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#VanPoli | Time for Change | Why Kareem Allam and the Change Brigade Must Lead Vancouver City Hall

#VanElxn 2026, #VanPoli Civic Politics, Canada, canadian politics, Food & Health, Housing, Kareem Allam, Park Board, Vancouver, Vancouver Votes 2026, VanRamblings, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

After four years of Ken Sim and ABC Vancouver, Vancouver voters have an extraordinary opportunity on October 17 to restore compassion, competence, accountability and ambition to municipal government — and to elect a City Council capable of making this city more affordable, more inclusive and more livable for everyone.

There are moments in the life of a city when an election becomes about something much larger than the names on a ballot. It becomes a referendum on the kind of community its citizens wish to inhabit, on the values they expect their government to uphold, and on whether the people entrusted with public office understand that governing is, at its heart, an act of service.

For Vancouver, October 17, 2026, represents precisely such a moment.

The question confronting Vancouver voters is not simply whether Mayor Ken Sim and his ABC Vancouver colleagues deserve another four years at City Hall. It is whether Vancouver can afford another four years of a municipal administration that, in the view of VanRamblings, has too often confused political theatre with leadership, publicity without accomplishment, and the exercise of power with the responsibility to serve.

In our October 5 editorial, The Cruel and Corrupt Administration of Ken Sim, and His ABC Vancouver Colleagues, VanRamblings made a forceful argument: the Sim administration has presided over a troubling erosion of the compassion, civic responsibility and public accountability that ought to define municipal government.

Those are serious criticisms. They deserve to be examined through the administration’s decisions, its priorities, and the consequences those decisions have had for the people who live, work and struggle to make a life in Vancouver.

But this election is about more than rejecting a morally corrupt administration. It is about what comes next.

On October 12, VanRamblings formally endorsed Kareem Allam, the Vancouver Liberals’ candidate for Mayor, arguing that his combination of government experience, policy knowledge, political sophistication and commitment to practical problem-solving offers Vancouver an exceptional opportunity for generational leadership.  

And this time, the opportunity extends beyond the Mayor’s office.

Across the political spectrum, VanRamblings has identified 10 candidates for Vancouver City Council whose different experiences, political traditions, professional achievements and commitments to public service could, together, help rebuild a city government that has lost its way.

We call them The Change Brigade.

They are not a uniform political caucus. They do not agree on every issue, nor should they. What unites them is the potential to bring experience, energy, empathy, accountability and a renewed sense of civic purpose to a Council that desperately needs all five.

Our endorsements are an invitation to Vancouver voters to imagine something better — and then to go to the polls and make it happen.

I. The Mayoralty: Kareem Allam and the restoration of responsible government: Ken Sim and the cost of losing sight of the public good

There is an old understanding of municipal politics that ought never to have become controversial: a city government is judged by how it treats its people, particularly those with the least money, the least influence and the fewest avenues through which to make their voices heard.

By that measure, Ken Sim’s administration has failed Vancouver in ways that extend well beyond an argument over budgets, zoning or development approvals.

Consider the record.

One of the administration’s earliest decisions was to abandon the City’s Livable Wage Programme, withdrawing a commitment that required qualifying City suppliers to pay workers a living wage. The programme’s defenders understood something fundamental about public procurement: the City should not be indifferent to the working conditions of the people whose labour helps deliver public services.

Then came the closure of the City’s Renter’s Office, an especially troubling decision in a city where renters make up approximately 54 per cent of residents. At a time when housing insecurity and unaffordable rents are central concerns of everyday life, removing a dedicated source of municipal assistance sent a dispiriting message about whose needs mattered at City Hall.

There was the conversion of an Advisory Committee meeting room into a personal gym for the Mayor, a decision that prompted questions about priorities and the appropriate use of civic space. There was the widely criticized beer-shotgunning spectacle at Khatsalano Days, where the Mayor’s conduct raised entirely reasonable questions about judgment at a public festival attended by families.

There were persistent concerns about the Mayor’s attendance and participation in civic business, including his relationship with Metro Vancouver, where regional decisions affect transportation, housing, water, waste management and the long-term future of the entire metropolitan region.

And there was the treatment of political opponents.

The most disturbing example involved COPE Councillor Sean Orr.

As VanRamblings documented, Sim publicly associated Orr with allegations of handing out illegal drugs on the Downtown Eastside. The allegation was subsequently shown to be unfounded, and the matter led to an official sanction by the City’s Integrity Commissioner. Orr has maintained that he was away visiting friends and family on the Sunshine Coast during the period in question.

A Mayor is entitled to disagree with a Councillor. A Mayor is entitled to challenge a policy, criticize a vote and defend an administration’s record. But the power of the Mayoralty brings with it an obligation to exercise that power responsibly. Attacking an elected opponent with a damaging, unsubstantiated allegation crosses a line that should never be blurred by the heat of political combat.

Then there is the question of public investment.

VanRamblings has repeatedly criticized the administration’s decision to commit $13.4 million to FIFA hospitality packages while essential community services have faced difficult funding decisions. The City has argued that the packages were assets that could be resold to offset World Cup costs. That explanation deserves to be acknowledged. But it does not erase the larger question: what should Vancouver’s priorities be when its libraries, pools, community centres and other neighbourhood facilities need sustained investment?

The contrast becomes even more troubling when considered alongside the failure to provide the necessary urgency and funding for suicide-prevention barriers on the Granville Street Bridge, an issue with profound human consequences.

These are not unrelated complaints. Together, they raise a question about the values that guide a government.

When a municipality can find money for prestige and promotion but struggles to protect essential services, residents are entitled to ask whether its priorities have become detached from their daily lives.

When a government closes an office serving renters, withdraws a living-wage commitment and allows neighbourhood services to deteriorate, the consequences are not borne equally. They fall hardest on working families, people living on fixed incomes, students, low-wage workers and those already struggling to remain in the city.

And when political disagreement is answered with personal attacks rather than substantive argument, the damage extends beyond the individuals targeted. It weakens public confidence in the democratic process itself.

VanRamblings believes that Vancouver deserves better. We believe that municipal government must be capable of disagreement without vindictiveness, fiscal discipline without indifference, and ambition without neglecting the everyday needs of its citizens.

Most of all, we believe that kindness and competence are not competing values. They are the foundation of good government.

Why Kareem Allam represents a generational opportunity

Into this moment comes Kareem Allam, whose candidacy offers Vancouver voters the opportunity to replace political antagonism with practical leadership.

As VanRamblings outlined in its October 12 endorsement, Allam brings more than 25 years of experience working around government, public policy, public institutions, political campaigns and government relations. His background includes work with Fraser Health, public-policy leadership at the Vancouver Board of Trade, and experience in areas including health care, transportation, infrastructure and Indigenous relations.

Kareem Allam understands how the machinery of a municipal campaign operates, how public policy is developed, and how decisions made inside government can either improve people’s lives or fail them.

But experience alone is not enough. What matters is what a candidate intends to do with it.

The Vancouver Liberals’ programme puts affordability, frontline services, neighbourhood infrastructure, public safety, accountability and practical problem-solving at the centre of its agenda.

Allam has proposed limiting annual property-tax increases to inflation or less, adding 400 frontline workers, improving essential city services and increasing transparency in municipal spending. The party has also advanced a food-hub concept intended to improve access to affordable groceries and culturally diverse foods. These are campaign commitments, not completed achievements; the responsibility will be to implement them and demonstrate results.

That emphasis on implementation is important.

Vancouver does not need another administration that mistakes a press conference for a solution. It needs a Mayor who understands that an announcement about housing is not a home, a commitment to improve services is not a functioning library, and a promise to revitalize recreation is meaningless unless children can actually get into a pool, families can access a community centre, and neighbourhoods can depend on the facilities that make urban life worth living.

