It’s been almost three years since Mayor Ken Sim and the ABC Party clinched a super majority on Vancouver City Council. In an overwhelming victory, The ABC (A Better City) Mayor promised to get things done—and  faster— than his predecessor, former Mayor Kennedy Stewart, who led a fractious Council that he would later describe as dysfunctional.

Sim’s top priority  was to bring greater safety to the streets of Vancouver by hiring 100 mental health nurses and 100 police officers. Hiring the police officers was easy (in fact, the move led to an historic action by the Vancouver Police Union to officially endorse ABC in the 2022 civic election), but since we last checked, fewer than 10 mental health nurses had been hired.  Sim also promised to cut property taxes, then raised them by 10.7 in the first year and 7.5 percent in the next. This year’s 3.9 per cent hike was an improvement, but it begs the question: what did ABC cut to arrive at the lower percentage?

The party has also promised to reduce red tape related to housing construction, speed up development, and bring down the price of housing.

 The primary set of questions confronting voters on April 5 are straightforward: Is Vancouver a better city today than before Sim and the ABC Party took control? Are our streets safer? Has the drug poisoning crisis abated? Is it greener? And is housing more affordable?

Why we won’t be voting for ABC

Over the past three years, UKRA has spent countless hours following the ins and outs  (in the mayor’s case, mostly outs)  of this current Council. We’ve pored over its plans, spoken to our neighbours as well as with representatives from every neighbourhood across the City. Finally, we’ve witnessed how those who disagree with Sim and his ABC Party have been treated. We’ve come to four conclusions:

 1. There has been an indisputable decline in democracy at City Hall since the arrival  of the ABC Party. Open debate is virtually extinct amongst Councillors. Policy is predetermined by the Mayor and his staff behind closed doors. Alternative plans, ideas, and solutions from leading experts outside ABC’s allies are routinely ignored or disparaged. Consider how the Jericho Coalition’s alternative vision to the Jericho Plan project has been discounted. Under the City’s mega-rezoning plans, residents and business owners will have no recourse  to public hearings with Council.

2. The Mayor only listens to a small cohort of like-minded developers, be they local billionaires, anonymous off-shore investors hiding behind numbered companies, or TransLink.

3. The mayor and his sponsors don’t seem to care about how they are creating greater income inequality by evicting low-income families, students and seniors, and forcing middle income families to sell their homes and exit the City altogether. 

4. Though presented as savvy entrepreneurs, the Mayor and his team are running large city deficits and eliminating civic services. Last year, the Mayor’s Task Force warned the City that they cannot continue spending taxpayer dollars at a rate that is unaffordable for its residents and businesses. The report addressed two dire issues: the unsustainable climb in property taxes, and the staggering $500 million annual gap in infrastructure funding.

The Mayor and his staff have been involved in chicanery, such as inappropriate secret meetings and bullying members of the Park Board. And there is more. At the end of last summer, Sim and some of his staff members attempted to muzzle the voice of Integrity Commissioner, Lisa Southam, by attempting to freeze her work and have her position reviewed. ABC only backed off when journalists alerted the public and the party heard public opposition to their moves “loud and clear.” 

The City recently amended the Broadway Plan (a massive venture involving 500 blocks from Clark Ave. to Vine Street, and from 1^st to 16th Avenues), has seen a significant escalation of tower numbers and heights that now greatly surpass he provincial government’s original demands. All this while  residents living in affordable walk-ups along the subway line continue to suffer evictions.

Cutting property taxes was another promise; instead it jumped to 7.5%.

This year’s increase of 3.9 per cent a slight improvement, which begs the question: what did ABC cut to arrive at a lower percentage? The party has also promised to reduce red tape related to housing construction, speed up development, and bring down the price of housing.

The primary set of questions confronting voters on April 5 are straightforward: Is Vancouver a better city today than before Ken Sim and the ABC Party took control? Are our streets safer? Has the drug poisoning crisis abated? Is it greener? And is housing more affordable?

Why We Won’t Be Voting for ABC

Over the past three years, UKRA has spent countless hours following the ins and outs (in the Mayor’s case, mostly outs) of this Council. We’ve pored over its plans, spoken to our neighbours as well as with representatives from every neighbourhood across the City. Finally, we’ve witnessed how those who disagree with Sim and his ABC Party have been treated. We’ve come to four conclusions:

1. There has been an indisputable decline in democracy at City Hall Since the arrival of Sim and ABC: open debate is virtually extinct amongst councillors; policy is predetermined by the Mayor and his staff behind closed doors. Alternative plans, ideas, and solutions from leading experts outside ABC’s allies are routinely ignored or disparaged. See how the Jericho neighbourhood group’s alternative vision to the Jericho Land project has been discounted. Under the City’s rezoning megaplans, residents and business owners will have no recourse to public hearings with Council.

2.The Mayor only listens to a small cohort of like-minded developers, be they local billionaires, anonymous offshore investors hiding behind numbered companies, or TransLink.

3. The Mayor and his sponsors don’t seem to care about how they are creating greater income inequality by evicting low-income families, students, and seniors, and forcing middle income families to sell their homes and exit the city altogether.

