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ABC Vancouver
Active municipal party
AbbreviationABC
LeaderKen Sim
PresidentStephen Molnar
ChairpersonMarie Rogers
FoundedApril 14, 2021 (2021-04-14)
Split fromNon-Partisan Association
IdeologyConservatism
Political positionCentre[1][2] to centre-right[3][4]
ColoursBright pink, blue, orange
City council
8 / 11
Park board
6 / 7
School board
4 / 9
Website
abcvancouver.ca/about/

ABC Vancouver is a municipal political party in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is led by Vancouver businessman and incumbent mayor Ken Sim.

History

Formation

ABC Vancouver was established by former members of the Non-Partisan Association. (NPA) Three of five city councillors elected under the NPA banner in the 2018 Vancouver municipal election – Rebecca Bligh, Lisa Dominato, and Sarah Kirby-Yung – joined ABC Vancouver and ran with the party in the 2022 Vancouver municipal election.[5] The NPA's 2018 mayoral candidate, Ken Sim, was acclaimed as ABC's 2022 mayoral candidate.[6]

The party was founded as "A Better City" by members of the business community associated with the federal Conservatives, the federal Liberals, and the BC Liberals, though the party suggests it attracts members and supporters from across the political spectrum.

Sim and the party's council candidates – Bligh, Dominato, Kirby-Yung, Mike Klassen, Peter Meiszner, Brian Montague and Lenny Zhou – all won election to city council in the 2022 election.[7]

In government

With the party forming a majority on council, ABC approved several of its key policy planks in the first few council meetings of the 2022–2026 term, including adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism,[8] green-lighting "urgent measures to uplift Vancouver’s Chinatown,"[9] and directing city staff to budget $16 million to hire 100 police officers and 100 mental health nurses.[10]

In early 2023, the party attracted criticism for several policy initiatives. The ABC park board majority voted to remove most of the temporary Stanley Park bike lane and re-establish two car lanes through the park.[11] The ABC-led council approved a 10.7% property tax increase driven by higher costs for city services and maintenance, as well as ABC's promise to bolster the Vancouver Police Department's budget.[12] The council majority also voted to rescind Vancouver's living wage policy, which had applied to contractors and non-union city employees, reducing their minimum wage by over $3 per hour.[13]

In May 2023, the ABC council majority voted to cut the municipal empty homes tax to 3%. The tax, which was implemented in 2017 by the Vision Vancouver government, was set to increase to 5% as approved by the previous council under mayor Kennedy Stewart.[14] ABC councillors also voted to return approximately $3.8 million in empty homes tax revenue to developers, which had already been levied and allocated to fund social housing.[15] The reallocation was decried by many municipal figures and stakeholders, including former NPA councillor Peter Ladner and BC Non-Profit Housing Association CEO Jill Atkey, with Ladner calling it "financial mismanagement."[16]

Fulfilling an ABC election promise, the municipal government announced in June 2023 that the city's new Chinatown satellite office would open in July, bearing the name of Won Alexander Cumyow.[17] The office, which will provide local services in Mandarin and Cantonese, will be located in the city-owned Chinatown Plaza mall on Keefer Street. Council also unanimously supported OneCity councillor Christine Boyle's motion to provide more municipal services in South Vancouver and Marpole, whose populations are more working class and racialized than the city at large.[18]

In July 2023, 98 units of temporary modular housing for vulnerable people at Larwill Place, the future site of the new Vancouver Art Gallery, were due to see their lease expire. ABC councillors rejected a motion from Christine Boyle that would have renewed the Larwill Place lease, and leases for more than 750 other temporary modular housing units, until new housing was available to replace those units.[19] Mayor Sim responded that "permanent, quality housing for our most vulnerable residents" was needed.[20]

Electoral results

Mayoral
Election year Candidate Votes % Position Result
2022 Ken Sim 85,732 50.96 1st Elected
Vancouver City Council
Election Seats +/– Votes % Change Position
2022
8 / 11
 Increase 5 465,597 34.58 Steady Majority government

References

  1. ^ Howell, Mike (September 7, 2022). "Election 2022: Why Ken Sim wants to be mayor of Vancouver". Vancouver Is Awesome. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  2. ^ Chan, Kenneth (October 15, 2022). "Ken Sim of ABC elected new mayor of Vancouver". Daily Hive. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  3. ^ Smith, Charlie (April 11, 2022). "Three former NPA councillors join the ABC Vancouver party". Georgia Straight. Archived from the original on July 16, 2022. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  4. ^ Christopher Cheung, Jen St Denis (October 15, 2022). "Suddenly, Vancouver Is Sim City". The Tyee. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  5. ^ Howell, Mike (April 22, 2021). "So now what happens to Vancouver's NPA party?". Vancouver Is Awesome. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
  6. ^ Azpiri, Jon (October 13, 2021). "Ken Sim to lead new party as mayoral candidate in 2022 Vancouver election". Global News. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
  7. ^ "Vancouver Election Results: Ken Sim rolls over Kennedy Stewart, vows to act fast to add police officers". Vancouver Sun, October 17, 2022.
  8. ^ "Vancouver council votes in controversial definition of antisemitism". vancouversun. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  9. ^ "New cops and nurses, helping Chinatown among first items on new Vancouver council agenda - BC | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  10. ^ "Vancouver council approves $16 million for 100 cops, 100 nurses". Vancouver Is Awesome. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  11. ^ "Vancouver park board votes to remove temporary bike lane in Stanley Park". vancouversun. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  12. ^ "City of Vancouver approves property tax hike of 10.7 per cent - BC | Globalnews.ca". CKNW. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  13. ^ "Dan Fumano: Vancouver council under fire for abandoning living wage commitment". vancouversun. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  14. ^ "Vancouver council looks to roll back five per cent 'empty homes' tax rate". Vancouver Is Awesome. May 5, 2023. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  15. ^ "ABC Vancouver gives developers $3.8M tax break". Vancouver Is Awesome. May 11, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  16. ^ Fumano, Dan (May 23, 2023). "Dan Fumano: Six months in, does ABC Vancouver risk alienating the big-tent coalition it built?". Vancouver Sun.
  17. ^ "New city office in Chinatown to be named after first Chinese-Canadian born". Business in Vancouver. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  18. ^ "South Vancouver residents flood council chamber, demand lack of services be addressed". Vancouver Is Awesome. June 29, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  19. ^ "CityNews". vancouver.citynews.ca. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  20. ^ "https://twitter.com/KenSimCity/status/1679255694162415618". Twitter. Retrieved July 14, 2023. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)

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