Allam’s proposed approach to food security also reflects a useful understanding of affordability. Hunger is not confined to the unemployed or those living in extreme poverty. It affects working families, students, seniors and people whose paycheques no longer stretch to the end of the month. A municipal government cannot solve every cause of food insecurity, but it can help build partnerships and neighbourhood institutions that make nutritious food more accessible.

The same practical thinking must extend to housing, childcare, public spaces and the preservation of community facilities.

Allam’s promise is not that every problem will disappear overnight. No responsible candidate should make that claim. His promise is that City Hall can become more focused, more competent, more transparent and more responsive to the people who pay for it.

VanRamblings believes Kareem Allam deserves the opportunity to prove it.

On October 17, we urge Vancouver voters to elect Kareem Allam as Mayor.

But a new Mayor cannot rebuild City Hall alone. The quality of the next Council will determine whether the promise of a new administration becomes a reality.

That is why our 10 Council endorsements matter.

II. The Change Brigade
10 candidates who can help rebuild Vancouver

Each endorsement below reflects VanRamblings’ editorial judgment about the candidate’s record, experience and potential contribution to City Council.

Mike Klassen occupies a particularly personal place in the history of VanRamblings. Over Christmas 2003, Mike created the website that would make its début in February 2004. Since then, he has served as VanRamblings’ webmaster, helping sustain a publication that has spent more than two decades examining Vancouver politics, culture and civic life. My friendship with Mike stretches back 35 years. That is a long time to know someone, to share experiences, to disagree, to learn, and to understand the qualities that define a person’s character. It is also a friendship that gives me a perspective on Mike that extends well beyond his public profile. In public life, Klassen has served on Vancouver City Council and as chair of the PNE Board of Directors. His work alongside fellow ABC Councillor Lisa Dominato to champion the integration of childcare centres into new developments approved by Council speaks to a practical understanding of the pressures facing young families. Childcare is not an optional extra in a livable city. It is essential infrastructure, as important to working parents as transportation, schools and safe public spaces. Mike’s professional experience in communications and civic affairs is an asset in understanding how institutions function and how public decisions are conveyed to residents. My endorsement of Mike is not an endorsement of every ABC Vancouver decision made during this Council term. VanRamblings has been unsparing in its criticism of Mayor Sim’s administration, and that criticism stands. But voters should evaluate candidates on their own records, their contributions and their willingness to work constructively. I know Mike’s commitment to the work he undertakes, and I believe Vancouver can benefit from that experience. His challenge, and his opportunity, is to help ensure that the next Council puts the needs of neighbourhoods ahead of partisan loyalty.

Some Councillors arrive at City Hall already fluent in the language of political compromise. Others arrive carrying the experiences of people who have spent years feeling that City Hall does not speak their language at all. Sean Orr belongs to the latter tradition, and Vancouver needs Sean’s voice. A poverty and housing activist before his election, Orr has built his political identity around renters, working people and residents whose circumstances rarely feature prominently in the glossy presentations of civic power. His victory in the April 2025 by-election, when he topped the poll with 34,448 votes, demonstrated that a substantial number of Vancouverites wanted an outspoken advocate who would challenge the assumptions of the political establishment. On Council, Sean Orr has continued to press for practical improvements in residents’ lives. He has advocated restoring Vancouver Public Library funding and working toward seven-day-a-week library service, recognizing that libraries are much more than book-lending facilities. They are places where children study, seniors find companionship, newcomers access information, and people without adequate space at home can participate in public life. Sean’s approach to public safety also challenges the false choice between compassion and order. A city can take public disorder seriously while acknowledging that homelessness, addiction and poverty require more than slogans and punitive gestures. The repeated attacks directed at Orr by Mayor Ken Sim have made his role all the more important. The unfounded drug-related allegations documented by VanRamblings were a serious assault on Orr’s reputation. Yet Orr has continued to focus on the work of representing Vancouver residents rather than allowing personal provocation to define his public service. That resilience matters. Council should be a place where a Councillor’s arguments are answered with evidence and reason, not personal vilification. VanRamblings heartily endorses Sean Orr because Vancouver needs a Councillor who remembers that democracy must include people who cannot purchase influence, hire lobbyists or command the attention of powerful interests. Sean Orr’s voice is necessary to a more humane, accountable and representative Council.

Jessica Walton is one of the most compelling candidates in the 2026 Council race because her understanding of economic insecurity is grounded in lived experience rather than abstract political theory. Jessica began working at 15, taking retail jobs to help support a family member living in poverty. Her early activism emerged from the student, environmental and feminist movements, where she became increasingly concerned about unequal access to education, the scarcity of affordable housing, the decline in well-paying employment and the rising cost of food. Jessica went on to lead a province-wide student lobbying organization, pressing municipal, provincial and federal governments to address the barriers confronting young people. Jessica Walton has worked on the front lines of government service, helping people navigate systems that can be difficult to understand and even harder to access. That is precisely the kind of experience that should inform municipal decision-making. Jessica has also managed two federal election campaigns in Vancouver Centre, undertaken years of unpaid, non-partisan voter outreach, and developed a strong interest in making government more accessible. Jessica’s experience establishing a small business, alongside her advocacy for disability inclusion and accessibility, gives her an understanding of the obstacles confronting entrepreneurs and residents who need public spaces and services to work for everyone. Jessica Walton’s candidacy is endorsed by UNITE HERE Local 40, one of British Columbia’s most progressive unions, a union representing workers in hotels, food services and airports across British Columbia. Local 40’s emphasis on fair wages, respect at work and family-supporting employment aligns closely with Walton’s longstanding commitment to working people. Jessica Walton is running at a time when many young families are questioning whether Vancouver remains a city in which they can afford to stay. She understands the connection between childcare, employment, accessible public facilities and the cost of housing. VanRamblings believes she is a must must must-elect candidate. Jessica would bring a strong progressive voice, practical labour experience and an inclusive understanding of public service to City Council. Vancouver needs more people who have fought to make institutions work for ordinary residents — and Jessica Walton has spent much of her life doing exactly that.

Vancouver’s diversity is one of its greatest strengths. Yet the composition of its elected institutions has not always reflected the communities that make the city what it is. Armor Valor’s candidacy offers an opportunity to strengthen Filipino-Canadian representation at City Hall while bringing practical experience from health care, small business, post-secondary governance and organised labour. Born and raised in South Vancouver, Valor works as a cook at BC Children’s and Women’s Hospital and belongs to the Hospital Employees’ Union. He understands the pressures confronting frontline workers: the demands of essential work, the importance of reliable public services and the need for workplaces that respect the people who keep institutions running. His experience extends beyond the hospital kitchen. Valor has served on the Langara College Board of Governors as a student-elected member since 2021 and previously served on the Vancouver Community College Board of Governors. Armor helped establish Langara’s first Filipino Student Association, participated in anti-racism initiatives and served as a Board member of Filipino BC. He has also operated a catering business and a small food enterprise, bringing first-hand knowledge of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs. These are not disconnected experiences. Together, they provide a perspective on how municipal decisions affect workers, students, small-business owners and culturally diverse neighbourhoods. Armor Valor has also spoken about the importance of neighbourhood representation in Vancouver’s at-large electoral system. The Vancouver Liberals have proposed a citizens’ assembly to examine a ward system, with a referendum contemplated for 2030. Such a process would give residents an opportunity to consider whether neighbourhoods should have a more direct connection to their elected representatives. It is long past time for Vancouver’s Filipino community to have a stronger presence in Council’s deliberations. Representation is not simply a matter of symbolism; it helps ensure that a wider range of experiences informs the choices a city makes. Armor Valor would bring working-class experience, community involvement, an understanding of South Vancouver and a commitment to inclusion. His candidacy deserves serious consideration from voters who want City Hall to look more like the city it serves.

