This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: Missing updates from recent elections.(December 2022) |
Vancouver, unlike other British Columbia municipalities, is incorporated under a unique provincial statute, the Vancouver Charter . [1] The legislation, passed in 1953, supersedes the Vancouver Incorporation Act, 1921 and grants the city more and different powers than other communities possess under BC's Municipalities Act.
The city is governed by the 10-member city council, a nine-member school board, and a seven-member park board, all elected for four-year terms. Unusually for a city of Vancouver's size, all municipal elections are at-large. In addition, residents of Vancouver vote for representatives in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and the House of Commons of Canada.
Historically, in all levels of government, the more affluent west side of Vancouver has voted along conservative or centre-right lines while the working-class eastern side of the city has voted along left-wing lines. However, in the 2015 federal election and the 2017 provincial election, the west side of Vancouver has shifted more towards left-wing candidates.
Unlike most other municipalities in Canada (aside from Montreal), Vancouver's civic politics operate under a system of locally based political parties, rather than unaligned independents. [2]
Larry Campbell's election as mayor in 2002 was in part due to his willingness to champion alternative interventions for drug issues, such as supervised injection sites. The city adopted a Four Pillars Drug Strategy, which combined harm reduction (e.g. needle exchanges, supervised injection sites) with treatment, enforcement, and prevention. [3] The strategy was largely a response to the endemic HIV and hepatitis C among injection drug users in the city's Downtown Eastside neighbourhood. The area is characterized by entrenched poverty, and consequently is home to the "low track" street sex trade and a bustling "open air" street drug market, which gave rise to a significant AIDS epidemic in the 1990s. Some community and professional groups—such as From Grief to Action and Keeping the Door Open—are fostering public dialogue in the city about further alternatives to current drug policies. [4] [5] The harm reduction strategies have been successful, with the deactivation of the St. Paul's Hospital Ward 10C, on May 27, 2014, due to the near-elimination of AIDS cases in British Columbia. [6]
Campbell chose not to run for re-election, and was subsequently appointed to the Senate of Canada. In the 2005 municipal election, the city council swung back to the right after a term dominated by the left-wing Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE). NPA mayoral candidate Sam Sullivan narrowly defeated Jim Green for the position of mayor in 2005 and was joined by five of his party's members on council. The centre-left Vision Vancouver brought four members to council, with the final seat going to COPE. The NPA also won six of nine school board seats and five of seven park board seats, while the remaining board seats were won by COPE. [7]
In the 2008 municipal election campaign, NPA incumbent mayor Sam Sullivan was ousted as mayoral candidate by the party in a close vote, which instated Peter Ladner as the new mayoral candidate for the NPA. Gregor Robertson, a former MLA for Vancouver-Fairview and head of Happy Planet, was the mayoral candidate for Vision Vancouver, the other main contender. Robertson defeated Ladner by a considerable margin, nearing 20,000 votes. The balance of power was significantly shifted to Vision Vancouver, which held seven of the 10 council seats. Of the remaining three, COPE received two and the NPA one. For park commissioner, four spots went to Vision Vancouver, one to the Green Party, one to COPE, and one to the NPA. For school trustee, there were four Vision Vancouver seats, three COPE seats, and two NPA seats. [8]
Ken Sim is currently the mayor of Vancouver, as of the 2022 municipal election.
