Vancouver public safety plebiscite approved after heated opposition to ABC plan | Daily Hive

It's official: Vancouver public safety plebiscite approved after heated opposition to ABC plan

Mayor Ken Sim during ABC's press conference on Aug. 13, 2026, announcing the public safety plebiscite during the October 2026 civic election. (Kenneth Chan)

Vancouver voters will officially be asked to weigh in on public hard drug use and establishing a major mental health and addictions treatment facility during the civic election on Oct. 17, 2026, after the ABC Vancouver majority on Vancouver City Council formally approved Mayor Ken Sim’s public safety plebiscite.

The plebiscite and the broader issues it raises have already emerged as the most politically charged topics of Vancouver’s civic election.

Today’s Special Council meeting itself, held amid City Council and City staff’s scheduled summer break and the start of the election campaign cycle, was anything but routine, with the meeting itself also being one of the most heated during this City Council’s term.

It began more than an hour late after technical problems in the City Council chamber forced the proceedings to be relocated to a much smaller committee room at Vancouver City Hall, where elected officials gathered around a boardroom-style table. The technical difficulties continued throughout the proceedings, at one point forcing city councillors to abandon the usual electronic voting system and record votes verbally.

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The political temperature also rose considerably as the discussions progressed, notably marked by an outburst from Vote Vancouver city councillor and mayoral candidate Rebecca Bligh and a resulting brief break in the meeting. Bligh, Green city councillor and mayoral candidate Pete Fry, and COPE city councillor Sean Orr ultimately walked out shortly before the final vote, leaving OneCity Vancouver city councillor Lucy Maloney to cast the sole vote against the plebiscite.

According to a news release issued by non-political City staff shortly after the approval, civic election voters will receive two ballot forms.

One ballot form will be used to vote for mayor, city councillors, Vancouver Park Board commissioners, and Vancouver School Board trustees, as well as the previously-approved plebiscite question on the capital plan.

The second ballot form will specifically be for the public safety plebiscite’s two advisory questions. One question will ask voters whether they support strengthening City bylaws to forbid the open-air use of hard drugs in public spaces. The other will ask whether the City should formally press the Government of British Columbia to establish a secure medical facility at the old St. Paul’s Hospital site — or another suitable site — with acute voluntary care and at least 100 involuntary care beds for people posing a serious risk to themselves or others because of severe addictions or mental health conditions.

Here is the exact official wording of both public safety plebiscite questions:

Are you in favour of the City of Vancouver strengthening its laws to forbid open-air hard drug (Heroin, Meth, Fentanyl, and Crack) use in public spaces?
Should the City of Vancouver formally ask the Province of B.C. to convert portions of the old St. Paul’s Hospital, or another similar site, into a secure medical facility that provides acute voluntary and 100-plus involuntary care beds for individuals posing a serious risk to themselves or others due to severe substance use and mental health disorders?

The suggested potential use of at least a portion of the old St. Paul’s Hospital campus on Burrard Street in Downtown Vancouver’s West End for a treatment facility is generally enabled by Providence Health Care’s forthcoming relocation of its hospital operations to the brand-new St. Paul’s Hospital campus at the False Creek Flats, which will begin serving patients in Spring 2027. However, research operations will remain at the Burrard Street campus for a little while longer, until the anticipated 2029 completion of the False Creek Flats’ campus second building of the research tower.

According to ABC, local developer Concord Pacific has tentatively endorsed the idea as a potential interim years-long use, with construction on a major high-density, mixed-use redevelopment potentially still up to a decade away. The developer has also publicly indicated that they are willing to discuss the idea with governments.

The old St. Paul’s Hospital campus on Burrard Street in Downtown Vancouver’s West End. (Jeff Whyte/Shutterstock)

The results for the plebiscite questions will not itself create a new bylaw or compel the provincial government to establish new treatment facilities in Vancouver. Instead, ABC’s rationale is that a favourable vote would instead give the next City Council a direct democratic mandate to pursue both objectives.