Devin Clemens represents a generation of British Columbians who have had to make difficult choices about whether they can afford to build their lives in the province they call home. His personal experience of leaving British Columbia to pursue post-secondary education, studing political science and anthropological linguistics at the University of Saskatchewan before spending several years in Japan working as an educator. Devin  subsequently returned to British Columbia to be closer to family and build a future here. Devin’s return to British Columbia informs his commitment to making Vancouver a city where young people can establish themselves and remain. At university, Clemens founded and led a student advocacy organization dedicated to protecting high-quality, affordable education. The organization grew to several hundred members and pressed for policy reform and institutional accountability. That experience helped shape his understanding of how organized, evidence-based advocacy can bring about meaningful change. Devin Clemens now works at the University of British Columbia, continuing his involvement in public policy and access to education. Devin brings 15 years of experience in public policy, community engagement and grassroots advocacy. His interests include improving access to essential services, strengthening partnerships across levels of government and making public institutions more transparent and effective. Devin has also raised the possibility of integrating the UBC Endowment Lands into the City of Vancouver as part of a larger conversation about regional planning and future transit connections, including the proposed SkyTrain extension to UBC. These are ambitious questions requiring careful consultation, collaboration and long-term planning. What makes Devin Clemens a valuable candidate is his understanding that municipal government must consider the lives of people who are trying to build, not merely the development projects appearing on planning agendas. Young people need affordable housing, reliable transit, accessible recreation and the prospect of a future in their own communities. VanRamblings endorses Devin Clemens as a thoughtful, policy-oriented candidate with the potential to contribute to a Council focused on practical solutions and long-term opportunity.

There are moments in public life when a politician’s legacy is defined not by the number of motions passed, but by a decision to recognize the dignity of people who have too often been excluded. For John Coupar, one such moment came when he became Chair of the Vancouver Park Board in December 2014. In April of that year, during a deeply moving discussion about inclusion at Park Board, members of Vancouver’s gender-variant community had spoken about the barriers they faced in accessing public swimming pools and recreation facilities. Inclusive change rooms and opportunities to swim in a welcoming environment were not extravagant demands. They were requests to participate in ordinary civic life without humiliation or exclusion. John Coupar made a commitment. Upon becoming Chair, he pledged to establish gender-variant swims at Templeton and Lord Byng pools, work toward inclusive change rooms and washroom facilities, and collaborate with the 2SLGBTQIA+ community to make Vancouver’s recreation system more welcoming. John Coupar followed through. In early January 2015, Templeton Pool held its first inclusive late-morning and early-afternoon swim, an important practical step toward ensuring that people who had felt excluded could access a public facility on more equitable terms. VanRamblings documented this commitment and its significance in its continuing coverage of Park Board. As recounted in our January 17, 2024 article, #SaveOurParkBoard | Tender Moments of Change at Park Board, Pt. 1, the episode remains a powerful illustration of what municipal leadership can accomplish when it listens to people who are too often ignored. The lesson is worth remembering in 2026. Public parks, swimming pools, community centres and recreation programmes belong to everyone. They should be places where residents encounter welcome and belonging, not barriers imposed by institutions that have failed to consider their needs. John Coupar’s experience as a former Park Board chair gives him an understanding of the relationship between civic infrastructure, public investment and the everyday life of neighbourhoods. Vancouver’s parks and recreation system faces substantial renewal requirements, and the next Council must take those needs seriously. VanRamblings’ enthusiastic endorsement of John Coupar as a must must must-elect rests in part on that record of inclusion. His response to the gender-variant community demonstrated that an elected official can listen, make a commitment and turn that commitment into a tangible improvement in people’s lives. John Coupar will bring that same determination to City Council: the willingness to hear people, respect their dignity and ensure that Vancouver’s public institutions truly serve the whole community.

Some candidates arrive at City Hall with experience in campaigns. Others arrive with experience in business, community organizing or the daily struggles of working people. Dr. Moira Stilwell arrives with something that is particularly valuable to a city whose public services require both careful management and an understanding of human need: decades of medical practice combined with substantial experience in government. Stilwell is a physician specializing in nuclear medicine who has devoted more than 30 years to health care in British Columbia. Her career has included senior responsibilities at St. Paul’s Hospital, Surrey Memorial Hospital and Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre, as well as work at BC Women’s Hospital. Moira Stilwell’s public service extends well beyond medicine. Elected MLA for Vancouver-Langara in 2009, she served until 2017 and held provincial cabinet portfolios including Advanced Education and Labour Market Development and Social Development and Social Innovation. Her work encompassed education, economic participation, skills development and support for vulnerable populations. Dr. Stilwell also served in leadership roles with the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and contributed to organizations concerned with breast cancer research and health-care advancement. Why does that matter to Vancouver City Council? Because Moira Stilwell understands  the challenges facing the city cannot be solved through slogans or partisan positioning alone. They require people who understand how complex institutions work, how budgets affect services, how public decisions influence vulnerable residents and how to translate policy into outcomes. Vancouver needs Councillors who can ask difficult questions, evaluate evidence, scrutinize spending and work collaboratively to produce results. Stilwell’s professional background gives her the foundation to do all four. VanRamblings believes Dr. Moira Stilwell is a must must must-elect candidate who could emerge as a leader and a tremendous difference-maker for the better on Vancouver City Council, her experience, seriousness of purpose and longstanding contribution to British Columbia would serve to strengthen a new administration seeking to restore public confidence and deliver better services.

If Vancouver City Council has a fundamental weakness, it is that municipal government can become absorbed in its own procedures, language and political calculations, losing sight of how its decisions affect the people who live with the consequences. Frances Bula has spent decades explaining precisely how that happens. For many years, Bula has been one of British Columbia’s most respected journalists covering urban affairs and municipal politics. Here professional history matters enormously in this election. For approximately 30 years, Bula has observed Vancouver municipal politics: its personalities, its competing visions of the city, its development controversies, its budget debates and the often complicated relationships between elected officials, civic staff, neighbourhood organizations and the development industry. Candidate Bula understands how decisions emerge from the machinery of government. She knows the difference between a promising announcement and an implemented policy, between a budgetary commitment and a service residents can actually use. She has seen administrations arrive with grand plans, struggle with the realities of governance and leave successors to deal with the consequences. A Council with Frances Bula at the table would have a member capable of scrutinizing financial claims, identifying unanswered questions and explaining complex decisions in language ordinary residents can understand. That is not merely a communications advantage. It is an instrument of accountability. VanRamblings believes Frances Bula is a must must must-elect candidate. Her knowledge of Vancouver’s civic history, her professional understanding of public institutions and her commitment to making government more intelligible would be invaluable. When a city faces enormous challenges in housing, infrastructure, affordability and public confidence, electing someone who understands how City Hall actually works is not a luxury. It is common sense.