4. Though presented as savvy entrepreneurs, the Mayor and his team are running large City deficits and eliminating civic services. Last year, The Mayor’s 2024 Task Force warned that the City cannot continue spending taxpayer dollars at a rate that is unaffordable for its residents and businesses. The report addressed two dire issues: the unsustainable climb in property taxes, and the staggering $500 million annual gap in infrastructure funding.

The Mayor and his staff have been involved in chicanery, such as inappropriate secret meetings and bullying members of the Park Board. And there is more. At the end of last summer, Sim and other ABC council members attempted to muffle the voice of Vancouver’s Integrity Commissioner, Lisa Southam, by suggesting to freeze her work and placed it under review. ABC only backed off when journalists alerted the public and the party heard public opposition to their moves “loud and clear.”

The City recently amended the Broadway Plan (a massive venture involving 500 blocks from Clark Ave. to Vine Street, and from 1^st to 16th Avenues), increasing the number and height of towers that now greatly surpass the provincial government’s original demands. All this while residents living in affordable walk-ups following the subway line suffer evictions in ever greater numbers as the subway juggernaut gobbles its way across the city and starves businesses in its path. All at more than $500 million per kilometre.

Ken Sim could rightly say the Vancouver he and his council inherited was a mess. Yet under his regime, all the problems residents had griped about—suffocating traffic, insufficient schools, inadequate hospitals, homelessness, and deteriorating infrastructure—have been exacerbated to crisis levels.

A Demonstrated Disdain for the Public

In the past, residents had a say in how our City grew. For years neighbourhoods, working with the City’s planning staff, created their own official development plans. But ABC junked those plans and the tradition of cooperation that created them. Instead, this Council introduced The Vancouver Plan. And soon, most public hearings on housing and land use development will be prohibited, leaving citizens without a voice.

UKRA has attended several all-candidates meetings and heard answers given by candidates (except from the ABC candidates who were noticeably missing from most community meetings). We heard that most of the non-ABC parties agree that Ken Sim and many of ABC’s current policies must be stopped. That includes  everything from the recent pause on supportive housing to attempts to eliminate the elected Park Board. But for those who do get elected, they promise to challenge the current Council and shine a light on ongoing problems at City Hall.

The reality: The two candidates who win the 2025 by-election will not change the majority that ABC enjoys today; However, being a Vancouver Councillor gives the elected party greater standing in the community. Two councillors from outside the governing party could also make Vancouverites’ concerns known to Council and the Mayor and alternatives to ABC’s destructive plans could be more loudly heard in Council chambers, amongst business leaders, community workers, the news media, and many other forums.

An Historic Endorsement

UKRA rarely, if ever, endorses candidates. As a neighbourhood Association, we try to present all views and remain as unbiased as possible. But at this critical time in our city, before votes are cast, we believe that Vancouver City Council must be guided by people who want the best for neighbourhoods and residents, not big developers or political backers.

That’s why we are officially endorsing Colleen Hardwick and Theodore Abbott from TEAM for a Livable Vancouver. We have several reasons for backing them. TEAM is the only party that opposes the three large plans for our city, including the Broadway, Vancouver and Jericho Lands Plans, as currently written. This doesn’t mean that TEAM is  against all new housing. See their housing policy here.

TEAM’s action plan and their reason for running in the 2025 by-election, in their own words:

“City government has veered away from the democratic concept of carrying out the wishes of the people who it represents. We believe that neighbourhood-based planning, consultation, and collaboration should form the heart of the City’s operations, policies, and future planning. The integrity, transparency, and robustness of this democratic, people-focused process is the foundation upon which resilient, inclusive neighbourhoods are built, and from these a great city is raised. It is incumbent upon the Mayor, Council, and City Staff to engage with people from across the City through this process to create a safe, prosperous, and livable city for all Vancouverites.”

Here are TEAM’s positions on key issues.

Although Hardwick lost the 2022 Mayoral election, she brings years of experience to the post as a Vancouver Councillor from 2018-2022. As she told Vancity Lookout, “My background, knowledge, and experience when it comes to the city is pretty deep and long-standing. I can hit the ground running as soon as I walk in the door,” if elected.”

But social media has not been kind to her. The constant portrayal of Hardwick as being against housing is inaccurate. She is on record for supporting greater density, but she insists on preserving the best of each neighbourhood and making sure that new construction offers attainable prices and livable neighbourhoods that support shared amenities. On the subway, she would prefer a more reasonably priced, environmentally-friendly light rapid train system.

Abbott says TEAM believes Vancouver neighbourhoods are completely being ignored, and, as a city councillor, he’d advocate “for a return to a form of civic governance that listens to its communities and grows in conjunction with [them], rather than just seeing residents as collateral damage,” he told Vancity Lookout.

Abbott has been a fierce opponent of the Broadway Plan, organizing a rally at City Hall that attracted 500 residents. One action Abbott believes would help is to bring back a ward system, where councillors would be elected to represent specific areas or neighbourhoods instead of the current “at large system.”