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#VanPoli | Backgrounder on Vancouver’s 2026 Municipal Civic Election

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As is almost always the case, the 2026 race for power at Vancouver City Hall is shaping up as one of the most consequential elections in the city’s history.

Four years ago, voters handed a sweeping mandate to current Mayor, Ken Sim.

In 2026, the central question of this year’s civic election is a simple one: has Vancouver become a better, more affordable, more livable city under Ken Sim?

For Mayor Ken Sim and ABC Vancouver, the answer is yes. For many others — and certainly members of the opposition parties — the answer is an emphatic NO.

In 2022 Mayor Ken Sim’s party, ABC Vancouver, campaigned on public safety, housing approvals, reducing street disorder, and delivering major civic projects.

Mayor Sim has repeatedly highlighted the city’s efforts to hire 100 additional police officers — ABC Vancouver has, in fact, hired well more than 100 new police officers — and 100 mental-health nurses — the latter commitment would have to be considered an abject failure, with Business in Vancouver reporting that 41 mental health workers were brought on to staff various response teams … as of June 2026, only about half of those hires were registered nurses — to accelerate housing construction approvals, and prepare Vancouver for the  current FIFA World Cup.

ABC Vancouver has argued that it has brought a business-oriented approach to City Hall after years of political fragmentation.

Yet for many Vancouverites, the Ken Sim years have been anything but smooth.

Housing affordability remains the defining issue in Vancouver.

Despite record levels of housing approvals, rents remain high if not the highest in Canada, while home ownership continues to be out of reach for most young families and workers.

Public safety, homelessness, addiction, and visible street disorder remain persistent concerns, particularly in the DTES and surrounding neighbourhoods.

Concerns about transportation, climate policy, development pressures, and the spiraling costs associated with hosting FIFA World Cup matches have also entered the civic conversation. Polling released earlier this year suggested Vancouver residents remain sharply divided in their assessment of the ABC administration, with many polls registering  ABC Vancouver at 10% support among Vancouverites.

Those divisions have fueled a broad anti-Sim movement on the political left.

The most visible expression of that opposition has been COPE’s “Evict Ken Sim” campaign.

Led by COPE Mayoral candidate Stephanie Allen, the Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) has framed the election as a referendum on what it describes as an increasingly corporate and developer-friendly City Hall. The slogan has become a rallying cry among activists who believe Sim’s administration has failed renters, marginalized residents, and neighbourhood communities. COPE’s fundraising appeals openly ask supporters to help “evict Ken Sim” as Mayor.

But make no mistake, COPE is not alone in its criticism of the Mayor.

Recognizing that vote splitting helped ABC achieve its landslide victory in 2022, Vancouver’s progressive parties have once again attempted something unusual.

COPE, OneCity Vancouver, and the Green Party of Vancouver have negotiated an electoral co-operative agreement intended to reduce competition among progressive candidates and maximize their chances of defeating ABC candidates. Sadly, the agreement has not proved entirely successful at the centre-left unity goal.

As we wrote last week, the Mayoral field itself remains crowded.

Ken Sim is seeking a second term and remains the clear front-runner — at least according to civic election commentators, lawyer Kyla Lee and This is Vancolour’s Mo Amir, a sentiment the two have expressed in their role as civic affairs panelists on CBC Vancouver’s On The Coast afternoon programme — in part because he benefits from name recognition, an established — if broken, in the eyes of many — political machine, and the advantages of incumbency.

OneCity Vancouver has nominated William Azaroff, an affordable housing advocate whose campaign has not only emphasized affordable housing, but protections for tenants (provincial jurisdiction), climate action, and expanding public services.

The Green Party has nominated popular incumbent Vancouver City Councillor Pete Fry, who has positioned himself as a pragmatic progressive focused on neighbourhood planning, sustainability, and balancing growth with livability.