Stephanie Smith’s candidacy is rooted in a simple conviction: people should not have to surrender their homes, their dignity or their place in the community because the city they love has become unaffordable. Born at St. Paul’s Hospital, raised around her family’s small business on Granville Street and shaped by life in East Vancouver, Stephanie Smith has spent almost three decades working on behalf of tenants, workers and people confronting economic insecurity. Her experience is particularly relevant to the Downtown Eastside, where the intertwined challenges of housing, poverty, public health and displacement demand sustained attention rather than simplistic political answers. As a legal advocate, Smith has helped thousands of tenants facing renovictions, demovictions and other housing-related disputes. She has organized community legal clinics, trained advocates and law students, represented workers, negotiated collective agreements and worked with community groups, unions and governments to develop public-interest policies. Her service has included the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition, the Vancouver and District Labour Council and REACH Community Health Centre. Stephanie Smith’s housing work extends beyond advocacy. Since 2022, she has served with the Co-operative Housing Federation of BC and the Community Land Trust, organizations involved in developing and supporting genuinely affordable, community-owned housing. As President of her own housing co-operative, she also understands the daily work required to sustain housing communities. Smith brings a particularly important perspective to a Council that must grapple with the consequences of rising rents, redevelopment and the loss of affordable homes. Stephanie understands that housing policy is not simply about units and density. It is about whether people can remain connected to their neighbours, their schools, their jobs and the communities in which they have built their lives. The Vancouver Greens selected Smith as part of their 2026 Council team, citing her decades of work in housing and labour advocacy. Stephanie Smith’s candidacy also reflects the party’s commitment to affordability, accountable governance and placing people at the centre of municipal decision-making. VanRamblings heartily endorses Stephanie Smith, as we did in 2022, because Vancouver needs Councillors who understand the lived realities behind the statistics. Her experience would help ensure that tenants and working people are heard when Council debates the future of the city. A more livable Vancouver must be one where ordinary people can afford to stay. Stephanie Smith, who is another must must must-elect has spent much of her career working toward precisely that goal.

We need her on Council.

At a time when municipal politics can look like an old person’s game, Solomon Yi-Kieran represents something Vancouver urgently needs: a younger generation prepared to enter public life, challenge established assumptions and insist that the future belongs to those who will have to live in it. In VanRamblings’ August 20 column, #VOTE for Solomon Yi-Kieran | A New Generation Steps Forward in Vancouver, we argued that Solomon’s candidacy speaks to a generation facing a convergence of crises: unaffordable housing, precarious employment, the climate emergency and the increasingly difficult task of building a secure life in Vancouver. Read the August 20 VanRamblings endorsement (linked above).When young people cannot afford rent, they cannot plan confidently for their future. When transit is inadequate or unaffordable, access to education and employment becomes more difficult. When climate policy is postponed, younger generations inherit greater risks and costs. And when decisions about artificial intelligence, data centres and technological development are left exclusively to powerful private interests, communities may find themselves dealing with the consequences without having had a meaningful say in the choices that produced them. Yi-Kieran’s generation has every reason to demand a different approach. His candidacy with COPE also places him within a political tradition that emphasises working people, tenants, social justice and democratic participation. Those perspectives are important on a Council where development pressures, public spending and the allocation of scarce resources will continue to produce difficult choices. VanRamblings believes that a city must be governed not only for those who already possess power, property and influence, but also for the people trying to establish themselves. Younger residents deserve a meaningful role in shaping the policies that will determine whether they can remain in Vancouver. Solomon Yi-Kieraan would bring fresh energy, a forward-looking perspective and a willingness to confront questions that municipal government cannot afford to ignore. Their election would be a vote for the proposition that young people should not have to leave their city to secure their future.

That is a proposition worth fighting for.

III. What The Change Brigade Could Accomplish Together

The 10 candidates endorsed by VanRamblings do not share a single political ideology.

Mike Klassen represents ABC Vancouver; Sean Orr and Solomon Yi-Kiernan come from COPE; Jessica Walton, Armor Valor, Devin Clemens, John Coupar and Dr. Moira Stilwell are Vancouver Liberals; Frances Bula represents OneCity Vancouver; and Stephanie Smith is a Vancouver Green.

That diversity is a strength.

Vancouver’s next Council should not be a collection of politicians who agree automatically with their party leaders. It should be a working assembly of people who bring different experiences to the table, argue seriously about competing priorities, examine the evidence, and then make decisions in the public interest.

Imagine what that Council might accomplish if its members shared a commitment to getting the basics right.

Imagine a municipal government that regarded libraries as essential neighbourhood infrastructure, with a serious plan to restore funding and expand public access. A government that recognized swimming pools, recreation centres, water-play facilities and community centres as fundamental to children’s well-being and the health of neighbourhoods, rather than as expensive obligations to be postponed.

Imagine a Council that treated childcare as essential infrastructure, understood the pressures confronting working parents, and made the preservation and expansion of affordable childcare a priority in its planning decisions.

Imagine a government that worked to restore a living-wage commitment, took the concerns of renters seriously, strengthened public accountability and ensured people struggling with the cost of living could find assistance before desperation set in.

Imagine a city that invested in its parks, maintained its public spaces, improved transportation, protected tenants and built genuinely affordable housing — while recognizing that public safety depends on functioning services, effective partnerships, and a willingness to confront difficult problems honestly.

These are not extravagant aspirations.

They are the ordinary responsibilities of a well-run city.

Nor should any of this be understood as a promise that 10 elected Councillors, or even a new Mayor and a majority of Council, could solve every problem confronting Vancouver. The city operates within financial constraints, legal obligations and the division of responsibilities between municipal, provincial and federal governments.

Meaningful progress will require negotiation, prioritization, careful budgeting and sustained public engagement.

But those limitations make capable leadership more important, not less.

A new Council must be prepared to examine the City’s spending with clear eyes, distinguish essential services from less urgent expenditures, pursue partnerships that deliver tangible benefits, and explain honestly what can be achieved and how it will be paid for.

It must also recognize that Vancouver’s livability cannot be measured solely through property values, development statistics or the number of international visitors who arrive for a major sporting event.

A city is livable when its residents can afford a home. When children have somewhere safe to play. When young people can imagine a future here. When seniors can participate in community life. When a person with a disability can use public facilities without unnecessary barriers. When workers receive fair treatment. When renters have access to support. When neighbourhood libraries and recreation centres remain open and accessible.

And when the people who are struggling most are treated with dignity rather than contempt.

The candidates endorsed here bring different pieces of that larger vision. Frances Bula offers an unusually deep understanding of municipal government. Dr. Moira Stilwell brings medical and Cabinet experience, as well as a deep understanding of governance. John Coupar brings a record of action on inclusion at Park Board.

Jessica Walton brings labour experience and a lifelong commitment to accessibility. Armor Valor brings frontline health-care work and Filipino-Canadian community leadership. Devin Clemens brings policy experience and a perspective shaped by the challenges confronting younger British Columbians.

Stephanie Smith brings decades of tenant and labour advocacy. Sean Orr brings a determined voice for renters and people on the margins. Solomon Yi-Kiernan brings the urgency of a younger generation. Mike Klassen brings years of civic and professional experience.

Together, they represent a formidable range of abilities.

The challenge will be to turn those abilities into a governing culture defined by cooperation rather than hostility, public service rather than self-promotion, and measurable improvements rather than political theatre.

Kareem Allam’s responsibility, should Vancouver voters elect him Mayor, will be to help create the conditions in which that work can succeed.

That means listening to Councillors who disagree with him. It means allowing scrutiny of his administration. It means acknowledging mistakes, correcting them and reporting honestly on progress. It means understanding that a majority at City Hall is not a license to disregard the minority, and that the authority to govern comes with a continuing obligation to earn the public’s trust.

The next Mayor must also remember that the people of Vancouver are not an audience to be managed. They are citizens to be served.

IV. October 17: A Choice About The City We Want to Become

There is something deeply moving about the prospect of a city finding its way again.

Vancouver has always been more than its skyline, its real-estate market or the spectacular beauty of the mountains and ocean that surround it. Its character has been shaped by people who have built community centres, organised neighbourhood associations, fought for affordable housing, opened libraries, created cultural institutions, defended public parks and demanded that government become more responsive to ordinary lives.

The city has been made better by people who refused to accept that things had to remain as they were.