Name | Party | Position | |
---|---|---|---|
Ken Sim | ABC Vancouver | Mayor | |
Sarah Kirby-Yung | ABC Vancouver | Councillor | |
Lisa Dominato | ABC Vancouver | Councillor | |
Brian Montague | ABC Vancouver | Councillor | |
Mike Klassen | ABC Vancouver | Councillor | |
Peter Meiszner | ABC Vancouver | Councillor | |
Rebecca Bligh | ABC Vancouver | Councillor | |
Lenny Zhou | ABC Vancouver | Councillor | |
Adriane Carr | Green | Councillor | |
Pete Fry | Green | Councillor | |
Christine Boyle | OneCity | Councillor |
Trustees | Party | |
---|---|---|
Victoria Jung | ABC Vancouver | |
Alfred Chien | ABC Vancouver | |
Josh Zhang | ABC Vancouver | |
Christopher JK Richardson | Independent [lower-alpha 1] | |
Preeti Faridkot | ABC Vancouver | |
Jennifer Reddy | OneCity | |
Suzie Mah | COPE | |
Lois Chan-Pedley | Green | |
Janet Fraser | Green |
Commissioners | Party | |
---|---|---|
Scott Jensen | ABC Vancouver | |
Angela Kate Haer | ABC Vancouver | |
Laura Christensen | ABC Vancouver | |
Marie-Claire Howard | ABC Vancouver | |
Jas Virdi | ABC Vancouver | |
Brennan Bastyovanszky | ABC Vancouver | |
Dave Demers | Green |
A proposal to change Vancouver's council elections to run on a ward basis (like most major Canadian cities) rather than its at-large system was rejected by the populace in a referendum on October 16, 2004. Only 22% of city residents cast a ballot in this referendum. [9]
Year | New Democratic | BC Liberal | Green | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | 54% | 128,374 | 30% | 72,052 | 15% | 34,570 | |
2017 | 52% | 131,750 | 34% | 85,967 | 13% | 33,942 | |
In the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Vancouver has eleven constituencies. In the 2017 provincial election, the BC Liberal Party won three seats and the BC New Democratic Party won eight seats. [11]
Year | Liberal | Conservative | New Democratic | Green | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | 36% | 96,947 | 21% | 56,617 | 36% | 98,753 | 4% | 11,396 | |
2019 | 32% | 95,580 | 22% | 64,889 | 29% | 85,578 | 10% | 28,564 | |
In the House of Commons of Canada, Vancouver has five constituencies. In the 2004 federal elections, the Liberal Party of Canada won four seats, while the New Democratic Party won one. In the 2006 federal elections, all the same MPs were re-elected, although David Emerson of Vancouver Kingsway later defected to the Conservative Party. In the subsequent 2008 federal elections, the Liberals won three seats, while the NDP picked up Vancouver Kingsway for a total of two seats. In the 2011 election, the NDP and Liberals both retained two seats each. The Conservatives won one seat, Vancouver South, their first win in the city since 1988.
In the 2015 election, the number of ridings for Vancouver was increased to six, with the Liberals winning four and the NDP winning two.
The Green Party of British Columbia, or simply the BC Greens, is a provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1983 and is based in Victoria. The party won its first seat in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2013 provincial election.
The New Democratic Party of British Columbia is a provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party espouses social democracy and sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. The NDP is one of the two major parties in British Columbia (BC); since the 1990s, its rival is the centre-right BC United. The BC NDP is formally affiliated with the federal New Democratic Party and serves as its provincial branch.
The Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) is a municipal political party in the Canadian city of Vancouver, British Columbia. It has traditionally been associated with tenants, environmentalists, and the labour movement. COPE is generally guided by democratic socialist principles following the split of its social democratic wing in 2014 to form OneCity Vancouver, and has a long history of advocating for issues such as improving public transit and investing in affordable housing. It last held a majority government on city council from 2002 to 2005. COPE describes itself as being committed to renter protections, ending homelessness, taxing the rich to build social housing, safe supply, free transit, Indigenous reconciliation, climate action, and other social and environmental reforms.
The Non-Partisan Association (NPA) is a municipal political party in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was established by the city's business leaders in 1937 to challenge the democratic socialist Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in that year's municipal election. The party has historically been described as centre-right and drawn its strongest support from Vancouver's business community.
The 2001 British Columbia general election was the 37th provincial election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on April 18, 2001 and held on May 16, 2001. Voter turnout was 55.4 per cent of all eligible voters.
The 1996 British Columbia general election was the 36th provincial election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on April 30, 1996, and held on May 28, 1996. Voter turnout was 59.1 per cent of all eligible voters. The election is notable for producing a "false-winner" outcome, rewarding a party that got second in the popular vote with a majority government.