While attaching the plebiscite to the civic election would cost only a fraction of holding a standalone vote on a separate date, there would still be an added expense. The public safety questions are expected to increase the cost of conducting the civic election by approximately four per cent to six per cent, or roughly $380,000 to $560,000 — raising the overall election budget from about $9.4 million to as much as just under $10 million.

“I’m not gonna participate in this sham process”

During the proceedings today, Orr called it an “election stunt” and “political theatre,” arguing that public consumption of hard drugs is already illegal and accusing ABC of using the plebiscite questions to mobilize voters ahead of the election. He also suggested entities could apply for a court injunction to try to halt the plebiscite.

“I believe this is a $500,000 get out the vote strategy,” said Orr. “Consumption of open-air drugs is already illegal. I don’t know, what else do we wanna put on the ballot to make other things that are currently illegal, illegal? How about drunk driving? I think it’s no different than Karl Rove putting gay marriage on the ballots to drive people to the polls. This is intended to divide.”

“I’m not gonna participate in this sham process,” added Orr.

In a statement this morning, COPE mayoral candidate Stephanie Allen suggested there is public drug use “because predators are being given free rein to kick people out of their homes for money for profit, abuse children, or sell poison drugs. If we want real public safety in Vancouver, we need to crack down on predators in our communities, both in the mansions and in the streets.”

“Someone needs to remind the Mayor and ABC that you’re not running against Premier Eby and the NDP”

The meeting became particularly tense during Bligh’s remarks.

Bligh accused ABC of framing vulnerable people experiencing homelessness, mental illness, and addictions issues as the problem rather than working more effectively with other levels of government to provide housing and treatment.

“What I see in front of us today is a campaign in an election that is being framed around pushing down on the citizens most vulnerable and making them the problem,” said Bligh. “That is shameful. It’s a shame.”

She then turned her criticism toward Mayor Sim’s increasingly combative relationship with Premier David Eby’s BC NDP administration.

“I don’t know if this needs to be said, but I just feel like someone needs to remind the Mayor and ABC that you’re not running against Premier Eby and the NDP. You’re not running in this election against the provincial government,” said Bligh.

Her comments prompted a point of order, followed by an escalating exchange around the boardroom table and a brief recess.

“Shame on all of you for getting sucked into this low level politics that belongs on X and not in these public meetings,” continued Bligh after the break.

“On the topic of this public safety plebiscite, this is my call to the public who are tuning in, who are watching this proceeding and to anyone that watches it after. The people have a voice. It’s called an election.”

Fry likewise criticized the Special Council meeting process, noting that it was called with 24 hours’ notice and did not include an opportunity for public speakers.

“This is a frustration of democratic process. And in my opinion, holding a plebiscite that by design is picking a fight with the province, whitewashing ABC councillors on abysmal record for opposing supportive housing and overdose prevention sites, galvanizing a ‘get out the vote’ strategy and electioneering by punching down on folks in health crisis is a misguided frustration of the democratic process,” said Fry.

“Residents don’t need another survey. They need a city that works.”

In a statement prior to the meeting, Vancouver Liberals mayoral candidate and ABC’s former 2022 civic election campaign manager Kareem Allam also similarly painted a picture that the plebiscite would not address the issues.

“Residents don’t need another survey. They need a city that works. Ken Sim is spending public money to ask permission for things he can already do. Council can change a bylaw at any meeting it wants. The mayor can call the Premier this afternoon. Getting people off the street and into care is the job, and no ballot question does it for you,” said Allam.

TEAM For A Livable Vancouver also asserted that a plebiscite is unnecessary to demonstrate that open-air drug use is unacceptable and a threat to public health and safety.

