Sean Orr speculates on the placement of ABC Vancouver's campaign signs
Sean Orr is raising concerns about the placement of ABC Vancouver’s election signs.
Orr, a former Vancouver City Councillor with COPE Vancouver who is seeking re-election, sent out an email last week, pointing out the various spots where the party has observed ABC election signs.
“Have you noticed ABC signs popping up in strange places? Empty apartments, publicly funded senior homes, abandoned lots with a redevelopment sign up, or in a public space?” reads the email. “We’ve noticed.”
Orr alleges that “empty lots and apartments are voting Ken Sim and ABC because he keeps them empty.”
He said that ABC has voted against increasing the empty homes tax, created a new “loophole” to let developers keep more homes empty, and returned $3.8 million meant for affordable housing to developers.
In 2023, the ABC majority in City Council voted to keep the empty homes tax at three per cent, instead of raising it to five per cent, as originally put forward by Mayor Kennedy Stewart. At the time, ABC City Councillor Mike Klassen introduced an amendment to create a new exemption for new, unsold homes that are vacant.
While City Staff had recommended keeping the empty homes tax at three per cent along with the amendment, they did not recommend that it apply retroactively to the year 2022. But Klassen’s amendment included taxes collected in 2022, which meant that City Council voted to return $3.8 million to developers.
The Empty Homes Tax revenue is used to fund new affordable housing projects, and the policy is intended to encourage homeowners to occupy their homes and discourage speculation.
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Daily Hive Urbanized reached out to ABC Vancouver for their response.
“ABC‘s lawn signs go up with the permission of property owners and supporters, and we follow the city’s rules on election signage,” said a spokesperson for the party.
“On housing, our approach has been to fix the process so more homes get built faster. That means cutting red tape, speeding up approvals, and making it easier to build the homes people need, including rental and affordable housing.”
In Orr’s email, he wrote that COPE would enforce the empty homes tax, close the loopholes, and phase in increases to nine per cent.
“We’ll also incentivize development without displacement by taxing vacant lots and cracking down on land-banking for profit.”
Voting day is on Oct. 17.
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