Former OneCity hopeful, ex-Park Board manager join Vancouver Liberals slate | Daily Hive

Vancouver Liberals add three new civic election candidates, including former OneCity hopeful and ex-Park Board manager

Armor Valor. (Vancouver Liberals)

In recent days, over separate announcements, the Vancouver Liberals civic party have announced three additional candidates for the October 2026 civic election, including two more candidates to fill Vancouver Park Board commissioner seats and one more candidate for Vancouver City Council.

The party’s newest recruits are Mark Halyk, a former Vancouver Park Board manager laid off in January 2026; Shayla Bird, who is a teacher, entrepreneur, and public historian; and Armor Valor, who recently crossed over from OneCity Vancouver, where he had been a candidate.

Halyk is a trained chef and hospitality entrepreneur — previously owning and operating a catering and special events company — and the former manager of food and beverage operations for the Park Board.

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According to the party, Halyk was forced to leave his role at the Park Board after 12 years due to the budget cuts made by mayor Ken Sim and his ABC Vancouver party. He argued that uncertainty surrounding the future of the Park Board has limited the ability of Park Board staff to advance new initiatives.

It is suggested that Halyk’s experience managing both public-sector operations and private businesses would bring a practical perspective to Park Board governance. He said he is particularly interested in improving revenue generation within Park Board operations, citing his previous work overseeing food and beverage services.

“I’m immensely proud of the work I was able to do at the Park Board in making our food operations and sourcing strategy profitable and hyperlocal, and it’s work like that I would love to continue to champion with the Vancouver Liberals as a Park Board Commissioner,” said Halyk.

“We have so many opportunities to generate revenue and improve the food and beverage operations at the Vancouver Park Board however when staff don’t have clear leadership, things don’t get done.”

Mark Halyk. (Vancouver Liberals)

The other additional Park Board candidate, Bird, has a goal of entering civic politics with a focus on recreation access and community development.

She also helped develop teaching materials related to Hogan’s Alley and racial discrimination for British Columbia’s Ministry of Education and Child Care.

“I know how much having access to sport as a young person benefited me, and I want to make sure that everyone has those opportunities, at all ages, in Vancouver,” said Bird.

“We often look to the United States when we think of high performing female athletes but if we put the focus into the current recreational facilities we have, we can support young people into becoming high-level athletes right here at home.”

The Liberals have positioned both Halyk and Bird as supporters of maintaining a separately elected body of Park Board commissioners to govern Vancouver’s parks and recreation system.

Shayla Bird. (Vancouver Liberals)

As for Valor, he was one of the OneCity party’s 11 shortlisted city councillor candidates for consideration this spring, but he was not chosen as one of the left-wing/progressive party’s four confirmed City Council candidates earlier this month.

According to OneCity’s previous profile of Valor, he is a trained chef working at BC Children’s Hospital and BC Women’s Hospital, the former head chef of Indochine Kitchen+Bar Fraser, and was also the chef and owner of take-out restaurant KaonTa Chicken, which is no longer in business. In the past, he was recognized as local leader for multiculturalism and anti-racism.

OneCity’s profile further states that he was “running to protect and support his fellow small business operators, to fight for his fellow workers and renters, and advocate for an equitable distribution of development, services, and community amenities.”

Valor’s LinkedIn profile also notes that he serves as a student-elected member of the board of governors for Langara College and a board member of non-profit organization Filipino BC.

“Local governments should be doing whatever they can to reduce red tape to support local businesses, and supporting young people in taking the initiative of starting a business that serves their community,” said Valor this week.

“As a city that strives to be world class, we need a government that actually makes it accessible for local businesses, which are the largest employers of young people, to set up shop and thrive in this city.”

A left-wing/progressive and centrist “big tent”

On the political spectrum, the Vancouver Liberals were initially positioned as a centrist party, but with every new candidate announcement they are increasingly pivoting into becoming a “big tent” of both left-wing/progressive and centrist candidates.

It should be emphasized that the Vancouver Liberals are not affiliated in any way with the provincial and federal parties of the same name.

To date, the Liberals have announced 10 candidates for the upcoming civic election, including political strategist Kareem Allam as the party’s mayoral candidate. Allam was the campaign manager for mayor Sim and ABC’s 2022 civic election campaign and Kevin Falcon’s BC Liberals leadership race. Allam was also briefly the chief of staff for Sim’s Mayor’s Office.

“Kareem understands that it’s not about finding other like-minded people, it’s about finding representation of different opinions, and creating policies that work,” continued Valor.

“Representation matters, and Kareem and the team understand that a government that works is a government that represents working people.”

The party has also announced at least one other Park Board commissioner candidate: sitting commissioner Scott Jensen, who was first elected in 2022 under ABC Vancouver before being ejected from the party in late 2023 over the issue of Sim’s proposal to abolish the Park Board’s separately elected officials. Brennan Bastyovanszky was also removed from ABC for the same reason and joined the Liberals earlier this year for the remainder of his current term as a commissioner. Bastyovanszky is expected to seek re-election, though it remains unclear whether he will run for another term on the Park Board or pursue a seat in another chamber.

Victoria Jung, who was first elected to the School Board in 2022 with ABC and subsequently quit the party, is running for City Council under the Liberals.

Through the former ABC members, the Liberals currently have a total of three sitting elected officials.

The civic Liberals’ other candidates for City Council are: entrepreneur and longtime RCMP auxiliary constable Michael Wu; government copywriter, Elections Canada staffer, and federal New Democratic Party political strategist and campaign manager Jessica Walton; and medical doctor, former longtime Vancouver-Langara MLA, former longtime BC Liberals-led government cabinet minister Moira Stilwell.

So far, the Liberals’ campaign platform includes advocating for the UBC SkyTrain extension, pushing for the amalgamation of the University Endowment Lands with the City of Vancouver, creating a municipal ward system for electing officials, growing the City’s frontline workforce by 400 positions to expand core municipal services, and revisiting the Vancouver Whitecaps FC’s cancelled Gastown railyard stadium proposal to help prevent the club from leaving the city.

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