“The addictions crisis is one of the most important issues facing our city,” said TEAM mayoral candidate and former city councillor Colleen Hardwick in a statement before the meeting. “Vancouver needs serious leadership that recognizes it’s time to change how we’ve been dealing with this problem. That’s why TEAM is focused on a recovery-oriented approach that provides lasting solutions, not short-term political stunts like this plebiscite.”

During the meeting, Maloney asserted that the legitimate frustrations with public safety do not make the plebiscite an effective response.

“There are people in the city who are scared, parents who do not want their kids walking to school past someone openly using drugs, small business owners who have cleaned up human waste, dealt with broken windows, called 911, called 311, called everyone they’ve been told to call and feel like nobody’s coming. And there are also people living with addiction who are desperately sick,” said Maloney.

She argued City Council should instead debate specific bylaws, enforcement mechanisms, treatment requests, and funding measures now.

Maloney attempted to steer City Council into a different approach, introducing a sweeping amendment that would have replaced ABC’s plebiscite with a series of measures focused on peer support, community intervention, crisis response, restorative justice, Housing First, and consultation with some organizations.

She argued the City does not need to wait until after the civic election to take further action and pointed to existing or previous programs as models that could be expanded.

With Bligh, Fry, and Orr abstaining and Maloney voting in favour, the ABC majority rejected the amendment put forward by Maloney, arguing the City has already pursued many similar measures for years.

“This is about fundamentally a paradigm shift and a vociferous request to the provincial government to be bolstered.”

Addressing Maloney’s amendment attempt, ABC city councillor Lisa Dominato pointed to the approximately $8 million per year the City has committed through its partnership with Vancouver Coastal Health, Vancouver Police, and Vancouver Fire Rescue Services, including psychiatric nurses, expanded Car 87 and Car 88 services, mobile de-escalation teams, and an Indigenous crisis response team.

Dominato said approximately 2,500 people were diverted from police toward health services through those initiatives last year.

ABC city councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung similarly characterized much of Maloney’s amendment as “been there, done it, doing it,” arguing ABC’s plebiscite is intended to push beyond crisis management toward a larger provincial shift toward treatment and recovery.

“I think if we get out of the proverbial forest for the trees, this is not about the City responding to the down end of the crisis and doing things like restorative justice. This is about fundamentally a paradigm shift and a vociferous request to the provincial government to be bolstered.”

Maloney countered that if conditions have become as severe as ABC says, City Council should be implementing concrete changes now rather than asking voters two plebiscite questions in the civic election.

Mayor Sim, who has increasingly clashed with Premier Eby and the BC NDP administration over the past year — particularly B.C. Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs Christine Boyle, a former OneCity Vancouver councillor — characterized the plebiscite as the culmination of years of unsuccessful lobbying. Tensions between Sim and Boyle escalated after she made an exemption from a public vote for any future parkland transfers to First Nations a condition of provincial support for Sim’s now-cancelled plan to abolish the Park Board.

“We’ve reached a tipping point. And today is a new day, a day of hope where Vancouverites will have their voices heard on these critical issues,” Sim told City Council today.

He argued that the City has repeatedly sought more involuntary care capacity in Vancouver from the provincial government, but has yet to see any new beds announced within the city — even as municipal taxpayers continue to shoulder costs associated with a crisis that is regional, provincial, and national in scale, but has its epicentre in Vancouver.

Sim reiterated that it is estimated that the City spends about $100 million per year on downloaded costs — relating to policing, fire and rescue, sanitation, park maintenance, bylaw enforcement, and other municipal services — stemming from failed provincial policies and inaction.

“There are few cities in the world where you see people struggling on the streets at the extent that you do in Vancouver.”

ABC city councillor Peter Meiszner similarly rejected the suggestion that the City has failed to advocate for more help, saying City Council has spent four years pressing the provincial government to respond more aggressively and change course.

