Vancouver Civic Election 2026

[MalcolmTucker]

There is also, 20 years ago the city section could be 10 pages of city articles. Now we're lucky to get content to fill two pages.

So the threshold of what gets reported is much higher.

[SFUVancouver]

^ 20 years ago there were a lot more publications publishing city news articles, too.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Reputable journalism does have a lot less funding than it used to, fair point.

That said, I'd hesitate to call the Post or Tyee "mainstream" - they're a bit more yellow, while CBC, CTV, Global, et al usually keep the spin to 25% or less.

[csbvan]

Originally Posted by csbvan

I feel like these polls are too old to have meaning. I would expect a very different landscape now.

And we have one!

Basically nobody knows who anyone is, except Ken Sim and they hate him:

Vancouver Pallas Poll: Sim’s Favourability Underwater, Over a Third Still Undecided
(TORONTO, 30 July 2026) – A new Pallas Data poll of Vancouver finds Green candidate Pete Fry leading the race for mayor with 18% support, ahead of incumbent Ken Sim at 14% and Vancouver Liberal Kareem Allam at 12%. Colleen Hardwick of TEAM sits at 11%, COPE’s Stephanie Allen at 6%, OneCity’s William Azaroff at 4%, and Vote Vancouver’s Rebecca Bligh at 3%. A third of voters (34%) remain undecided.

https://pallas-data.ca/2026/07/30/vancou...underwater-over-a-third-still-undecided/

[bluefox]

Originally Posted by csbvan

And we have one!

Basically nobody knows who anyone is, except Ken Sim and they hate him:



https://pallas-data.ca/2026/07/30/vancou...underwater-over-a-third-still-undecided/

Ironically, this type of poll probably favours a Sim re-election given the lack of consolidation of the field and the number of undecided voters.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

^ 20 years ago there were a lot more publications publishing city news articles, too.

Yes, it is pretty discouraging when you realize how little good reporting there is on civic issues. it definitely won't help with already dismal municipal election turnout.

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by csbvan

And we have one!

Basically nobody knows who anyone is, except Ken Sim and they hate him:



https://pallas-data.ca/2026/07/30/vancou...underwater-over-a-third-still-undecided/

Curiously, this poll was also commissioned by the Conservative Electors Association. Perhaps they're still planning to run candidates?

Some interesting takeaways:

I actually thought Azaroff was a front runner but apparently he's in a distant fifth.
Men want Sim, women want Fry.
35-49 year olds have no tolerance for the Greens and are in love with the Vancouver Liberals.
Sean Orr and Pete Fry have the homeless + mom's basement vote locked down.

In other related news, Kash Heed seems to be the frontrunner for the next mayor of Richmond.

Pallas Richmond Poll: Heed 20%, Starrett 11%, Loo 9%, and Half the City Still Undecided

(TORONTO, June 29, 2026) – A new Pallas Data poll of Richmond, BC finds independent Kash Heed leading the race for mayor with 20% support, ahead of Conservative-endorsed Sheldon Starrett at 11.3% and Richmond Strong’s Alexa Loo at 8.5%. Rob Howard of Richmond Forward sits at 5.9%, Mei Kang of Action Richmond at 4.3%, and Dickens Cheung of We Are Richmond at 1.6%. Just under half of Richmond voters, 48.4%, say they haven’t picked a candidate.

https://pallas-data.ca/2026/07/15/pallas...loo-9-and-half-the-city-still-undecided/

[Migrant_Coconut]

In fairness, it's a robocall poll, which favours the demographic that answers robocalls.

I do question the support for Allam, seeing as he doesn't even have candidates or a platform yet. Maybe it's just people who vote for the word "Liberal" no matter what?

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

I do question the support for Allam, seeing as he doesn't even have candidates or a platform yet. Maybe it's just people who vote for the word "Liberal" no matter what?

??

https://www.vancouverliberals.com/candidates_caucus

6 council candidates and 4 parks board candidates.

https://www.vancouverliberals.com/issues

I'd argue that they have the largest platform of any of the current parties.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by chowhou

...In other related news, Kash Heed seems to be the frontrunner for the next mayor of Richmond.

https://pallas-data.ca/2026/07/15/pallas...loo-9-and-half-the-city-still-undecided/

Despite some racist pandering by certain elements of the community:

Richmond mayoral candidate Kash Heed slams racist stereotyping against him
24 July 2026

Richmond city council took a stand at its Monday meeting against what they allege was discrimination in a social media post that appeared to pit Chinese Richmondites against South Asian Richmondites.