It has been made better by the citizen who attended a Council meeting after a long day at work because a decision threatened the future of a neighbourhood. By the parent who organized other families to demand childcare. By the tenant who stood up to an unfair eviction. By the community activist who insisted that a public swimming pool should welcome people who had previously been excluded. By the journalist who kept asking questions long after the political excitement had passed. By the worker who joined a union and discovered that solidarity could accomplish what an individual could not.

These are the people who make a city worth living in.

And they are the people to whom municipal government owes its greatest obligation.

The 2026 civic election presents Vancouver with an extraordinary opportunity to renew that obligation. Voters can choose a Mayor who brings substantial government experience and a practical commitment to improving municipal services. We can elect Councillors whose combined experience encompasses medicine, journalism, labour, housing, community activism, public policy, inclusion and the everyday concerns of working families.

We can choose a Council that understands the future of Vancouver is not simply a matter of how much the city builds, but of whether the people who live here can afford to remain.

VanRamblings believes this is an opportunity of generational significance — a chance to elect one of the strongest combinations of civic leadership and experience Vancouver has been offered in more than half a century.

It will not be enough to change the name on the Mayor’s office door. The deeper task is to change the spirit in which City Hall operates.

To replace cruelty with compassion. To replace arrogance with accountability. To replace political spectacle with meaningful action. To replace the reflexive defence of a party’s reputation with an honest assessment of whether the public is being well served.

To remember that a city belongs to everyone who calls it home.

On October 17, voters have the power to begin that work.

We urge you to elect Kareem Allam as Vancouver’s next Mayor, and to give serious consideration to each of the 10 candidates endorsed here as The Change Brigade. Not because they will agree on everything. Not because governing will suddenly become easy. And certainly not because any political party should be granted unquestioning loyalty.

We endorse them because we believe Vancouver deserves a Council whose members can bring their different experiences to bear on a shared task: making this city more affordable, more inclusive, more compassionate and more livable.

A city where the promise of a good life is not reserved for the fortunate few.

A city where a young person can stay, find meaningful work, establish a home and imagine raising a family.

A city where an older resident can continue to participate in neighbourhood life, where children can discover the pleasures of swimming and sport, where libraries remain open to curious minds, and where community centres are places of connection rather than neglected buildings awaiting another capital plan.

A city where the people who clean its streets, care for its patients, teach its children, serve its food and keep its institutions running are treated as indispensable members of the community they sustain.

And a city where public office is understood not as a privilege to be enjoyed, but as a responsibility to be honoured.

That is the Vancouver we want.

That is the Vancouver we believe is possible.

And that is the Vancouver for which, on October 17, VanRamblings asks you to vote.

Because a city is never finished. It is made and remade by the choices of its citizens, by the courage of those who step forward to lead, and by the willingness of its people to believe that tomorrow can be better than today.

Let us choose a City Hall that understands this.

Let us choose a Mayor who will work for the whole city, and Councillors who will bring their knowledge, their convictions and their humanity to the task.

Let us build a Vancouver where kindness is not mistaken for weakness, where competence is measured in the lives improved, where public money serves the public good, and where no neighbourhood, no family and no individual is considered expendable.

Let us build a city that welcomes the young, respects the old, protects the vulnerable and gives working people a fair chance to prosper.

A city of open libraries and lively community centres, of accessible pools and beautiful parks, of affordable homes and safe streets, of shared opportunity and genuine belonging.

A city in which our differences become a source of strength, our public institutions reflect our highest aspirations, and our elected representatives understand their most important legacy is not what they say about themselves, but what they help make possible for others.

On October 17, Vancouver has a choice.

VanRamblings believes it is time to choose change.

Together, we can build a better Vancouver.

#VanPoli | Mayoral Candidate Kareem Allam To Address Food Insecurity

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Each month, the Greater Vancouver Food Bank supports 15,000 families directly and another 20,000+ families through 119 community partner agencies (shelters / transition houses) in Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, and the North Shore.

Separate organizations handle outer cities, such as the Friends in Need Food Bank serving Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, and local groups covering Surrey, Langley, and Richmond independently.

Food Banks BC reported that over 113,000 unique individuals utilize food banks across British Columbia in a single month, marking a sharp 44% surge compared to pre-pandemic levels.

  • Children: Make up roughly 25% to 31% of direct food bank clients in the region;
  • Seniors: Account for about 16% to 17% of individuals seeking food assistance;
  • Employment: Up to 30% of urban food bank clients in Vancouver report being currently employed, struggling with high housing and living costs.

Should they win power on October 17th, the Vancouver Liberals have committed to implementing a food security programme in the City of Vancouver.

This programme would address the issue of food insecurity for the thousands of families in need across Vancouver who make regular use of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, a programme not unlike the food security programme currently being implemented by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and the University of British Columbia’s Community Food Hub Programme.

That is what today’s VanRamblings column is all about. Good on the Vancouver Liberals for addressing a critical need for so many families across our city.

Vancouver Liberals’ Mayoral candidate Kareem Allam sits down with Will Lich, founder of UBC’s Community Food Hub, to discuss food insecurity, and what might be done to address the issue

Vancouver Liberals’ candidate for Mayor, Kareem Allam, has developed a full-fledged plan to address food insecurity in the City of Vancouver.

Development of the Vancouver Liberals’ Food Insecurity Relief Plan would include implementation of a Community Food Hub with, over time, more than one such Food Hub Market to be located in neighbourhoods throughout Vancouver.

The development of Food Hub Markets across the city is but one facet, or feature, of the Vancouver Liberals’ Food Insecurity Relief Plan, about which VanRamblings will write at greater and in-depth length on another day.

At the University of British, the Community Food Hub is a campus-wide initiative designed to tackle student food insecurity through affordable groceries, educational workshops, and community-building.

The primary feature of the Community Food Hub is the UBC Food Hub Market, which operates out of the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability building, located on the UBC campus.

The programme offers several key resources and initiatives:

  • The Food Hub Market: A low-cost, at-cost grocery store for the campus community;
  • Workshops & Outreach: Educational sessions on food literacy, nutrition, and hands-on food skills.;
  • Food Prescription Programme: A pilot programme running at the Gateway Health Building allowing healthcare providers to screen for food insecurity and prescribe personalized food support.;
  • The Acadia Food Hub: Located in the Acadia Park Residence, this location offers food and baby supply distribution for families on campus.

The Food Hub Market is a not-for-profit community space offering affordable grocery essentials while fostering community social connection.

The Market is dedicated to improving access to affordable and culturally diverse grocery staples that support food security and meet the everyday needs of those who make use of the facility within a welcoming and inclusive environment.

The Community Food Hub also provides hands-on food skills workshops, community events and educational outreach on food literacy and nutrition. These programmes promote food literacy and food skills, helping the community navigate available food security resources, and strengthen community connections.

The Vancouver Liberals’ Food Security Programme is woven into the party’s broader agenda on affordability, economic opportunity, neighbourhood services, and community well-being.

Food Security Through Affordability

In part, the Vancouver Liberals approach to the issue of food insecurity emerges as a consequence of the rising cost of living. Throughout the Vancouver Liberals’ platform, Vancouvers’s newest civic party argues that Vancouver City Hall must focus on restoring affordability so families have more disposable income available for necessities such as groceries.

Kareem Allam has repeatedly framed the Vancouver Liberals’ broader objective as creating “a city where young people are able to stay and raise a family,” arguing that municipal government should measure every policy against that standard.

Within that framework, food security becomes one key element of overall household affordability. If housing costs, transportation costs, and municipal taxes consume less of a family’s income, residents will be better able to afford nutritious food.

