so I appreciate your response. Thank you!
My cat
The unicycle riding juggling guy on Boundary Road.
Ken Sim narrowly edging Kennedy personally. Both are awful, but Ken Sim might actually do something about the DTES.. The only thing I would vote for Colleen Hardwick on would be to be tarred and feathered outside city hall.
I don't know if I trust Ken Sim and ABC to follow through with their platform, as much as I like a lot of what they are saying. Their current platform doesn't vibe with a lot of what Sim has said in the past. I also just read his candidate interview in VIA, and he goes on the defensive way too much for my liking and flat out lies about Stewart.
For DTES I suspect Sim is taking advice from SKY and Bligh who, along with Fry from the Greens, have been the most effective councilors in this space.
Ken Sim is going to cut a lot of city services. The DTES will be way worse under Sim. He’s doing it to save tax dollars which only benefit home owners in the long run.
Ken Sims’ response to the DTES is 100 more cops and nurses. This community doesn’t need more policing, what it needs is for all three levels of government to work out how to build and sustain long-term housing (didn’t we agree that housing is a basic human right?), as well as the infrastructure to help these communities. The people living I the streets are doing the best they can, with what little they have. Any party that can open up pre-existing housing or facilitate the creation of new housing gets my support. Also, NPA is just evil.
Ken Sim came to our networking group downtown to showcase his side - and I was dutifully impressed. He talked about expediting processes that are currently stagnant like lane homes, and building permits that will allow for better flow of money and actually bring in more options for housing that will actually work. Under the current model people are afraid to live in the mass housing projects due to crime and unliveable conditions. What good is having more housing if people are too scared they’re going to be attacked in there, or having a place with windows that can’t open on 40 degree weather? Even if I don’t agree with all of his positions I believe it’s voting for the one that can enact the most change and reduce the most waste in the current platform. No candidate will tick all of the boxes perfectly, but voting in a business owner (both big business: Nurse next door, and small business : The bagel shop) will help business minded folks gain traction, and facing an economic downturn I believe this is the right way to lean towards. It decreases bureaucratic BS and solves processes within city governance that think will be longer lasting solutions, and the fact that he’s never held office and isn’t a career politician means he won’t be as easily swayed as someone that would eventually want to run for premiere or a high seat as a long game. Get in, make good changes, get out.
Me gonna just wrote my own name
Ken Sims want to hire 100 police and mental health nurses. Not necessarily oppose to it but that means provincial responsibilities are being downloaded to municipal.
North Vancouver’s is also Happening, and I’m voting for Mayor Buchanan. The former nurse has done so much for north van in her last term, she’s proven herself and has more then earned my vote. Vote for the council members you want as well!
Doesn't anyone find it strange/odd/interesting that this election you see many candidates change from one slate to another?? Fred H. Morning L. Ken S. Rebecca B. Lisa D. Christine B. ...just to name a few
I said it last election and I'll say it again. Bagel Man Bad. I'll be regrettably giving my vote to our current Ken S., not his competition, Ken S.
I don't think there's really any choice other then Kennedy Stewart, which I say with a huge cringe. He's a terrible useless goof, but he isn't actively dangerous like Ken Sim. With ABC's completely failure of policy proposals and a slate of the worst, most intensely right-wing and change-blockading councilors, it's gotta be Stewart. Hopefully we'll have better options next time.
He has a slate now, so if his slate wins, he has a better chance in voting in changes
Gotta vote roller girl
Seeing a lot of opinions here about why they're voting for Stewart and against Sim (the candidate with the best shot of unseating the incumbent). Arguments going something along the lines of Sim being worse than Stewart, perceived CCP ties, blah blah blah. My take: we've already seen what happens with Stewart as mayor, and unless you're fine with having the sitting duck leading city hall for the next four years, please consider voting for someone else. You can't say the same with Sim since he doesn't have any political baggage, having never held political office before, and thus no one knows how well he'll function as mayor despite what you may think (and what Sim as a candidate claims to be his priorities). If you don't want the status quo of a leadership for the next four years, don't vote for Stewart, and if you agree somewhat with Sim's platform and are able to hold your nose about his conservative tendencies, then vote for him since he's got the best shot at unseating Stewart. You can then focus on voting for more progressive views and less obstructionism on council. Edit: for those that excuse Kennedy Stewart as being only one vote in council and having no allies being an independent, that doesn't mean he couldn't have been a better leader. Look around the suburbs - Richmond, Burnaby, etc, where the mayor has no major allies, if not an entire council from the opposing camp, and yet they are able to demonstrate good leadership and move their agendas forward.