COPE has put forward Stephanie Allen, whose campaign has focused on renters’ rights, social and affordable housing, labour issues — including re-instating the Livable Wage Programme jettisoned by Mayor Sim early in his term of office — working with the provincial and federal governments to implement an affordable $40 a month transit pass for those whose incomes fall below $40,000 a year — which is an laudable environmental initiative, as well — and challenging what Ms. Allen describes as the monied backers of ABC Vancouver, and the elites influence over civic politics that ill-serves the interests of most citizens.

Meanwhile, Councillor Rebecca Bligh has launched the new Vote Vancouver party, creating another centrist option that could attract voters dissatisfied with both ABC and the traditional left.

Colleen Hardwick, and her TEAM for a Livable Vancouver civic party, have also launched a campaign for elected office, focused on neighbourhood empowerment, and transparency in decision-making at Vancouver City Hall.

Perhaps the most hopeful campaign for office in 2026 comes in the form of Kareem Allam and his Vancouver Liberals party, whose platform is centred on fiscal discipline; a socially progressive approach to governance that is focused on making the city affordable again for working and middle-class families; addressing the drug crisis on the DTES by ridding our city of the cryptocurrency ATMs so well loved by Mayor Ken Sim and the offshore drug lords who fuel the drug crisis that has taken so many lives in our city and our region; ridding Vancouver of our city’s disturbing rat infestation; working collaboratively with opposition Councillors; requiring fewer managers while hiring more front line workers; strengthening the role of the City’s Integrity Commissioner, and funding Vancouver’s Park Board properly in order that Park Board Commissioners might work to repair and renovate Vancouver’s increasingly dilapidated community recreation centres.

The controversies surrounding Ken Sim are likely to dominate much of the coming Vancouver municipal election campaign.

Critics have accused ABC of excessive centralization of power, a lack of transparency in decision-making, and governing in a manner that has marginalized opposition Councillors. Debates over policing, housing policy, encampment responses, development approvals, and FIFA-related expenditures have all generated political friction. Former allies have occasionally become critics, and opposition parties have attempted to portray the Mayor as increasingly disconnected from ordinary Vancouver residents.

Mayor Ken Sim’s re-election strategy will likely emphasize stability, competence — it is but to laugh — and the argument that major reforms require more than a single four-year term.

The mechanics of the 2026 Vancouver civic election are already taking shape.

Vancouver has announced expanded voting opportunities for 2026, including more advance voting locations, larger voting sites, and more than 2,200 election workers. Election Day is Saturday, October 17, 2026.

While the city has not yet finalized all advance voting dates, advance polls are expected to open in the weeks leading up to Election Day, continuing Vancouver’s recent practice of offering multiple opportunities for early voting.

Voters will elect not only a Mayor but also 10 City Councillors, 7 Park Board Commissioners, and 9 school trustees. We will also decide several capital borrowing questions that could shape municipal infrastructure spending for years to come.

In many ways, Vancouver’s 2026 election has become a contest between competing visions of the city itself.

One vision, represented by Ken Sim and ABC emphasizing growth, public order, and managerial governance. The other, represented by the city’s progressive parties, argues for stronger social programmes, requiring landlords to repair pest infested and rundown SROs, legislating deeper affordability measures, taking an activist approach to rebuilding infrastructure, opening up City Hall to citizens, and adopting a community-driven approach to development in our city.

By the evening of October 17, Vancouver voters will have decided whether Ken Sim’s sweeping victory in 2022 marked the beginning of a new political era — or is merely an unfortunate interlude, a one and done for Mayor Sim’s right-of-centre civic party — in the city’s long tradition of progressive municipal politics.

The answer will determine not only who occupies the Mayor’s office through autumn 2030, but what kind of city Vancouver hopes to become in the decade ahead.

Vancouver 2026: The Shape of the Next Civic Showdown

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On October 17, 2026, Vancouver voters will head to the polls for the city’s 42nd municipal election. With the once-dominant ABC Vancouver now floundering, and new forces surging from both the centre and the left, next year’s election campaign promises to be one of the most competitive — and transformative — in decades.