The Principal Tenets of the Vancouver Liberals Platform

  • 1. Lower the cost pressures on households 

    The Vancouver Liberals argue that controlling property tax increases and improving fiscal management will leave residents with more money available for everyday expenses, including groceries. They contend that City Hall should concentrate on efficient delivery of core services rather than expensive capital projects that do not directly improve residents’ quality of life;
  • 2. Build an economy that supports working families 

    Kareem Allam frequently links food affordability with employment. His speeches emphasize attracting better-paying jobs and ensuring young people can remain in Vancouver rather than being forced to leave because of living costs. In the party’s view, food security is strengthened when residents have stable employment and rising incomes;
  • 3. Strengthen neighbourhood infrastructure 

    The party proposes significant investment in community centres, parks, libraries, and other neighbourhood facilities. While these proposals are not described specifically as food security initiatives, such facilities often serve as locations for community kitchens, seniors’ meal programmes, food distribution initiatives, and neighbourhood support services;
  • 4. Improve frontline municipal services 

    The Vancouver Liberals propose hiring 400 additional frontline unionized employees to improve municipal services. Their argument is a better-functioning city creates healthier neighbourhoods and stronger communities capable of supporting vulnerable residents.

Vancouver Liberals’ Mayoral Candidate Kareem Allam’s Perspective

Kareem Allam consistently argues that municipal government should concern itself with whether ordinary families can successfully build their lives in Vancouver.

Kareem’s public messaging repeatedly returns to several themes:

  • Vancouver must once again become affordable for young families;
  • Municipal spending should prioritize essential public services;
  • Economic growth is necessary to sustain strong social programmes;
  • Public investment should focus on practical improvements rather than prestige projects.

Vancouver Liberals’ Council Candidate Jessica Walton’s Contribution

Jessica Walton brings perhaps the strongest personal connection to food affordability within the Vancouver Liberals.

Her candidate biography highlights several experiences directly related to food insecurity and rising living costs:

  • Working retail jobs from the age of 15 while helping support a family member living in poverty;
  • Experience in restaurants and service-sector employment;
  • Advocacy for a fair and livable wage;
  • Concern that rising food costs are forcing students and young people to leave British Columbia;
  • Frontline government work connecting residents with public services.

Jessica’s biography specifically identifies “rising food costs” as one of the major pressures facing younger generations. Rather than presenting food insecurity solely as a charitable issue, Jessica Walton frames it as part of a broader affordability crisis affecting students, workers, and young families.

Ms. Walton also emphasizes accessibility, inclusion, and ensuring government programmes are understandable and reachable by those who need them most. Her experience helping residents navigate government services informs her belief that municipal programmes should be practical and accessible.

Relationship With Existing City Policy

The Vancouver Liberals’ emerging approach differs from the City of Vancouver’s long-established food policy framework. Vancouver already operates a comprehensive food strategy supporting community food networks, urban agriculture, food access programs, and local food system planning.

The Vancouver Liberals have not proposed eliminating these initiatives.

Instead, their emphasis has been on improving affordability, strengthening neighbourhood infrastructure, and restoring confidence in municipal governance.

As the October 17th Vancouver Municipal Election Approaches

Kareem Allam presents food security as inseparable from creating a city where working families can afford to remain and prosper. Vancouver Liberals’ candidate for Vancouver City Council Jessica Walton reinforces that message from personal experience, speaking about poverty, rising grocery costs, fair wages, and the barriers confronting students and young families.

The Vancouver Liberals are dedicated to publishing  a definitive food security platform in the lead up to this autumn’s civic election campaign that will expand on the provision of specific municipal initiatives and measurable policy commitments.

VanRamblings | 2026 | Raymond’s Health Update

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After 265 arduous and often painful days of my recovery from prostate cancer surgery at Vancouver General Hospital, I can report to VanRamblings’ readers today that I am well on the way to a full recovery and that, at present, there are no hurdles in respect of my once upon a time prostate cancer that is of concern to me.


The front entrance to Broadview Housing Co-operative, in the heart of the Kitsilano neighbourhood

Today, then, allow me to provide you with some insight into my eight-plus month recovery journey, commencing in early November 2025, when I was bedridden and in immense pain, cared for by friends and neighbours — in particular regarding the latter group, my Broadview Housing Co-operative comrades and in-house health saviours / providers: Heather Redfern and Kevin Stewart, in particular, but also Judi Burley, Laurie Reid, Max Burley, Jordan Patrich, Bobby Asgari, Laurette Yelle, and Libbi Dowd — without whose caring, able assistance and dedication to working with me towards my recovery, I might very well not be here today.

Meaghan, pictured above, was also a core saviour, the light in my life, during my recovery

Meaghan Brister also played a significant — dare I say, pivotal — role before and in the many months after my prostate cancer surgery. I’ve previously published a photo of Meaghan and her husband Alasdair’s 2-year-old daughter, Elliott, sitting at the bottom, on the left hand side, of my bed, an ever present Teague the dog nearby. The whole family have long been very close friends of mine (lucky me!).

Perhaps most important of all over the past 16 months, my personal health saviour, Kelly Ryan

In the time to come, I will dedicate a whole column to Kelly, as I will to Heather — these two angels from heaven, more than any of my other deeply devoted caregivers and friends — were the difference makers in my life these past eight-plus months, who ensured I was eating enough to keep me alive (I had no appetite for months, my weight dropping to 135 pounds from 175 pounds a month prior to my October 31, 2025 prostate cancer surgery, and from an initial 225 pounds when I was first diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer on September 5, 2024).

Raymond and Fergus when I weighed 225 pounds, when Fergus was 3 years (he’s 7 years old now)

Each month of my recovery brought some new variation and often uncomfortable transformation, very rarely pleasant, more often troubling and painful in the month of November 2025, requiring that I be hospitalized three times that month, carried out on a stretcher, and rushed to Vancouver General Hospital.

In the month of November, I suffered three hematomas, my bed and my apartment covered in blood prior to my being taken to hospital in an ambulance, Heather, Kelly and Kevin standing by to provide whatever assistance to the paramedics that was deemed necessary.

A hematoma is a sac of pooling blood — composed of red and white blood cells, platelets and fibrin and plasma — that accumulates when a blood vessel becomes damaged and then ruptures, causing blood to rush outside the body from deep within tissues, internal organs and various other body spaces, kind of like a burst blood clot, but messier and more concerning, not necessarily dangerous but should the deep bleeding emanate from inside the abdomen — which is where my invasive prostate surgery took place — can cause severe internal blood loss, leading to life-threatening shock.

Each of my hematomas, once burst, poured blood from my body’s right side for hour upon hour, such that I woke up covered in blood, my bed soaked — like the scene from The Godfather, when the movie producer wakes up covered in blood — and as I attempted to get up, blood tracked throughout my apartment.

Finally, towards the end of November, upon my third hospitalization, urologic oncologist Dr. Amy Sherman came to visit me in my hospital bed, harrumphed and said, “Enough of this!”

Dr. Sherman then proceeded to “sew” up my wound subcutaneously, which served to permanently stop the blood flowing from my body.

I asked her, “Why are you the first doctor to come up with a subcuteneous resolution to my hematomas,” to which she replied (with a twinkle in her eye), “Because they are not as good, as skilled and knowledgeable a doctor as I am.”

Throughout November and December, I received daily care at home from a home care assistant — mainly responsible for cleaning me up, and bathing me in bed, while exploring the potential for a problem that required medical intervention.

In addition, a registered wound care nurse — who, as a group, are very well respected for the work they do — who visited weekly.

Just to wrap this up, and get to the “end”, if November was the month of hematomas, December was the month of fecal incontinence (don’t ask, it was messy), and January (for me, the worst month) a month of constipation that was painful and unrelenting.

February, as Heather visited her sister in Grand Forks for the first two weeks of the month, celebrating her birthday over on Vancouver Island during the latter two weeks of February — something she and her husband, Jason, have done for years — I was pretty much on my own, and left to my own devices.