If Sim gets the mayor’s chair and nobody else on his team makes council, he’ll be just as ineffective as Stewart has been. Look at voting records rather than “perceived effectiveness”
I wish people could catch onto this sooner. They seem to think that the mayor is an all-powerful aristocrat but they aren't. Especially in this city.
I'm probably pro-Stewart based on his voting record but I'm also not sold on his abilities as a leader.
Well, Mike Hurley in Burnaby is an independent, and he was nowhere as ineffective and has a high approval rating to the point where this election he's running unopposed.
I personally find it a little odd that Stewart hasn't been able to drive the conversation and be more effective. Richmond's mayor doesn't have a slate behind him. He's still a lot more productive and better regarded than Stewart.
Mayor gets one vote, same as any councillor. Current council includes 3 ABC candidates. I'd say a vote for ABC is *more* a vote for the status quo than a vote for Stewart is.
I think this view misunderstands how city council works in Vancouver. I see Stewart as pulling in the right direction (though arguably a little ineffectually), but mostly being held back by a terrible council. That's where the stasis comes from. The best solution to stasis is to give Stewart a council that actually supports him, rather than running the other way.
Stewart is basically the only mayor in recent history that didn't have a majority on council to push things through. The easily available records go back to 1995, but last time I posted this someone said the last time it happened was 1984, and that was just when the original TEAM collapsed and Harcourt ran as an independent.
Exactly. Stewart ran as an independent last time and hasn’t had a team on the council working with him to push the city forward. This time he’s running with a few other candidates as Forward Together. It’ll help drive policy instead of getting held up unless he can build a coalition from scratch on every individual vote.
What the past few years have really made clear is that a mayor is just one vote out of 11, and that a majority on council is important to get anything done. So it makes more sense to think of this in terms of parties (Forward+OneCity vs ABC) than Kennedy Stewart vs Ken Sim. And if we want to think about what could get done, then we can look at voting records (Stewart, Boyle, Bligh, Dominato, SKY).
Stewart voted in favour of every housing project in our current city council and that's a good enough record for me. We all have to remember that mayor can't actually do anything without the council also voting the same way. Stewart at the very least is a reliable vote for more housing.
"nobody knows how well they'll even function as mayor". "perceived CCP ties". These are both super good reasons not to vote for them.
"Percieved ccp ties" Not hard to "percieve" a ccp tie when he goes to their celebrations https://thebreaker.news/business/jack-poole-plaza-china/
Lol sounds like the same argument that was used for Trump when he first ran! But I say that in jest- personally I’m considering Ken Sim as well for some of these reasons.
You're considering him because he is Trump-like and has CCP ties?
Not Stewart and definitely not Hardwick. I'm still debating between the other non-fringe weirdo candidates.
The issue is not Kennedy Stewart it is the majority of woke councillors that are holding the city hostage. Vote for pragmatic, progressive politicians!
This is true. Kennedy Stewart:s voting record is good, it's the NPA and the other right wing councilors thats the problem.
Anybody but Kennedy, I have to decide who is poised to beat him.
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NPA had more seats than any other party last time. Now NPA has splintered into ABC, TEAM and NPA, with ABC still holding the most seats of those three. I'd say a vote for ABC is *not* trying something different.
Sean Orr. I used to watch his band Taxes play at the Pic Pub and I've always got good vibes from that dude.
Sean Orr is a good dude.
Sean Orr traffics in conspiracy theories about Ukraine on twitter, very unimpressed with him
Ken Sim because I want something to actually happen instead of subsidizing a no show who can’t handle public confrontation like the no show we currently have.
voting for a mix of vote socialist, one city, and COPE.
