In a decisive victory, Ken Sim has ousted incumbent Kennedy Stewart to grow to be the subsequent mayor of Vancouver.
Vancouverites have voted to offer Sim – a businessman with no earlier political expertise who promised to “rethink the way city hall is run” – the highest job. As of 11 p.m., with simply over two thirds of polls reporting, Sim had captured roughly 49 per cent of the vote, with 37,963 ballots solid in his favour. Stewart introduced in about 31 per cent, with 25,051.
Addressing a crowd of cheering supporters chanting “ABC, ABC,” Sim famous that his election marks a major first.
“The path to get right here was extremely lengthy – 135 years after the primary Chinese head tax was paid only for the best to come back right here and work on constructing a railway, Vancouver has elected its first Chinese mayor,” he stated.
“The historical past of this moment is not misplaced on me. But the honour actually goes to these whose shoulders I stand on,” Sim added, naming a lot of town’s earlier councillors, together with Raymond Louie and Kerry Jang.
ENTIRE SLATE ELECTED
Running below the banner of ABC Vancouver, Sim ran a marketing campaign closely targeted on crime and public security, getting an unprecedented endorsement from the Vancouver Police Union.
ABC is now poised to ship its complete slate of seven councillors to metropolis corridor alongside Sim. With eight votes on council, that can permit the get together to see any of their insurance policies and proposals – even those who require a two-thirds majority – handed. The get together additionally noticed all of its candidates elected to the park and college boards, locking in stable majorities.
“We heard loud and clear from those who they wished change – and other people, change in Vancouver is right here,” Sim stated.
Such decisive majority will likely be a marked departure type the previous 4 years throughout which Kennedy Stewart, elected as an impartial, presided over a council with no majority. Stewart has described that council as “fractured,” and observers have famous that metropolis corridor since 2018 has been characterised by shut votes, protracted public hearings and heated debates.
Joining the ABC slate on council will likely be incumbents Christine Boyle, representing OneCity and Greens Adrianne Carr and Pete Fry.
WHAT HAS SIM PROMISED?
ABC has pledged to drastically increase the Vancouver Police Department’s Car 87 program. The program deploys a plainclothes officer together with a psychological well being skilled to reply to emergencies the place no crime is in progress.
“On day one we are going to requisition for 100 new police officers and 100 new mental health nurses,” he stated Saturday.
He has additionally pledged to equip all officers with bodycams by 2025 and reinstate the School Liaison Program that stations cops in metropolis colleges.
When it involves tackling town’s persistent homelessness and housing affordability crises, Sim’s pledge is to drastically enhance building by reducing allow approval occasions.
“We will work to make Vancouver essentially the most accessible metropolis on this planet,” he stated, pledging to revitalize town and enhance its status by making it extra enticing to potential residents and business alike.
“We’re going to start the work, day one, to reduce permit times on building new homes and starting new businesses.”
STEWART CONCEDES
In 2018 Sim misplaced to Stewart by fewer than 1,000 votes and didn’t concede the shut race on election evening.
Stewart, talking Saturday to a quite subdued crowd of supporters, touted town’s response to the overlapping crises that characterised his tenure – the COVID-19 pandemic, homelessness and the toxic drug disaster.
“I’m actually pleased with what we have been capable of accomplish and I’m really unhappy to be giving up the mayor’s chair – though administering factors of order and 1,000,000 amendments each assembly, I’m not going to overlook that an excessive amount of,” he stated.
Stewart has dismissed claims that he’s delicate on crime or that town has deteriorated throughout his time in workplace. Generally, he has argued that addressing housing and homelessness, decriminalizing onerous medication, and bettering entry to companies are the best methods to handle crime and social dysfunction. Voters, evidently, didn’t agree.
However, in his deal with Saturday he stated that the strides made on housing will likely be an enduring legacy of his time in workplace.
“I believe we have actually turned the tide on the housing disaster we’ve got on this metropolis. We’ve doubled the variety of houses which can be being accredited. We’ve shifted from constructing primarily condos for buyers to constructing rental and social housing that working people want,” he stated.
“Last yr alone we opened 1,600 models of social housing, securing over a billion {dollars} from the federal and provincial governments, and that is going to make a lifetime of distinction for lots of people.”
During his victory speech, Sim described the final 4 years as a number of the “darkest” within the metropolis’s historical past and thanked Stewart for his service.
“The pressure of guiding our city during a global pandemic is impossible to measure, and on behalf of myself, ABC Vancouver and everyone in Vancouver, we are grateful,” he stated.