Adriane Carr is a Canadian academic, activist and green politician. She has served on Vancouver City Council since its 2011 municipal election. She was a founding member of the Green Party of British Columbia and was the party's first leader, then known as "spokesperson", from 1983 to 1985. In 2000, she became the party's leader again. In the 2005 provincial election, she received over 25 percent of the vote in her home riding of Powell River-Sunshine Coast. In September 2006, she was appointed by federal Green Party leader Elizabeth May, to be one of her two deputy leaders.
Sam Sullivan is a Canadian politician who served as the MLA for Vancouver-False Creek. Previously, he served as the Minister of Communities, Sport, and Cultural Development with responsibility for Translink in the short-lived BC Liberal government after the 2017 election, as well as the 38th mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and has been invested as a member of the Order of Canada. He is currently President of the Global Civic Policy Society and an adjunct professor at the UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.
Vision Vancouver is a green liberal municipal political party in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Vision was formed in the months leading up to the 2005 municipal election.
Sukhminder "Sukh" Singh Dhaliwal is a Canadian businessman and politician, who has served as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Surrey—Newton since 2015. He was previously the Member of Parliament for Newton—North Delta from 2006 to 2011.
Spencer Chandra Herbert is a Canadian politician who serves in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in Canada. Representing the British Columbia New Democratic Party, he won an October 2008 by-election in the electoral district of Vancouver-Burrard. He was re-elected to the Legislature, this time in the newly created riding of Vancouver-West End, in the 2009, 2013, 2017, and 2020 general elections. He has served as deputy speaker of the Legislature since December 7, 2020.
Edward Charles Kennedy Stewart is a Canadian academic administrator and politician who served as the 40th mayor of Vancouver from 2018 to 2022. He previously was the member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Burnaby—Douglas (2011–2015) and Burnaby South (2015–2018), serving in the House of Commons as a member of the New Democratic Party (NDP) caucus.
The City of Vancouver held a municipal election on November 19, 2011, along with other municipalities and regional districts in British Columbia. All local government elections were for a three-year period. The ballot elected one mayor, 10 councillors, nine school board trustees and seven park board commissioners. A $180 million capital borrowing plan was also put to a vote.
Neighbourhoods for a Sustainable Vancouver (NSV) was a centrist municipal political party in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada promoting sustainable development. It was consensus-based, run by a steering committee, rather than having an individual as leader, and did not ascribe to an ideology.
The 2014 Vancouver municipal election took place on November 15, 2014, the same day as other municipalities and regional districts in British Columbia selected their new municipal governments. As with previous elections, voters elected one mayor, 10 councillors, nine school board trustees, and seven park board commissioners through plurality-at-large voting. Voters also voted on whether to approve a capital budget.
A municipal by-election was held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on October 14, 2017. One empty seat on city council and all the seats on the Vancouver school board were filled.
Niki Sharma is a Canadian politician and lawyer, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2020 British Columbia general election. She represents the electoral district of Vancouver-Hastings as a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party and serves as Attorney General of British Columbia.
The city of Vancouver, Canada, held municipal elections on November 17, 1990. Canadian citizens who were over 18 years of age at the time of the vote, and had been a resident of Vancouver for the previous 30 days and a resident of B.C. for the previous six months, were able to vote for candidates in four races that were presented on one ballot. In addition, Canadian citizen non-resident property owners were eligible to vote. For the first time, the City used Provincial Voters List as basis for City's List of Electors. 133,107 out of 257,352 voters cast ballots for a turnout of 52%.
The 2022 Vancouver municipal election was held on October 15, 2022, the same day as the municipal elections held throughout British Columbia. Voters elected the mayor of Vancouver by first-past-the-post. Ten city councillors, 7 park board commissioners, and 9 school board trustees were elected through plurality at-large voting. In addition, voters were presented with 3 capital plan questions.
Forward Together is a municipal political party in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The party was led by then-Vancouver mayor Kennedy Stewart through the 2022 municipal election, which he lost to Ken Sim.