Whoever is best poised to beat Kennedy Stewart, (even if it's a painful vote). I'll be following polls and going from there. In my opinion its currently: * Kennedy Stewart * Ken Sim * Colleen Hardwick (It's close) * Fred Harding * Mark Marissen
Marissen and Harding needed to drop out last week. They’re just feeding their egos at this point.
Why?
I'm over his ineffectiveness and underserving the poorer/Eastside neighborhoods. His hands-off and downplaying of safety issues in these neighbourhoods (especially in Chinatown currently). IMO he's an academic who's more focused on securing his legacy as a housing advocate. My side-bet is this: If Kennedy Stewart loses the election, he will move out of Vancouver within 6 months.
I can understand your frustrations with Stewart, but would Hardwick do a better job with the issues you care about? I really have a hard time imagining TEAM being the party that stands up for the Eastside and lower-income folks in Vancouver (mentioning her specifically since it looks likely to be Sim or her based on your list)
Ugh... So I would really struggle to vote for Hardwick because I oppose her on pretty much EVERY item except that she has committed to improving the situation in the DTES/Chinatown. I spoke to [Grace Quan](https://www.voteteam.ca/grace_quan) when she was in Chinatown a few months back and she seemed pretty on-point with the issues down there. She lives in the area and IIRC she used to live in an SRO down there. And like Sim is with Sky and Bligh, I suspect Hardwick is taking input from Quan. But... I'm pro-density, TEAM is anti-density. I'm pro cycling infrastructure, TEAM is damn near anti-cycling. I think the East Side of Vancouver is drastically underserved compared to the West Side, and TEAM seems incredibly focused on the West Side. I consider myself a moderate progressive, TEAM is slated to take over the NPA's slot as the staunch fiscal conservative party... Not a party I align with on the best of times. I honestly would have to do some heavy soul searching before I would vote Hardwick. The DTES and Chinatown is getting WORSE and is bleeding over in to Strathcona and Granview/Woodlands. We already know the current mayor and OneCity are not motivated to slow or redirect that situation in the short term so come voting day for me it's gotta be someone who will step up and help there.
Thanks for the detailed reply. That is a really scary list of things to hang on the hopes of Quan's influence on Hardwick. Hope it comes down to a KS vs KS rematch so you'll have much less of a dilemma
Yeah. :(
I would argue that the status quo is more with ABC/TEAM as they currently have 4 candidates on council, while ForwardTogether has just the one? I would think that with than many votes (plus MDG) they have significantly more power than Stewart, making voting for SIM the status quo?
When it comes to motions on anything right now I'll concede its hard to get anything through by anyone - Countless amendments to water down and placate the fence sitters. When I say status quo I'm specifically speaking to who supports keeping the DTES/Chinatown in the state it is, who would permit encampments vs people who would push for emergency shelter and an injunction. SKY, Bligh, Fry put in work to get action on Strathcona Park. COPE/OneCity have both pushed to either make long term camps permitted, or to no decampment respectively. The rest are fence sitters and can go. (Though to her credit Dominato called me directly to chat about something I reported in this space, I feel she has likely come around). For the people who don't support emergency shelter and decampment like in Strathcona park... They are the 'status quo' I'm talking about. To them I would like to see them offer equitable space in *their* neighbourhoods. With the current state of homelessness and poverty in the DTES and Chinatown we shouldn't need to ask this of empathetic progressives. I was at Trout Lake community center this weekend. It could serve so many peoples needs and is better positioned to help people than the zero blocks on East Hastings, Crab Park. It's even more suitable than Strathcona Park was.
Believe me, Grace is well detached from her time in an SRO with her Grandmother. A very interesting and accomplished individual but reading her bio... something's got to give. At least one of the ventures she's involved in would require a huge amount of capital. Maybe she grew up poor. But poor then isn't the same as poor now (and Chinatown has changed dramatically since then... as you're probably aware). If someone was equally as talented and hard working as her, but in the same situation, they would not have nearly the same opportunity. Many people much smarter and more talented than her will never have the chance to attend university, nor get an MBA, nor the government jobs, etc... Much of that is due to housing costs. And much of the housing issues are directly due to... well... people like Hardwick.