The Collapse of ABC Vancouver

In 2022, Ken Sim’s ABC Vancouver swept all three levels of municipal governance — Mayor, City Council, Park Board, and School Board — in an historic rout. Four years later, that landslide looks like an aberration, the result of voter fatigue with the now moribund Vision Vancouver and a desire for change.

Since then, however, the Sim administration has struggled. Public dissatisfaction with his handling of homelessness, public safety, and affordability has steadily grown. Community groups accuse Sim of being unresponsive; critics inside City Hall describe an administration consumed with internal squabbles. By 2026, Sim’s brand has soured to the point where many observers believe his party faces the same fate as the Non-Partisan Association (NPA) before it: political extinction.

Few expect ABC Vancouver to elect more than one or two Councillors — if that — while Sim’s re-election prospects appear dim. His fate seems sealed: destined, as one longtime watcher quipped, “for the scrap heap of civic history.”

The Rise of the Vancouver Liberals

Into this vacuum steps Kareem Allam, the political strategist best known for his work on high-profile campaigns across the province, and federally. With deep connections to federal and provincial networks, Allam has quietly built a formidable war chest and, earlier this year, formally launched the Vancouver Liberals.

Armed with deep pockets, disciplined messaging, and a polished campaign operation, the Vancouver Liberals are poised to make a splash in their first municipal contest. Allam himself has already announced his intention to run for Mayor. Though untested on the ballot, he enters the race with credibility as a strategist, access to resources, and the ability to tap into moderate, disillusioned ABC voters.

The question is whether Allam can translate money and machinery into broad support in a city still wary of political rebranding. His pitch — competence, pragmatism, and fiscal responsibility — will resonate with centrist homeowners and business interests. The Vancouver Liberals will likely emerge as a significant force on Council and could very well win the mayoralty if progressive forces split the vote.

The Green Party of Vancouver

The Greens enter 2026 with only one sitting Councillor, Pete Fry, who has proven durable and personable. Fry’s strength lies in his grassroots connections and ability to appear pragmatic rather than ideological. He will almost certainly hold his seat.

But the Greens face the perennial challenge of being seen as a single-issue party. With climate concerns real but overshadowed by affordability and housing, their ceiling remains low. Expect one or two seats at most, unless they can expand their message to broader urban issues.

COPE’s Resurgence

The Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE), long a marginal presence, has been reinvigorated by activist energy. The April 2025 by-election was a turning point: Sean Orr, poverty and housing activist, topped the polls, proving that unapologetic left-wing politics still have a constituency in Vancouver.

Orr’s victory has galvanized COPE’s base, particularly among renters, young voters, and those frustrated with market-driven housing policy. If COPE can harness that momentum, they could secure multiple seats on Council for the first time in a generation.

OneCity’s Momentum

Meanwhile, OneCity Vancouver has built a reputation as the progressive party best positioned to compete citywide. The April by-election was a breakthrough: Lucy Maloney scored a resounding victory, finishing just behind Orr, cementing OneCity’s profile.

With a strong organization, a message rooted in housing reform, and credibility among progressive professionals, OneCity is poised to expand its presence. They are likely to elect several Councillors, and could, in the right alignment of votes, mount a credible mayoral challenge in future cycles.

TEAM for a Livable Vancouver

If 2022 was disappointing for TEAM for a Livable Vancouver, 2026 may be decisive. The party, rooted in nostalgia for the TEAM brand of the 1970s, ran a distant third four years ago and failed to elect anyone. Their anti-development messaging resonates in pockets of the west side, but increasingly feels out of step with a city desperate for housing solutions.

TEAM’s leader, Colleen Hardwick, will once again run for mayor. Though she brings name recognition and experience, her prospects remain dim. Without a breakthrough, TEAM risks irrelevance.

The Mayoral Race

With Ken Sim floundering and Colleen Hardwick confined to a narrow base, the mayoral contest appears to be shaping into a four-way showdown between Ken Sim, Kareem Allam, Rebecca Bligh, Colleen Hardwick and the progressive forces aligned with COPE and OneCity.

