Kareem Allams' Vancouver Liberals' full platform vows 400 km of protected bike lanes | Daily Hive

Kareem Allams' Vancouver Liberals' full platform includes 400 km of protected bike lanes, and capping property tax hikes at inflation

Kareem Allam. (Vancouver Liberals)

Just ahead of the civic election on Oct. 17, 2026, Kareem Allam’s Vancouver Liberals have now released a 148-point platform plan for what they would do if elected to the mayor’s office, Vancouver City Council, Vancouver Park Board, and Vancouver School Board.

Mayoral candidate Allam’s municipal party — which has no affiliation with the provincial and federal political parties of the same name — is also seeking commitments from B.C.’s provincial parties ahead of the separate provincial general election on Oct. 24.

“Vancouverites should know exactly what we intend to do if we’re elected. That’s why we’ve put forward 148 specific commitments that people can hold us accountable for. But municipal government can’t do everything alone. Some of the biggest challenges facing Vancouver cross jurisdictional lines. With a provincial election happening one week after our municipal election, this is an opportunity to get commitments from the people who want to govern British Columbia as well,” said Allam.

“Our platform is deliberately detailed. People have heard enough broad promises from politicians. We want Vancouverites to be able to look at what we’ve promised, point to it four years from now and ask us whether we did it.”

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Amalgamating UEL and UBC with the City of Vancouver, and considering creating wards for City Council elections

The Liberals would ask the provincial government to outline the legislative steps for bringing the University Endowment Lands and University of British Columbia (UBC) into the City of Vancouver’s jurisdiction — the amalgamation of the provincially-governed jurisdiction at the westernmost tip of the Burrard Peninsula with the City.

As well, the party proposes conducting a plebiscite during the 2030 civic election on whether to retain the existing system of citywide City Council elections, introduce neighbourhood wards (with at least some city councillors representing wards), or use another system.

As for how Vancouver City Hall operates, the Liberals propose a public lobbyist registry, reversing freedom of information (FOI) fee increases, restoring the Equity Office, and strengthening the Integrity Commissioner. They also propose quarterly meetings with the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations and a task force to advance commitments under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The party would advocate for an independent audit of Metro Vancouver Regional District and work with other municipal governments on governance changes. Its request to the provincial government includes legislation to support reform for the regional district and stronger independent oversight of major regional capital projects.

A new “Vancouver Accord” on addressing mental health, addictions, and homelessness

To address the mental health and addictions crisis, the Liberals propose adding housing and early intervention for youth mental health to the existing four pillars of prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and enforcement. It would become a new six-pillar strategy.

A strategy addressing methamphetamine would be developed within the first year. The platform also says people living in encampments would be offered housing and appropriate support before camps are closed.

To coordinate the response, Allam is calling for a new “Vancouver Accord” involving the municipal, provincial, and federal governments. The agreement would assign responsibilities, establish sustained funding, and set measurable goals for housing, treatment, mental health, public safety, and Downtown Eastside recovery.

The Liberals have come out strongly against this civic election’s public safety plebiscite questions relating to supporting greater enforcement against public hard drug use, and creating a secure medical treatment facility for involuntary and voluntary care — potentially at the old St. Paul’s Hospital or another suitable site in Vancouver. They assert such a facility would be a “prison.”

Other social support measures include free public Wi-Fi in the Downtown Eastside, a property tax exemption for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank’s Vancouver facilities, and food hubs in vacant City-owned spaces offering affordable groceries and support.

Public safety proposals include funding 15 additional Vancouver Police Department financial-crime investigators to trace drug-trade profits and pursue organized-crime leaders. Community policing centres would receive more stable funding, while crisis services would be expanded through Peer Assisted Care Teams and Car 87. The party also promises to fill funded positions on nurse-led crisis teams and establish a violence-prevention unit involving police, schools, health services, and community organizations.

More supportive housing, adopting B.C. Building Code, and municipal housing approval reforms

Housing policy would focus on simplifying approvals while expanding support for renters, co-ops, and other affordable homes.

