Labour council asks two Vancouver mayoral candidates to drop out for OneCity | Daily Hive

Labour council asks two Vancouver mayoral candidates to drop out in favour of OneCity's William Azaroff

William Azaroff. (Supplied)

Vancouver and District Labour Council (VDLC) has thrown its support behind OneCity Vancouver party mayoral candidate William Azaroff, while publicly urging rival left-wing/progressive candidates Pete Fry of the Green Party of Vancouver and Stephanie Allen of the Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) to reconsider staying in the race.

The endorsement — announced earlier this week following a vote by delegates representing affiliated unions — positions Azaroff as the labour council’s preferred choice in what is already shaping up to be a crowded campaign period ahead of Vancouver’s October 2026 civic election.

In the statement, VDLC president Stephen von Sychowski said delegates believed the organization needed to settle on a single candidate early.

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“The VDLC is pleased to endorse William Azaroff. With a crowded and ever-expanding field of candidates, it was important for us to provide clarity early-on as to where our support rests,” said von Sychowski.

“Our delegates overwhelmingly agreed that this is with William Azaroff and OneCity.”

The labour council said all three mayoral candidates sought its endorsement. According to a news release from the labour council, each candidate completed questionnaires and sat for interviews with VDLC political leadership before a recommendation was brought forward to delegates.

The endorsement is notable not only because it backs Azaroff about five months before election day, but because it also openly calls on Fry and Allen — both associated with Vancouver’s broader left-wing/progressive political sphere — to step aside in the interest of consolidating support.

Fry is a now a two-term sitting city councillor under the Green party, which is fielding its first Vancouver mayoral candidate in 30 years. COPE’s Allen is a former vice president of BC Housing.

Among all three candidates, Fry was the first to be confirmed by his party’s membership in late January, followed by Azaroff in February — selected after OneCity’s highly public internal party race — and Allen in early May.

“We’ve always encouraged cooperation. But we must be frank, three competing mayoral campaigns is not indicative of the cooperation we’re looking for,” continued von Sychowski.

“Now that our endorsement is settled, we are calling upon Pete Fry and Stephanie Allen to reconsider their mayoral campaigns. Real cooperation can help ensure that we elect a pro-worker, progressive majority on October 17th.”

William Azaroff. (William Azaroff)

Pete Fry. (Kenneth Chan)

Stephanie Allen. (BC Housing)

The VDLC release points to the mid-April announced cooperation agreement between OneCity, Greens, and COPE as part of the discussion surrounding the highly pointed endorsement decision.

Under the agreement between these three parties, there is a specific set limit on the number of candidates each party can run in each of the three chambers of municipal governance — Vancouver City Council, Vancouver Park Board, and Vancouver School Board. Moreover, each party can run up to a combined total of 13 candidates in these chambers, based on the varying set limits per chamber.

As well, each party can field their own mayoral candidate, but the parties will attempt to decide on which candidate is best suited to compete.

The parties agreed to finalize their candidate lists by the first half of May.

Overall, this strategy is intended to avoid vote splitting among left-wing/progressive candidates, thereby possibly increasing the chances of a larger makeup of such candidates in the chambers.

VDLC also noted it plans to become actively involved in campaigning efforts for its endorsed candidates, with an emphasis on mobilizing union members and labour supporters during the election.

Additional candidate endorsements for the City Council, Park Board, and School Board races are expected to be decided at the VDLC’s meeting on June 9.

VDLC also emphasized it does not intend to support candidates in these three chambers that are aligned with opposing mayoral campaigns, suggesting it will focus on supporting OneCity candidates for the other seats in elected municipal office.

Within local political circles, VDLC endorsements are deemed to be significant in Vancouver’s civic elections because they signal which candidates organized labour and much of the city’s left-wing/progressive movement are backing.

The VDLC represents thousands of union workers and has historically helped unite left-leaning parties to avoid splitting the vote against more conservative candidates. Its endorsements often come with campaign volunteers, union organizing support, and added credibility among left-wing/progressive voters, making them a boost in close civic races.

For example, for the 2018 civic election, VDLC negotiated agreements with five left-wing/progressive parties — including Vision Vancouver — to prevent vote splitting and a Non-Partisan Association (NPA) party mayor and majority in City Council. They endorsed left-wing/progressive independent mayoral candidate Kennedy Stewart as their mayoral candidate and a mix of candidates from left-wing/progressive parties to try to fill the seats in the three chambers.

In the 2018 civic election, the NPA ultimately won five of the 10 city councillor seats — with the remaining secured by Green, COPE, and OneCity candidates — but saw its mayoral candidate, Ken Sim, lose to Stewart by a slim margin of under 1,000 votes.

Then in the 2022 civic election, VDLC once again endorsed Stewart as their mayoral candidate, along with a mix of candidates from left-wing/progressive parties, including candidates from Stewart’s newly formed Forward Together party.

If VDLC has its way, Azaroff will be the only left-wing/progressive candidate among the three parties, competing against incumbent ABC Vancouver mayor Ken, Vancouver Liberals mayoral candidate and former ABC campaign manager Kareem Allam, TEAM For A Livable Vancouver mayoral candidate and former city councillor Colleen Hardwick, and Vote Vancouver mayoral candidate and sitting city councillor Rebecca Bligh.

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