Mayor Ken Sim vows to 'do better' after Vancouver by-election result | Daily Hive

Mayor Ken Sim vows to 'do better' after Vancouver City Council by-election result

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim announcing the new Task Force on Business Growth on April 7, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)

Both candidates fielded by the governing ABC Vancouver party ended their Vancouver City Council by-election campaigns on Saturday not only with a loss but by finishing last among all candidates representing major political parties.

Out of the total of 13 candidates in the running, based on the preliminary count results, tech executive Jaime Stein finished sixth with 9,267 votes, while Vancouver Police officer and police union president Ralph Kaisers finished eighth with 8,915 votes. After the ABC candidates, the next highest candidate at seventh place was TEAM For A Livable Vancouver’s Theodore Abbott with 11,581 votes.

In contrast, COPE’s Sean Orr and OneCity Vancouver’s Lucy Maloney won their seats with 34,448 and 33,732 votes, respectively.

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When asked by media during today’s press conference on the formation of the City of Vancouver’s new Task Force on Business Growth, Mayor Ken Sim vowed to reflect on the by-election results and “do better.”

There will be “ongoing conversations” within the party on any possible pivot in their approaches and policies.

vancouver city council 2027 by-election results

Preliminary results of the Vancouver City Council by-election as of 12:50 am Sunday, April 6, 2025, with all 27 polling stations reporting their counts. (City of Vancouver)

“We listen to the residents of Vancouver every single day, and there are enough of them that said they’re not necessarily happy with what’s going on, and so we approach everything from a place of love and compassion and doing the right thing, and we can do better, right?” said Sim.

“The last thing we want to do is have a city that is divided or [have] people feel that they’re not being heard or they’re not coming along for the ride.”

With generally lower interest and attention than the regular civic elections every four years when all seats are contested, by-elections to fill vacancies are typically regarded as a mid-term referendum on the performance of elected officials or a protest vote.

With a total of 67,962 ballots cast, it had a turnout rate of 15.1 per cent of registered voters — a 40 per cent increase from the 48,645 ballots cast, or 10.99 per cent turnout, in the previous civic by-election in October 2017. Prior to that vote, the last by-election was held in 1992, and it had a turnout of 10 per cent.

In contrast, the October 2022 general civic election, when all ABC candidates won by a landslide, saw 171,494 ballots cast or a turnout of 36.3 per cent of registered voters.

“We want to do better, we will do better, because the thing that makes Vancouver beautiful [is] diversity, cultures and thought, and there’s no right or wrong. And so, we’re going to take a really hard look at how we present ourselves and what we do, and to be even more inclusive and have those hard conversations,” said Sim, emphasizing that “we’re going to take a hard look at everything.”

“I don’t believe in these terms of left-wing, right-wing, progressive, or whatever… what we’re talking about here is building a city that works for everyone. Being kind, is that a progressive thing, or is that just a normal thing? Being fiscally responsible, is that a progressive thing, or is that a right-wing thing? Like, what we’re talking about here is we’re talking civic politics, we’re talking about having safe streets, an environment where people can open up a restaurant.”

If the party determines that there is a need to change course, it will need to do so sooner rather than later, with the next general civic election set for October 2026 — just 18 months away.

Sim reiterated ABC’s by-election campaign message, stating that as of earlier this year, his party had acted on 80 percent of the 94 campaign promises made during the 2022 general civic election.

Fresh off his by-election win, COPE’s Sean Orr issued a statement this morning, calling on the ABC and Sim to increase funding for the Vancouver Public Library (VPL) to increase operating hours and ensure all library branches are open seven days a week.

Starting today, about half of VPL’s branches are changing their operating hours due to City Council, with impacted locations generally closing one hour earlier than usual on select days of the week. As well, the South Hill Branch on Fraser Street will be closed on Mondays starting April 21.

“The value of public libraries is immense to people in Vancouver. They’re essential social infrastructure. People in every neighbourhood including seniors and families are going to be impacted by these cuts to hours,” said Orr in a statement.

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