The Liberals propose adopting the B.C. Building Code while retaining the City of Vancouver’s stronger zero-carbon and energy standards, as well as heritage protections. Vancouver’s municipal government has its own separate building code, while all other municipal governments across the province follow the B.C. Building Code established by the provincial government.

They would combine the City’s current 12 housing-approval departments into a single process with one contact for applicants and review construction-related bylaws during their first year.

Churches, co-ops, and non-profit organizations would be allowed to develop affordable and non-market housing on their land without rezoning.

Development charges would be revised with phased rates and exemptions for priority housing, while developers’ contributions toward neighbourhood amenities in exchange for rezoning would be collected in cash and publicly disclosed.

The party would reverse the City’s current pause on net new supportive housing, and seek the provincial government’s help to build and operate supportive housing with sufficient staffing and health services. New supportive housing and shelter operators would face agreements identifying their responsibilities, staffing commitments, and service standards for the City to enforce.

For existing co-op and non-profit housing on City-owned land, the Liberals promise immediate lease extensions and automatic renewals, municipal financing for repairs, and additional public land for new projects. A community land trust would hold City-owned land for uses such as affordable housing, childcare, and recreation.

The City’s Renters’ Office would return, with protections against displacement during major redevelopment, including projects under the Broadway Plan. The City’s previous short-lived Renter’s Office was closed by the ABC-majority City Council in January 2023 after its very low usage. This office handled roughly 370 inquiries per year, or about one call per day. ABC also argued it duplicated the renter assistance services of the provincial government and non-profit organizations.

The platform also calls for maintaining a substantial share of new Downtown Eastside social housing at shelter-level rents and reserving some required below-market homes in new developments for essential workers, including nurses, teachers, firefighters, and paramedics.

Demolishing the viaducts, advocating for UBC SkyTrain, expanding rapid transit across Vancouver, and 400 km of new protected bike lanes

Another major priority listed by the party is the demolition of the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts by pursuing the provincial government’s assistance. After demolition, it would move ahead with the City’s 2016-approved Northeast False Creek Plan of building a new mixed-use district with residential and commercial uses, and expanded waterfront park space.

Currently, the viaducts demolition plan and Northeast False Creek Plan implementation are stalled due to their dependence on generating revenue from the area’s new market strata ownership condominium projects to cover the significant costs of the area plan’s new infrastructure and public benefits, including the cost of viaducts demolition and building the new replacement surface road network. Those market residential developments are not proceeding due in part to the current challenging economic conditions.

For transportation overall, the Liberals describe advocating for extending SkyTrain’s Millennium Line from Arbutus to the University of British Columbia to be the party’s top public transit priority. They would also advocate for additional rapid transit serving areas such as Stanley Park, Hastings Park/PNE, and South Vancouver.

The Liberals would work with TransLink on full-time bus lanes along Hastings Street between Downtown Vancouver and Boundary Road, supported by traffic signals that give buses priority.

Within the Downtown Vancouver peninsula, one-way street traffic signals would be synchronized to make traffic flow more smoothly. As well, they would keep bus routes on Howe Street and Seymour Street alongside continued pedestrianization efforts on Granville Street, following this year’s pedestrian zone success.

Their expanded cycling infrastructure proposal calls for adding 400 km of protected bike lanes, including through installing new protection on existing painted bike lanes.

Other transportation measures include safer intersections, secure bicycle storage, more charging infrastructure, and a proposed summer bus route connecting Vancouver’s beaches.

The platform also includes advocating Vancouver Airport Authority rename Vancouver International Airport as “Terry Fox International Airport.”

New 50-metre pool for Vancouver Aquatic Centre redevelopment, and turning Hastings Racecourse into natural park space

Much of the Liberals’ $1.35 billion in capital spending on parks and recreation would go toward replacing or upgrading aging pools, ice rinks, community centres, and public spaces. The platform notes that funding would continue into the 2031-2034 capital plan to complete major projects.

Specific promises include a redevelopment of the Vancouver Aquatic Centre with a 50-metre pool, as opposed to the current approved plans to proceed with a 25-metre pool for the new facility’s main tank. Demolition of the existing facility gets underway this month.

