This is now Sim City: Ken Sim is officially the mayor of Vancouver

Mayor Ken Sim and Vancouver City Council during the Inauguration Ceremony at the Orpheum on November 7, 2022. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

In front of a near-capacity crowd of almost 2,500 people at the Orpheum theatre Monday afternoon, the new mayor and makeup of Council of the City of Vancouver were officially sworn in.

Ken Sim is now the mayor of Vancouver and his super majority of seven city councillors under his ABC Vancouver party have been sworn in, including incumbents Rebecca Bligh, Lisa Dominato, and Sarah Kirby-Yung. Fresh faces to City Council with ABC entail Mike Klassen, Peter Meiszner, Brian Montague, and Lenny Zhou.

The opposition City councillors sworn in — all incumbents — are OneCity’s Christine Boyle, and the Green Party’s Adriane Carr and Pete Fry.

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Sim is effectively the first Vancouver mayor of Asian descent after 103 civic elections held in the 136-year history of the City of Vancouver.

“The path to get here was long… 135 years after the first Chinese Head Tax was paid just for the right to come here and build the railway, Vancouver has elected its first Chinese Canadian mayor,” said Sim during his first address as the Mayor.

“The history of the moment is not lost on me, but the honour truly does go to those shoulders I stand on.”

Approaching full house at The Orpheum for the Inauguration Ceremony of the new Mayor and Vancouver City Council. This theatre seats 2,780. #vanpoli pic.twitter.com/uduylqTa75

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) November 7, 2022

Ken Sim is now officially the Mayor of the City of Vancouver. #vanpoli pic.twitter.com/e6oRyOTUab

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) November 7, 2022

Former Vancouver city councillor Raymond Louie presided as the emcee for the ceremony, which began with welcoming remarks by leaders of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-waututh First Nations.

Musqueam councillor Allyson Fraser highlighted a unique relationship between her band and early Chinese Canadians — bringing to attention how ostracized Chinese immigrants worked on vegetable farms on their reserves, and that both peoples and their communities endured “horrible” treatment from past governments, including the municipal government.

“As I look at the journey of the Chinese people in Vancouver, I do want to acknowledge the incredible friendship between the Chinese community and the Indigenous peoples,” said Sim.

“There was a time not too long ago when people of Chinese descent could not own land in Vancouver. During this time, the Musqueam First Nation stepped up and leased farmland to people of Chinese descent so that they can actually grow their own food and build a better life. Today, I want to acknowledge that we are standing on your shoulders as well.”

During the October 15 civic election, ABC won majorities in each of the three local government bodies — City Council, Park Board, and School Board. All candidates fielded by ABC won their seats.

Sim lost the 2018 election to Kennedy Stewart with a narrow margin of just under 1,000 votes.

For the 2022 election, he came at top with 85,372 votes — over 36,000 votes ahead of Stewart. Each of the lowest performing ABC candidates for City Council, Park Board, and School Board won by about at least 20,000 votes over the next highest elected candidate outside of the party.

Sim urged all elected officials to look for common ground, and work together across party lines for the betterment of the city and its residents.

“I’m going to strive to be the Mayor that unites our city. The pitfalls of partisanship must be cast aside when dealing with the challenges in front of us. Success can only be achieved if we are fearless in the face of potential failure,” said Sim.

When it comes to confronting Vancouver’s most pressing challenges — housing affordability, homelessness, mental health, and opioid overdoses — Sim made a plea, in front of the inauguration crowd, asking the federal and provincial governments to step up with assisting the City.

“I’m standing here in front of this whole crowd humbly asking for your help. Vancouver needs your help more than ever before,” he added.

“We are experiencing one of our nation’s greatest challenges and tragedies, and Vancouver alone cannot solve these challenges. Like many other times in the history of this great province and country, if we work together, we’ll overcome whatever is thrown at us.”

City Council’s inaugural public meeting for business inside the council chamber at Vancouver City Hall will be held this evening.

The inaugural ceremony for Park Board commissioners will also be held this evening at the Visitor Centre of the VanDusen Botanical Garden.

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