“Vancouver residents have had enough of the humanitarian crisis playing out on our streets and the people caught up in it. There are few cities in the world where you see people struggling on the streets at the extent that you do in Vancouver. People openly using hard drugs, which is a shock to residents, to families visiting from out of town, and to Vancouverites every day. Residents, particularly those of us who live in the heart of the city have become desensitized. Desensitized to seeing people outside our homes, in our alleyways and on our streets in the depths of unimaginable misery and despair,” said Meiszner.

“In the morning, I regularly see parents walking their kids to Crosstown Elementary in Downtown Vancouver and just feet away from them, there’s someone in a doorway or in a park smoking fentanyl or another hard drug. I see the employees of the small businesses on my street struggling to open their doors for the day, with someone passed out in their doorway and the employees having to deal with that situation.”

Meiszner said the City has pursued new and enhanced measures within its own powers, but believes a citywide vote could put additional pressure on the provincial and federal governments, which control many of the healthcare and legal tools required to address the crisis.

“I have a lot of empathy for these people. They are caught in a revolving door where it’s easier for them to get hard drugs than it is to get treatment. And this has to change for the future of our city and for the future of our province… I know that we live in a city of compassionate people who want to see people get the help they need to break the cycle of addiction and ensure we have a safe, vibrant, and healthy city,” added Meiszner.

ABC city councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung also argued that holding the vote as part of the civic election would provide a much broader measure of public opinion than commissioning another survey.

She said polling can be challenged based on who paid for it, its sample size, or whether respondents accurately represent Vancouver’s population, while an election provides an opportunity for a large number of residents to answer the questions directly.

She believes the current approach is failing to move enough people toward recovery and that a strong plebiscite result would strengthen the City’s ability to demand a different approach from the province.

“It will send a resounding, clear, unequivocal signal of the scale and sentiment of the residents of Vancouver in terms of how they feel about this issue,” said Kirby Yung.

“We have advocated continuously over several years to no avail, and have not seen the action to address this crisis, and things are continuing to get worse… The public appetite is clearly saying, let’s not just get into crisis intervention and sustain people, let’s actually get them to a better and a healthier place. And we have some individuals that are in such dire need that it is shockingly sad to leave them in that situation.”

“Stop Hard Drugs” petition sees over 7,000 signatures in under two weeks

ABC city councillor Lenny Zhou pointed to the “Stop Hard Drugs” petition he recently launched calling for tougher enforcement against open hard drug use in public spaces. Zhou told City Council his petition had accumulated more than 7,000 signatures in less than two weeks and said the issue became deeply personal after his five-year-old son witnessed someone using drugs in a park.

“Is this really a new normal that parents must accept in Vancouver? No parents [should] have to normalize open drug use for their child. No child should grow up believing this is simply unavoidable in our city,” said Zhou.

Zhou argued the response cannot be limited to enforcement and must include medical stabilization, voluntary treatment, and involuntary care in the most severe circumstances.

“It’s not a choice between public safety and compassion. Real compassion means protecting [a] person in crisis instead of leaving them to deteriorate in public,” continued Zhou.

Dominato said she believes there is a “silent majority” of Vancouver residents who are frustrated with provincial inaction and its effects on neighbourhoods and businesses, while also wanting people experiencing severe addiction and mental health issues to receive better care with meaningful results.

That echoes a central argument Sim made during ABC’s press conference yesterday announcing the plebiscite plan, when he asserted that many Vancouver residents are reluctant to publicly share their true views on public disorder, crime, and the current response to addictions and mental health because they fear criticism or intimidation — suggesting some may worry that expressing those views could be perceived as politically incorrect.

“I can tell you a lot of people are afraid to say how they feel in public because they feel intimidated,” said Sim during Thursday’s press conference.

“And so, this gives us an opportunity to have every single resident who wants to come out and vote — to vote on this issue without any kind of coercion or intimidation.”

Mayor Ken Sim during ABC’s press conference on Aug. 13, 2026, announcing the public safety plebiscite during the October 2026 civic election. (Kenneth Chan)

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