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

ABC Vancouver, formerly A Better City,[5] is a municipal political party in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is led by incumbent mayor Ken Sim.

History

[edit]

Formation

[edit]

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.[6] The NPA's 2018 mayoral candidate, Ken Sim, was acclaimed as ABC's 2022 mayoral candidate.[7]

All ABC Vancouver candidates were elected in the 2022 municipal election. Sim was elected as Mayor with 50.96% of the popular vote, defeating his closest rival incumbent Mayor Kennedy Stewart by 36,139 votes or 21.48% of the popular vote. [8]

On December 20, 2023, ABC submitted an amended 2022 General Election Disclosure Statement [9] indicating that their $1.008 million 2022 election campaign had received over $116,000 in prohibited contributions.[10]

In government

[edit]

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,[11] green-lighting "urgent measures to uplift Vancouver's Chinatown,"[12] and directing city staff to budget $16 million to hire 100 police officers and 100 mental health nurses.[13]

In early 2023, the ABC park board majority voted to remove most of the temporary Stanley Park bike lane in favour of replacing the bike lane with new, permanent cycling infrastructure.[14] The first budget approved by the ABC-led council included increases in funding to the City's road maintenance, horticulture, mental health crisis response, and snow removal budgets, as well as funding increases to the Vancouver Police Department and Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services.[15] The council majority also voted to abandon the city's living wage certification and transition the City's base wage rate on a five-year average rolling living wage.[16]

In May 2023, the ABC council majority voted to make numerous changes to the City's 'Empty Homes Tax' including additional exemptions and a decision to maintain the tax's rate at 3%.[17] Among the changes was a decision to retroactively exempt standing inventory from the tax, and return to developers $3.8 million that had been collected as empty homes tax for unsold condominium units.[18]

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.[19] The office, which will provide local services in Mandarin and Cantonese, will be located in the city-owned Chinatown Plaza mall on Keefer Street. The ABC-led Council also unanimously supported a motion from OneCity's Christine Boyle to support improved municipal services in South Vancouver and Marpole.[20]

On December 6, 2023, three of six ABC Park Commissioners left the party to sit as independents following Sim's announcement of his motion to amend the Vancouver Charter in order to abolish the elected Park Board.[21]

On August 8, 2024, Vancouver School Board chair Victoria Jung announced she was resigning as a member of ABC to sit as an independent trustee.[22] Jung cited the controversy surrounding ABC's attempt to suspend Vancouver's Integrity Commissioner and freeze "any new or ongoing investigations",[23] a move that was widely criticized, including by the B.C. Ombudsperson.[24] It was subsequently revealed that as they were attempting to suspend the Integrity Commissioner, Mayor Sim and his Office were under investigation for a complaint that alleged bullying of an elected official.[25]

Electoral results

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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

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  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. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Christopher Cheung, Jen St Denis (October 15, 2022). "Suddenly, Vancouver Is Sim City". The Tyee. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  4. ^ [2][3]
  5. ^ "A Better City is now ABC Vancouver". ABC Vancouver. April 10, 2022. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  6. ^ Howell, Mike (April 22, 2021). "So now what happens to Vancouver's NPA party?". Vancouver Is Awesome. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
  7. ^ Azpiri, Jon (October 13, 2021). "Ken Sim to lead new party as mayoral candidate in 2022 Vancouver election". Global News. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
  8. ^ "Vancouver Election Results: Ken Sim rolls over Kennedy Stewart, vows to act fast to add police officers". Vancouver Sun, October 17, 2022.
  9. ^ "Elections BC, Scanned Reports for ABC Vancouver". Elections BC. December 20, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  10. ^ "Elections BC, ABC Vancouver 2022 General Election Disclosure Statement (amendment 2)" (PDF). Elections BC. December 20, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  11. ^ "Vancouver council votes in controversial definition of antisemitism". vancouversun. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  12. ^ "New cops and nurses, helping Chinatown among first items on new Vancouver council agenda - BC | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  13. ^ "Vancouver council approves $16 million for 100 cops, 100 nurses". Vancouver Is Awesome. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  14. ^ "Vancouver park board votes to remove temporary bike lane in Stanley Park". vancouversun. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  15. ^ "City of Vancouver approves property tax hike of 10.7 per cent - BC | Globalnews.ca". CKNW. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  16. ^ "Dan Fumano: Vancouver council under fire for abandoning living wage commitment". vancouversun. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  17. ^ "Vancouver council looks to roll back five per cent 'empty homes' tax rate". Vancouver Is Awesome. May 5, 2023. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  18. ^ "ABC Vancouver gives developers $3.8M tax break". Vancouver Is Awesome. May 11, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  19. ^ "New city office in Chinatown to be named after first Chinese-Canadian born". Business in Vancouver. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  20. ^ "South Vancouver residents flood council chamber, demand lack of services be addressed". Vancouver Is Awesome. June 29, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
  21. ^ Fumano, Dan and Lee-Young, Joanne (December 6, 2023) "Move to abolish Vancouver park board reveals rift in Mayor Ken Sim's ABC party" [1] Retrieved 2023-12-26
  22. ^ Chan, Cheryl The Vancouver Sun (August 7, 2024) "Vancouver school board chair drops ABC amid integrity commissioner furor" [2] Retrieved 2024-08-07
  23. ^ Fumano, Dan. "Vancouver Sun". vancouversun.com. Retrieved December 1, 2024.
  24. ^ LaPointe, Kirk. "Business in Vancouver". biv.com.
  25. ^ Southern, Lisa. "City of Vancouver Office of the Integrity Commissioner" (PDF). vancouver.ca. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
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