Mayoral candidate Stephanie Allen and COPE Vancouver have a plan to clean up what they’re referring to as a “mess” that has been left behind by current mayor Ken Sim.
On Wednesday morning, COPE Vancouver announced the “People’s Audit,” which the party claims will improve service delivery, cut waste, and, again, clean up the mess left by Sim’s “mismanagement.”
“The City of Vancouver should work for the people who live here, young people, families, and those who have been long-time contributors to this city. But right now, its investors and speculators who set the agenda,” said COPE Mayoral candidate Allen in a statement today.
“A People’s Audit will do a 360-degree review of the city’s operations, talk to the people about what’s not working, engage the public and city staff, and work together to clean up the mess.”
COPE points to service cuts that have occurred under Sim’s watch, including frozen community grant funds, library hours being cut, climate and affordability programs being cut, and life-saving measures like cooling kits and the sex worker safety planning position being cut.
“At the same time, the city gave away $3.8 million to developers in money that was earmarked for affordable housing, and raised fees on things like permits, parking, and cut funding to services that working people in our city rely on,” COPE Vancouver said in a statement.
COPE suggested Sim failed to back up his promises when he said his party would release line-by-line budgeting. COPE said instead, the 2026 budget was the “least detailed in Vancouver’s history, concealing cuts to city services, and attracted a record-setting 600+ speakers in opposition.”
The party also brought attention to a motion that COPE Councillor Sean Orr introduced on department, staffing, and service changes as a result of the austerity budget, but pointed to the fact that the ABC majority council voted it down.
“People know that this is a city that’s being run for the super-rich and powerful. We can all feel that the system is rigged,” Allen said.
Meanwhile, Allen is running on a platform with the slogan, “A Vancouver you can afford.”
“If we’re going to restore trust in this city, we need to open the books, expose the full truth about what Ken Sim and ABC have done, and act immediately to transform this city for the people,” she added.
COPE also said, “An auditor general report earlier this year found that at least $60 million, with some estimates more than double that, in lost revenue from botched land deals that benefit developers and speculators over the last decade, which ABC chose to not act on.”
You can read more about the People’s Audit on the COPE website.