The post depicted a man wearing a turban and a group of Asian people, saying South Asians represent about seven per cent of Richmond’s population whereas Chinese represent 54 per cent.

Coun. Bill McNulty put forward a motion asking for a “formal apology” from the poster, saying council should take a “clear public stance” against the messaging, and that the matter be forwarded to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal.

McNulty described the post as “extremely graphic.”

“It’s an absolute insult to a certain segment of our community,” he added.

Richmond realtor Jason Liu with Luxmore Realty created the post....

https://www.richmond-news.com/2026-civic...cial-media-article-about-voting-12604213



A realtor from Suxmore, quelle surprise.

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by whatnext

The post depicted a man wearing a turban and a group of Asian people, saying South Asians represent about seven per cent of Richmond’s population whereas Chinese represent 54 per cent.

And what percentage of Richmond is the race of Malcolm Brodie, Mr. Liu?

[GenWhy?]

I've never used AI, but wouldn't your initial prompts and past prompts dictate what it produces?

"Liu told the Richmond News he put an article he had written encouraging Chinese Canadian to vote into an AI tool and asked for a cover image."

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by GenWhy?

I've never used AI, but wouldn't your initial prompts and past prompts dictate what it produces?

"Liu told the Richmond News he put an article he had written encouraging Chinese Canadian to vote into an AI tool and asked for a cover image."

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by chowhou

And what percentage of Richmond is the race of Malcolm Brodie, Mr. Liu?

Hit the nail on the head. Literally the whole point of democracy is to vote for the one we like, not the one that looks like us.

[Feathered Friend]

ABC Councilor's Klassen,
https://x.com/i/status/2082113774065164437

and Meisiner have confirmed they're running for reelection.
https://x.com/i/status/2082533537463623921

[Feathered Friend]

Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social
Interesting news for those versed in the never ending Vancouver housing wars: Josh Gordon, a former SFU professor and current Stats Canada analyst who has generally weighed in on the anti-supply side of arguments, has been announced as a council candidate for Colleen Hardwick's TEAM party
3:00 PM · Jul 31, 2026

https://bsky.app/profile/jmcelroy.bsky.social/post/3mrxxcbtiy223

SFU professor says he didn't get tenure over views on diversity The B.C. Labour Relations Board dismissed an application from Joshua Gordon in which he claimed he lost a job over his political views
Author of the article:By Joseph Ruttle Published Aug 13, 2025 Last updated Aug 14, 2025

Josh Gordon launched a complaint in October 2022 against the Faculty Association of Simon Fraser University in which he said the teachers’ union acted in bad faith by failing to represent him robustly in his complaint against the university for denying him tenure.

Gordon was a limited-term professor in SFU’s school of public policy from 2014 to 2021, and said in his complaint that his performance reviews were strong. However, in 2020, the university got an email signed by several of Gordon’s students complaining of “systemic racism” in the program.

https://vancouversun.com/news/sfu-professor-says-he-didnt-get-tenure-over-views-on-diversity

[bluefox]

Originally Posted by Feathered Friend

https://bsky.app/profile/jmcelroy.bsky.social/post/3mrxxcbtiy223

https://vancouversun.com/news/sfu-professor-says-he-didnt-get-tenure-over-views-on-diversity

So TEAM is really doubling down on being the grievance slate?

[madog222]

Mario Canseco's Reasearch Co. poll released today.

Full poll results: https://researchco.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Tables_Politics_VAN_04Aug2026.pdf & associated article: https://researchco.ca/2026/08/04/vanpoli-2/


Select results I've picked out:

For mayor, who would you vote for? (excluding a 'Not Sure' option)
Sim 30%
Allam 19%
Fry 19%
Hardwick 14%
Bligh 7%
Azaroff 5%
Allen 4%

Would you consider voting for council candidates from the following parties? (Definitely / Definitely and Probably combined)

Green 15% / 42%
ABC 11% / 40%
Liberals 10% / 35%
OneCity 6% / 34%
Vote 7% / 32%
COPE 4% / 26%
TEAM 9% / 25%

[chowhou]

Remind me, ballots have first and last name right? I read that article twice and both times I mixed up Allen and Allam.

Anyway, I fear the "the by-election showed how unpopular Ken Sim is" demographic might be quiet for a while. I truly thought this was an Allam vs Azaroff race but it seems it's actually Sim vs Fry vs Allam. Perhaps Pete wasn't completely crazy to vacate his council seat for a mayoral run.

Not to bring race into the politics thread, but I do have to wonder what the polling would look like if any of the other parties fielded a Chinese mayoral candidate? I remember that being considered giving Sim a bit of a backdraft last election.

[madog222]

Yes, first and last name.