Truth to tell, my appetite began to return (my neighbour Libbi, who herself was being treated for cancer, told me, “Raymond, the secret to recovering your appetite: the Filet O’ Fish at McDonald’s … and so it proved to be).

In February I was up and walking Teague the dog, slowly and fitfully, but walking throughout my Kitsilano neighbourhood nonetheless, initially with a walker and then with a cane, and eventually — much to my family physician Brad Fritz’s chagrin — I was walking, if a little unsteadily, sans cane or other mobility devices.

Three more notes of interest before I bring today’s Health Update post to a close …

    • In early December, on my way to the washroom I passed out, falling to the floor. For six hours, I “slept” on the cold laminate flooring in my home. At the time, my apartment door was always open. At 7am, after my neighbour Jordan had been up all night wrestling with 2-year-old Wynn and 4-year-old Orlo to get them to sleep, he decided to look in on me. Seeing me sprawled out on the floor, Jordan — a husky, fit guy in his early 40s, and the only Broadview member strong enough to perform strength-requiring physicality — gently lifted me off the floor and into his arms, carrying me to my bed, whereupon he covered me up, as I fell back to sleep. Heather arrived precisely at 9am — as she did every day, 7 days a week, for three solid months — to feed me, do the dishes, clean the floors and put in a wash, emptying the garbage and doing the recycling, as well, finally leaving exhausted for her home on the third floor — having been informed by Jordan of my overnight “event;”
    • Incontinence.  Yep, one loses control of their bladder in the months, up to a year and a half after prostate cancer surgery (which, by the way, turns one into a eunuch which, truth to tell at near 76 years of age, has come as a welcome relief in my dotage). Recently, at Khatsalano Day making my way up West 4th Avenue from Macdonald Street, where I visited each of the political booths that had been set up, I was alarmed to discover the my entire front was soaked (in urine, both Donald Trump and I, alas). I took an EVO home, took a shower, and changed into clean clothing. I have come up with a resolution to the incontinence “leaking” — I wear a diaper, of course, but I place bamboo / cotton boxer protective underwear over top of the diaper, and voilà, no more embarrassing and compromising “leakage”;

Alasdair and Fergus, ‘football’ and rugby stars both

  • Saving the best for last. When I left hospital November 1 2025 — Alasdair and Fergus picking me up from the fourth floor urology recovery floor (a story all in itself) — to bring me home, as we were leaving, I was told that come the autumn of 2026, as my surgical team had not caught all the cancer, I would be subject to five weeks of, five-day-a-week radiation therapy at the B.C. Cancer Agency.

This past Monday, expecting a call from Dr. Miles Mannas, my skilled prostate cancer surgeon, my expectation was that I would be negotiating a date after the upcoming October 17 municipal election for my radiation therapy, which both Dr. Brad Fritz and my friend Roni Jones suggested should occur in the afternoon, because I would be beat in the morning, and barely able to get out of bed …

Roni, in response to my question, “How am I going to get to and from my apartment five days a week to arrive at the B.C. Cancer Agency, and then be ferried home more than a little worse for wear — both Roni and Brad told me that the latter three weeks I would be bedridden (gosh, just like last November). Roni came up with the suggestion of HandyDART for transportation!

At any rate, at 11:45am on Monday morning an ebullient Dr. Miles Mannas called me, cheerful, friendly, voluble and warm of spirit and cadence to say, as I began my radiation therapy negotiation, Dr. Mannas kindly interrupting me …

“Raymond, I don’t know who told you you’d be going in for radiation therapy in the fall, that we hadn’t caught all the cancer during your surgery last autumn. All of your current tests indicate you are cancer free, we caught it all. There is no necessity for you to subject yourself to radiation therapy, it’s simply not necessary.”

We spoke for awhile more, Dr. Mannas asking …

“So, how many diapers are you going through a day? ‘One’, I told him. “Only one,” he asked, a tone of surprise in his voice. “Yep,” I replied. “And how are you feeling these days, “Pretty darn good,” I replied. “I’m writing again, walking up to and beyond five kilometres a day with my dog, socializing with friends, and all and all, I feel as good as I did before I was diagnosed with prostate cancer almost two years ago.”

“And what about your pain medication, the hydromorphone? Have you found your way clear to reducing your pain medication intake?” I replied that I had not taken a hydromorphone tablet in over two months, and prior to that I had reduced my intake to a 1mg tablet most, and then, some days, that I was good.

We spoke for awhile more, as I said to him …

“As you may be aware, prior to my surgery last year, each of the four nurses, two of the anaesthesiologists, three of the surgeons who would be assisting you, and a number of other medical professionals who would be present in the operating theatre during my surgery, told me of how skilled you are, and how fortunate I was to have you as my surgeon. But they said more …

Each individual who visited me prior to my surgery told me how much they loved you, of your wry and boisterous sense of humour, how you always remembered their birthdays, how collegial and supportive you have been in regards to their careers, and their deep and abiding affection for you. We don’t always know what people are saying about us when we’re not around, not in the room. I thought it right to let you in on how much your colleagues respect and admire you, and how much you have added to the quality of their lives, and their work experience at VGH.”

There was a momentary pause, after which Dr. Mannas said …

“Thank you, Raymond. Your words mean a great deal to me. Really, I had no idea. Thank you for your kindness in letting me know. You’ve made my day!”

I thanked him for his skill and all the work he had put in, all of the tests and interventions in which he had engaged on my behalf over the past eighteen months, since he first began treating me in early January of 2025.

And with that, our call came to an end.

And now, all these months later, I am over the moon!

#BCPoli | Kerry-Lynne Findlay, BC Conservatives | Is The Maple MAGA Leader Unfit To Become Premier?

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Kerry-Lynne Findlay, the new B.C. Conservative Party leader

The Iron Fist in a Velvet Glove: The Ascent of Kerry-Lynne Findlay

On May 30, 2026, the Rocky Mountaineer Station in Vancouver played host to an ideological tug-of-war that would reshape the political landscape of British Columbia. When the fourth and final ballot of the Conservative Party of BC leadership race settled, Kerry-Lynne Findlay emerged victorious. But the crown she inherited is heavy, fractured, and forged in the fires of an intense internal civil war.

Ms. Findlay, a 71-year-old veteran of the Stephen Harper era, successfully positioned herself as a “conservative by conviction, not by convenience,” rallying a base that favoured a hard-right ideological shift over centrist moderation.

Yet, as she takes the helm of the province’s Official Opposition, her victory is over-shadowed by a razor-thin mandate, serious federal compliance investigations, and deep fractures within her own ranks.

A Razor-Thin Mandate from the Hinterlands

To understand the challenge ahead for Ms. Findlay is to understand just how narrow her path to victory truly was. Her battle against political commentator and former BC United vice-president Caroline Elliott was an absolute photo finish.


For VanRamblings (and her leadership campaign manager, Kory Teneycke), it is almost impossible to believe that a competent, articulate, younger, electable Caroline Elliott lost to Kerry-Lynne Findlay

As provincial affairs columnist Vaughn Palmer noted in the Vancouver Sun, Ms. Findlay topped Ms. Elliott by a mere 60 raw votes out of more than 22,000 ballots cast. Under the party’s riding-weighted system, this translated to a 51% to 49% victory — the narrowest possible margin for democratic legitimacy.

More telling than the margin is the geographic and demographic divide it exposed:

  • The Urban-Rural Split: Ms. Findlay’s victory was not built in the urban or suburban centres of the Lower Mainland. In Vancouver proper, she captured just 17% of first-round support, and only 14% in West Vancouver-Sea-to-Sky;
  • The Northern Surge: Her true base of power lay in the northern, rural, and resource-dependent heartlands. In ridings like Stikine-Bulkley Valley — a region dotted with heavily Christian towns and areas deeply entangled in resource development debates — Ms. Findlay dominated, capturing 59% of the vote.