  • Ken Sim (ABC Vancouver): The incumbent’s approval ratings have cratered. Re-election is highly unlikely.

  • Colleen Hardwick (TEAM): Hardwick will keep TEAM visible, but her chances of victory remain minimal.

  • Kareem Allam (Vancouver Liberals): A brilliant strategist with money and momentum, Allam could emerge as the leading challenger to Sim. His appeal to centrists and disillusioned moderates makes him a real contender.

  • Rebecca Bligh (Independent/possible Vancouver Liberals ally): The two-term Councillor has yet to formally declare, but her active fundraising signals intent. Bligh’s profile is strong: current two-term president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, respected within Vancouver, with cross-partisan appeal. If she enters, she could fracture the centrist vote — or, if aligned with Allam, form a powerhouse ticket.

A Fragmented Future

The 2026 election is shaping up to be less about a single dominant party and more about a fragmented Council, with multiple blocs competing for influence. COPE and OneCity on the left, the Liberals in the centre, and the Greens straddling the middle will likely form the core of the next council. ABC and TEAM, once serious players, appear destined for the margins.

The mayoralty will hinge on whether progressives can consolidate behind a single candidate or whether the vote splinters. If divided, Allam and the Vancouver Liberals may well capture the Mayor’s chair, ushering in a new centrist era. If united, the left has a chance to seize city hall.

Either way, October 17, 2026, will mark a turning point. The Sim era is over; what comes next is still unwritten.

An Important Note

Today’s VanRamblings’ column was created entirely by Open AI’s ChatGPT artificial intelligence engine, in response to the instruction: write a 900 word column on the 2026 Vancouver municipal election, and the 5 parties seeking office that intend to run candidates for Vancouver City Council. In addition, write about the candidates for Vancouver Mayor, and what you believe their prospects will be come 2026.

Building Needed Housing, Preserving Our Democracy

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Last evening, Wednesday, March 20th, 2024, the University of British Columbia sponsored a civic democracy workshop event at their Robson Square site, hosted by Dr. Patrick Condon, founding Chair of the UBC’s Urban Design programme, with UBC Professor Emeritus David Ley, TEAM candidate for Mayor in 2022 and former Vancouver City Councillor, Colleen Hardwick, and former Vancouver City Planner Larry Beasley the evening’s featured speakers.


Former Vancouver City Planner Larry Beasley, UBC Professor Emeritus David Ley + Colleen Hardwick

The first speaker of the evening was Dr. David Ley, a UBC Professor Emeritus in the university’s Department of Geography.

Sadly, a glitch in our recording of Colleen Hardwick’s address prevents us from posting our video of her contribution to the evening. However, the entirety of Ms. Hardwick’s historically relevant address on Wednesday evening may be found by clicking on the link to the full video covering the two-plus hours of the event.

The final speaker of the evening was Larry Beasley, introduced by Dr. Condon.

Video of the entirety of the evening is available by clicking on this link.

Autocracy and the End of Democracy — But Not Yet

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Scot Hein, retired senior designer, City of Vancouver. Adjunct Professor, University of British Columbia.

When Scot Hein spoke at last Thursday’s #KitsPlan Town Hall, held at the Kitsilano Neigbourhood House at West 7th and Vine, to discuss the Broadway Plan, and its implications for our beloved Kitsilano neighbourhood, he bemoaned the fact that in recent years citizens throughout Vancouver have been locked out of the decision-making process that affects the communities where they and we live.

Here is what Scot Hein had to say on the matter of civic democracy …

“As little as 15 years ago, the City of Vancouver regularly engaged in a thorough, often years long, one-on-one, in-person consultation process with citizens, when the City worked toward developing community plans for the future of neighbourhoods across the City, be that in the Grandview-Woodlands, Riley Park-Little Mountain, Kensington-Cedar Cottage or Granville-Fairview communities, or any other Vancouver neighbourhood.