As well, there would be a renewal of Renfrew Community Centre, and the party would work with local developer Wesgroup and Metro Vancouver Regional District to build the new River District Community Centre.

The platform also lists “renaturalizing” the now-closed Hastings Racecourse at Hastings Park as the “Eastside’s Stanley Park,” as opposed to pursuing potential major new entertainment and sports and event uses for the vast site to help restore the PNE to its former glory as a major regional entertainment institution. The PNE was forced to downsize considerably after a significant portion of its event buildings and functional fairgrounds were demolished in the late 1990s and early 2000s to create new park and green space. The PNE has never recovered from that.

The Liberals would also eliminate pay parking at beaches and community centres, restore the Stanley Park miniature train, and bring back beach lifeguard coverage, including at Trout Lake. They would also expand funding for a recreation pass providing low-income residents with free or reduced-cost access to pools and community centres.

The party supports retaining the separately elected Park Board and giving its commissioners greater control over staff and spending.

Environmental commitments include faster separation of sewer systems to reduce untreated discharges into local waters, additional recycling facilities, and a rat-control strategy developed with public-health and pest-control specialists. They would explore smart garbage collection technology, such as underground bins, sensors that detect when public garbage bins are full, and automated sorting to help keep streets clean.

A paid Youth Climate Corps would plant and maintain trees, restore habitat, and assist communities during heat and smoke events. Libraries and community centres would stay open later during warnings to provide cooler spaces and cleaner air, while the City would establish transportation-emissions targets and report progress annually.

Capping property tax increases to inflation, and adding 400 frontline employees to increase basic City services

When it comes to property taxes, the Liberals would establish an inflation cap on property tax increases, and reorganize the municipal bureaucracy with fewer management layers and reviews, with departments required to show the value of their spending.

To improve services, the Liberals would enact a major hiring campaign to fill new frontline positions. It would hire 400 additional unionized frontline employees to enable longer library and community centre hours, more frequent garbage collection and street cleaning, and improved maintenance of parks and sports fields. An early repair and cleanup campaign would target potholes, graffiti, and litter, with an online tracker showing service results and response times.

The party also proposes the creation of a new independent municipal board overseeing funding for fire services and deployment, with a gradual increase in firefighter staffing. This would essentially be a Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services governance board akin to the Vancouver Police Board overseeing the Vancouver Police Department.

Rebooting the Vancouver Economic Commission and creating a new industrial land reserve

On the economy, the Liberals would re-establish the Vancouver Economic Commission (VEC). After nearly three decades, the municipally-funded, arm’s-length organization responsible for promoting Vancouver internationally — to provide business support and investment attraction capacity — was closed for reasons that include reducing the municipal government’s operating costs and avoiding the resulting duplication from Metro Vancouver Regional District’s newly created Invest Vancouver agency.

They would also create a single entry point for business permitting, with a target of reducing approval times to three months.

The Liberals are proposing to allow the creation of small shops, cafes, and restaurants throughout residentially zoned areas. The party also proposes simpler permits for temporary shops and markets, more flexible rules for businesses sharing premises, and changes allowing a wider range of tourist accommodations, including hostels and pod hotels.

A new industrial land reserve would protect space for industrial employment. Four separate areas would be designated for artist studios and production, with property taxes on those spaces cut by 50 per cent. The creation of a “Vancouver Arts Council” would advise the City on cultural funding and space needs.

The platform also proposes lower property taxes for family doctors’ offices and a joint renewal plan with the federal government for Granville Island, including measures to keep space affordable for artists and small businesses.

To keep the Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the city, the Liberals would pursue private investment, potentially including new local ownership or a privately financed stadium. The platform says public land would remain publicly owned and taxpayers would not bear the cost.

As well, the Liberals would help initiate a bid for the new CANZUK headquarters to “champion Vancouver as the North American home of the Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and United Kingdom partnership” on trade, migration, and foreign policy.

In addition to Allam serving as the party’s mayoral candidate, the Vancouver Liberals also have seven candidates for City Council, six candidates for Park Board, and five candidates for School Board.

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