By rejecting the more centrist visions put forward by her former rivals — current MLA Peter Miloba, former BC Liberal MLA Iain Black, and Ms. Elliott herself — Ms. Findlay consolidated a populism rooted outside the major metropolitan areas.

The Ghost of 2025: Elections Canada Allegations

Compounding the structural divisions within her party is a serious external vulnerability. Ms. Findlay enters her provincial leadership under a distinct legal and ethical cloud stemming from her recent political past.

During the 2025 federal election, Ms. Findlay lost her seat as the Member of Parliament for South Surrey — White Rock. However, the fallout from that campaign continues to loom large. An ongoing Elections Canada investigation features severe allegations regarding her campaign’s financial and operational conduct:

The Allegations Under Investigation:

  • Undeclared Corporate Benefits: It is alleged that Ms. Findlay’s campaign received $75,000 in undeclared and unpaid services from a private corporation;
  • Quid Pro Quo: Investigators suggest these corporate services were provided in exchange for promises of lucrative federal contracts down the road;
  • Foreign National Canvassing: Perhaps most damagingly, the investigation further suggests that approximately 50 individuals described as foreign nationals without legal status actively canvassed on behalf of Ms. Findlay during the campaign. Ms. Findlay has dismissed the investigation as standard political friction, but the potential for formal sanctions provides constant ammunition for her political opponents.

Pulling the Party to the Right: The Culture War Focus

In a comprehensive profile for the online journal The Tyee, journalist Jen St. Denis highlighted the fundamental shift occurring under the new leadership, run under the stark headline: Findlay Pulls BC Conservatives to the Right.

Ms. Findlay’s platform leans heavily into “faith, family, and freedom,” a rhetorical framework that critics argue mirrors American-style populist movements. Observers describe her as a Trump-adjacent “MAGA Maple” figure, highly focused on divisive culture war issues rather than traditional policy consensus.

The Battle Over SOGI 123

A central pillar of Ms. Findlay’s ideological brand is her fierce opposition to the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI 123) curriculum implemented in British Columbia schools. Ms. Findlay has campaigned on entirely dismantling the programme, aligning herself with anti-trans and parental rights groups.

This position puts her in direct opposition to empirical academic research.

A landmark study led by Dr. Elizabeth Saewyc, a professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC), demonstrated that SOGI 123 has proved highly effective. Dr. Saewyc’s findings revealed that SOGI-inclusive education successfully reduced bullying and sexual orientation discrimination across B.C. schools, yielding safer environments for both LGBTQ+ and heterosexual students alike.

By entirely rejecting Dr. Saewyc’s findings, Ms. Findlay has signaled that ideological alignment takes precedence over academic consensus.

A House Divided: Internal Purges and Controversial Allies

Upon seizing the leadership, Ms. Findlay wasted no time restructuring the party in her own image, executing an uncompromising internal purge. She immediately fired all legislative and party staff who had any lingering connections to the former BC United / BC Liberal apparatus or its former leader, Kevin Falcon.

Furthermore, Ms. Findlay’s inner circle and candidate roster have drawn intense scrutiny for harboring far-right, anti-vaccine, and conspiracy-driven viewpoints.

The Inner Circle

  • Brent Chapman: Findlay’s own husband, now the MLA for Surrey South, has a well-documented history of controversy. During the 2024 provincial election campaign, a series of his historical social media posts were unearthed, revealing deeply Islamophobic and racist content that generated widespread public condemnation;
  • Sheldon Clare (House Leader): Ms. Findlay appointed the MLA for Prince George-North Cariboo as her newly minted House Leader. Mr. Clare, a reserve army officer and the former president of the National Firearms Association (NFA), briefly ran for the leadership himself before dropping out to back Ms. Findlay. He brings a brand of staunchly uncompromising, hard-right gun-rights populism to the legislative floor;
  • Heather Maahs (Leader of the Opposition): Because Ms. Findlay does not currently hold a seat in the BC Legislature, she cannot personally serve as the Leader of the Official Opposition. To fill this vital constitutional role, she bypassed proven, moderate legislative leaders like former interim leader Trevor Halford and former House Leader Áʼa:líya Warbus — a move provincial affairs columnist Vaughn Palmer criticized as dumping seasoned veterans for her hard-right backers. Instead, she installed Heather Maahs, the MLA for Chilliwack North. Maahs, who spent 16 years on the Chilliwack school board, is an unabashed pro-life advocate who recently drew fire for hosting a legislative session with an advocacy group that explicitly regards homosexuality as “immoral.”

This hard-right consolidation has created what former insiders describe as a hostile environment. Former Conservative MLAs Elenore Sturko and Amelia Boultbee both publicly stepped away from the party apparatus, citing a “toxic work environment” driven by ideological extremism, subsequently becoming vocal critics of Findlay’s direction.

The Actuarial Reality of a 2028 Campaign

Beyond the ideological friction, Ms. Findlay faces an inescapable reality: the passage of time. When the next British Columbia provincial election is called in late 2028, Findlay will be entering her 74th year. Should she win and serve a full four-year term as Premier, she would be in her 78th year by its conclusion.

While age alone does not dictate capability, gerontologists and medical institutions like the Mayo Clinic emphasize the compounding physical and cognitive challenges that accompany leadership at this stage of life, as observed globally in political figures like Joe Biden and Donald Trump, or in our 70s as VanRamblings has experienced ourself approaching our 76th birthday, now only 40 days away.

  • Factor: Potential Impact on High-Stress Leadership;
  • Cognitive Function: Gradual declines in cognitive processing speed, reaction time, and the ability to multitask can affect the management of complex, rapid-fire executive daily tasks.;
  • Physical Vitality. A combination of physical fatigue, chronic health conditions (such as arthritis or cardiovascular changes), and sensory declines in vision and hearing that can restrict mobility and lower overall energy reserves;
  • Neurotransmitter Changes: Age-related reductions in serotonin levels that can increase emotional vulnerability, while chronic pain or fatigue can manifest as heightened irritability or agitation under pressure.

Navigating the grueling, 24-hour news cycle of a provincial election and managing a sprawling government requires physical and mental stamina, posing a practical question mark over her long-term tenure.

The Mainstream Disconnect

Would you vote for the woman pictured above to become British Columbia’s 38th Premier?

Ultimately, Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s political future depends on whether her brand of unapologetic populism can survive outside her rural interior voting base.

British Columbia’s electorate has historically favoured a pragmatic, centrist approach to governance. By leaning so heavily into the culture wars, opposing established Indigenous rights frameworks, and platforming fringe rhetoric, Ms. Findlay risks alienating the vital moderate voters of the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island — voters who decide majorities.

Ms. Findlay enters the arena significantly weighed down. The cloud of the federal Elections Canada investigation remains unresolved, her internal mandate is mathematically microscopic, and her party is deeply divided after the alienation of its moderate wing.

In a province currently grappling with an acute affordability crisis — where the cost of housing remains out of reach, grocery prices continue to skyrocket across every community, and gas prices pinch working families at the pumps — Ms. Findlay’s intense focus on social grievances risks looks profoundly out of touch.

If the B.C. Conservative Party cannot offer reassuring solutions to the daily economic anxieties of the mainstream voter, Ms. Findlay’s hard-right experiment may find itself entirely rejected at the ballot box in 2028.

Can Kerry-Lynne Findlay successfully expand her narrow rural coalition to win over moderate urban voters in the 2028 provincial election? We’re not so sure.