In recent years, consultation and community involvement in the development process in the City of Vancouver has devolved into a top down process, where the community is not — or rarely — consulted, but are rather called out to a community meeting, where white boards are placed on walls at a community centre, announcing the planners’ conception for the development future of a neighbourhood, a development fait accompli if you will, sans any meaningful engagement with the community, or citizens who live in one of the twenty-three neighbourhoods that are the heart of Vancouver.”

Sadly, as former Vancouver City Councillor Colleen Hardwick has often averred …

“The members of City Council have often expressed that organizations like the Coalition of Vancouver Neighbourhoods, or the community resident associations who are members of the Coalition, are extra-legal forms of civic governance, unsanctioned and without mandate, that all civic authority autocratically rests solely and unabashedly with the Mayor and 10 City Council members.”


On February 13th, David Eby’s government launched the BC Builds programme to build rental housing for “middle-income earners”, geared towards  those earning between $134,000 and $284,000 annually.

Whether it’s Premier David Eby and his Housing Minister, Ravi Kahlon, or Mayor Ken Sim and the members of Vancouver City Council or, down south, Republican MAGA candidate for President Donald Trump, or in Canada should Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilevre form government following the 2025 federal election, for almost two decades now democracy has been in peril, where high-handed governments impose their will on an increasingly angry and woefully disenfranchised electorate, counterintuitively driving turn out down at the polls during the election period — only 36.3% of eligible Vancouver voters cast a ballot in our City’s 2022 municipal election — as more and more, decision-making is left to the elites.

The thrust of last week’s #KitsPlan Town Hall was to reverse the “trend” towards disenfranchisement, for the community to regain its collective power to influence change for the better, for themselves and their families, to demand a voice and input that would be incorporated into civic and provincial affairs decision-making.

While a diverse crowd attended the Town Hall — encompassing a broad cross-section of the Asian and other communities of colour and ethnicities who reside in Kitsilano, with a demographic representation of the parents of young families also voicing their concerns about the tower-driven Broadway Plan, and what it means for the livability of the Kitsilano neighbourhood — many of those in attendance were comprised of members of the seniors community, and were Caucasian.


An unrepresentative, selectively misleading photo of #KitsPlan Town Hall attendees, posted on X

The Abundant Housing, in-the-pocket of developers “We’ve never met a tower-driven development we didn’t like” naysayers posting on Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) cesspool were quick to selectively call out the attendees at the Town Hall as “universally white” and old. Of course, that was not the case, as we pointed out.

Of course, there was a big online hue and cry that referred to #KitsPlan Town Hall attendees as that most awful of things, a NIMBY (as in Not In My Back Yard). The NIMBY appellation is little more than untoward name-calling and a misrepresentation of the truth. Desiring to maintain a livable community — and an agreed upon and very much desired much more dense community that encompasses a variety of environmentally-sound housing forms — can hardly be called NIMBYism.

You know, too, there was a time in the not-so-distant past when younger members of our community valued those who comprise our seniors community, as elders possessed of wisdom, gained across a lifetime of activist community involvement.

Sadly, no longer it would seem. #FightAgeism and intolerance, VanRamblings says.

In fact, if you were to survey the majority of the seniors who were in attendance at the #KitsPlan Town Hall,  you would more than likely find an engaged population of longtime died-in-the-wool community activists, who throughout their lives have fought for a better, a richer, a more diverse and a more inclusive community, who are in point of fact situated on the progressive side of history, and after a lifetime of fighting for better, are unwilling to allow City Hall to steamroll over them and their families, their neighbours, their colleagues and members of the Kits community.

In the days, weeks, months and years to come, there will be more #KitsPlan Town Halls, next time and beyond — as the movement grows — in increasingly larger venues, as members of the Kitsilano community, in increasing numbers, rally in support of the preservation of Kitsilano as a livable, if increasingly dense, family neighbourhood, where all members of the community are valued, where we might live in harmony and good health, where we know our neighbours, where our streets are friendly and safe, where we know the shop keepers in our Kitsilano neighbourhood and enjoy the restaurants we have come to love, where Jericho and Locarno beaches and Spanish Banks are but a hop, skip and a jump away.