Opinion: Vancouver by-election is a referendum on Mayor Ken Sim and ABC | Daily Hive

Opinion: Vancouver City Council by-election is a referendum on Mayor Ken Sim and ABC

Colleen Hardwick and Theodore Abbott. (TEAM For A Livable Vancouver)

Written for Daily Hive Urbanized by former Vancouver city councillor Colleen Hardwick and Theodore Abbott, who are the TEAM For A Livable Vancouver party’s candidates in the Vancouver City Council by-election.

The Vancouver City Council by-election this Saturday, April 5, will mark a pivotal moment in the City of Vancouver’s future direction.

Not only will this by-election be a referendum on Mayor Ken Sim’s rule, but the two city councillors chosen by voters will indicate what kind of city people want to live in and how neighbourhoods and communities will be involved in the decision-making process.

The results from the by-election will be significant, given that the general election is just over 18 months away.

There’s a laundry list of problems facing Vancouver. Housing unaffordability tops the list for many residents, but street crime and safety is near the top as well, especially when you don’t feel safe walking outside your own home. For others, Vancouver City Hall’s attempts to simply “delete” the independent and democratically elected Vancouver Park Board feels like a punch to the gut. All of this can be attributed to one person: Mayor Ken Sim.

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This by-election is a referendum on Ken Sim and ABC. In the last civic election, in 2022, ABC won a supermajority because voters wanted to get rid of Mayor Kennedy Stewart, and were told that voting for TEAM would split the vote.

TEAM had just been formed in 2021, and unlike Ken Sim, didn’t spend years raising over $2 million from rich donors from the property development industry. Although we raised just 10 per cent of what ABC raised, we fielded candidates that truly wanted to represent the opinions and concerns of residents at City Hall, and our policies were rooted in the best practices of community consultation. These values are clearly not represented in how Ken Sim and ABC rule the city.

So, here we are, two and a half years after the 2022 election. Does anyone think Ken Sim has done a good job? Under his ABC supermajority, everything has gotten worse. The city is no cleaner. It’s no safer. And it’s no more affordable. Taxes have increased more than they did under Kennedy Stewart. To top all that, Ken Sim has shown an incredible level of obstinance when it comes to listening to residents. News flash: he doesn’t care what you think, and he never will.

Democracy has been further eroded by Ken Sim’s vendetta against the Park Board. We all know that abolishing the Park Board is not about saving money. It’s about the land within our parks being shifted to the City, specifically to real estate and facilities management, where it would undoubtedly become the target of developers in the real estate development industry.

The Broadway Plan has enabled a feeding frenzy of land speculation within the 500 blocks bordered between Clark Drive and Vine Street, 1st Avenue and 16th Avenue. There are now 140 rezoning applications for high-rise towers that will bulldoze affordable rental walkup buildings and further inflate land values. One-quarter of the city’s affordable housing lies within the Broadway Plan area.

colleen hardwick theodore abbott team for a livable vancouver f6

Colleen Hardwick (left) and Theodore Abbott (centre). (TEAM For A Livable Vancouver)

If Ken Sim is so concerned about affordable housing, then why did he and his ABC councillors — along with OneCity and the Green Party — vote to demovict hundreds, if not thousands, of renters already living in affordable apartments within the Broadway Plan area? And the icing on the cake is that all of this development comes without any supporting infrastructure, like schools and parks.

We will never have affordable housing if the City continues to upzone parcels of land, which will keep inflating land values. The good news is that there is plenty of existing zoned capacity to grow into without upzoning. In the development permitting process, we can create more cost-efficient regulations that allow for more housing to be built without inflating the value of the surrounding land.

In a way, this by-election is a gift. It’s a chance for TEAM for a Livable Vancouver to get two “pieces on the chessboard” at City Hall. Even though TEAM will be a minority, we’ll be able to effectively shine a light on what is ailing the city. We can be the real opposition, unlike OneCity and the Green Party, who have voted with the ABC majority most of the time. Vancouver needs two people from TEAM on City Council to keep ABC honest. Our mantra is deeds, not words.

As our name suggests, we’re all about livability, which means an approach to urban planning that balances housing, mobility, community amenities, commercial activity, and affordability — because if we can’t afford to live here, then what’s the point?

To be very clear, we need more housing. We need many forms of housing; it all can’t be tiny condos in 40-storey buildings. Dedicated apartment buildings and co-ops need to be part of the mix. We strongly believe in community planning. It’s about balance and genuine public consultation.

We’re asking for your vote so we can be an effective opposition to Ken Sim. And we also want to set the stage for the next civic general election in the fall of 2026 because that might be the last opportunity for residents to turn this ship around.

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