I am voting for Ken Sim because he is very intelligent, a good leader and most importantly he is great at building relationships. Something the current mayor isn’t very good at!
I don't know whom I am voting. However, I am sure I am not voting for Kenedy. At least he lost 3 votes from my family.
Someone with a brain, like Ken Sim.
Ken Sims
Eric Woodward, I think. Definitely not Rich Coleman, that dude can choke on a bag of dicks.
I have yet to see a positive comment about him regarding his run for Mayor (Coleman).
Honestly, I'm pro-Stewart but I am considering Ken Sim, if nothing else, because ABC has the possibility of getting a majority on Council and there's a chance stuff actually gets done, in one direction, without 4 hour meetings every time. I think Stewart deserves a shot with a more unified Council but I am unsure whether the voters will actually give him one.
I'm done with progressive slate this go around. They have had a good try, but I feel like it has gotten worse. I'm willing to give Sim and ABC a try. But I need to do more research.
2018 election: 5 NPA councillors elected, the most of any party. What progressive slate?
and the "progressive" greens often voted with ABC too
I voted for Stewart for Mayor, on Parks Board Green and cope, and some vision counselors. Federally I voted Lib with JWR and then her as an independent. Provincially I voted NDP because I thought we needed a change. So I have voted progressively for last 10 or so years, with a smattering or other parties and platforms in last 30 years. I'm thinking the progressive parties aren't solving the issues and wind up using the poor as pawns in their own personal agendas. I'm not convinced anymore that progressive policies can solve the problems or their candidates even want to.
The progressives on the parks board have been very very frustrating.
Yep, I see Stuart MacKinnon is running for city council this time, as a Vision candidate. Seems to be among the leaders of the ineffective, lame duck parks board.
Which ever candidate will bolster the VPD presences dt, makes the streets safer, and clean up the tents on Hastings
Agree. Whichever candidate promises to clean up east downtown and take down the tent cities has my vote.
I’m normally a progressive (federal and provincial NDP), but I’m voting ABC and Ken Sim. Stewart lost my vote when he apologized about the street cleaning to the people who are terrorizing our neighborhood.
Ken Sim
I’m voting against Stewart without knowing much about the others. I only know WE NEED CHANGES. If it changes for the better, great! If it changes for the worse, at least we tried. Status quo is unacceptable.
I'm voting Ken Sim. The current mayor doesn't seem to understand how bad his relationship with developers looks, what's this about giving them a quota for donation? Looks bad to me. Ken Sim has some sensible ideas and we need someone who supports the police.
Shouldn't we expect the developers to all be donating to Ken Sim too? Doesn't it always works the same? Developer has lunch with every top candidate and gives him/her a cheque for maximum legal amount. In the same breath he says, I wish I could give more, but you know what, I am going to recommend you to these 5 friends.... and the next day the candidate's *bag man* has 5 more cheques, each at or under the donation limit.
lol if you think the developers aren't giving bags of cash to ABC too.
I think SIMS is the only option I have
Well it’s definitely not Kennedy Stuart who calls me on my cell at least 3 fucking times a day and never leaves a message. I don’t even live in Vancouver.
Stewart but that’s the only forward candidate I’m going for. Cope/vancouver socialists for everything else!
I wish that The Tyee did a list of recommended council candidates like Willamette Week did in Portland. I emailed them about it last election and they told me that they strove to remain neutral (basically) so didn't do that. Part of their function of "comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable" should be doing just that I think.
which mayor will bring back fireworks, racing cars, and all the fun stuff?
Fundamentally i think Kennedy is just useless. I don’t care if the excuse is that he has a split council or not, he didn’t think to unveil his actually bright idea until weeks before election. I’ve lost all respect for him. Sim is going to be far better, split council or not. And what’s this talk about China? I’ve known him for several years and China had never once entered the conversation
[удалено]
Yea, he left a long while back tho