Thoughts on BC Politics and More

The two biggest political brands in Canadian politics are trying to take over Vancouver city hall — sort of.  On Saturday, the Vancouver Liberals formally nominated Kareem Allam, Ken Sim’s former chief of staff, as its mayoral candidate for the October 2026 local elections.  Two days earlier, the Conservative Electors Association released a poll conducted by Mainstreet Research that said 32 per cent of respondents would vote for a “Vancouver Conservatives” mayoral candidate if an election were held today, more than any other party ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon spent the weekend tut-tutting Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim’s new plan to halt construction of supportive housing, arguing the move will make the notorious Downtown Eastside neighbourhood even less safe. “If we're saying that we're going to not support the people that are already in the community until we wait for somebody else to do something, it's just going to cause more unrest in the community,” Kahlon told the CBC. The housing minister said he shared the mayor’s frustration that other communities in the region haven’t pulled their weight on supporting housing, “but by saying that we're not going to have supportive housing, it means more people will be homeless, more people will be sleeping in parks, and that actually is a bigger detriment to community safety than actually having housing available for them" ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Opinion: Budget task force chair said he does not recommend Vancouver should abruptly cut services people depend upon — but the trend to picking up the slack on federal and provincial programs is unsustainable Independent experts who spent the better part of a year investigating Vancouver’s finances concluded that Canada’s cities are hamstrung by an archaic funding model. Randy Pratt, chair of the municipal budget task force   assembled last year   by Mayor Ken Sim, answered questions on the group’s final report, which includes 17 recommendations ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Opinion: Deep down inside, the NDP must be whispering a prayer that this emerging civic controversy does not turn into another Surrey police situation Rustad’s news release reminded the New Democrats what happened the last time they got drawn into a controversial action at the civic level, namely the back-and-forth struggle over the RCMP and the Surrey Police Service ... ... The last thing the New Democrats want is a protracted debate over the fate of the Vancouver Park Board. If that is how it shapes up — and Sim has given his critics two full months to stir up opposition to what they regard as a trampling of democracy — then come the legislative session, New Democrats might well be looking for an escape hatch ... CLICK HERE for the full story