Vancouver says plebiscite results will be released Wednesday

The City of Vancouver says it will not release the results of two plebiscite questions on election ballots until Wednesday. Voters also chose a mayor, 10 councillors, nine school board trustees and seven park board commissioners from a ballot listing 130 names. The two questions were put forward by incumbent Mayor Ken Sim and his ABC majority and concerned public safety.

The first asked whether voters supported “strengthening its laws to forbid open-air hard drug use,” which is already illegal. ABC’s detailed proposal was to amend municipal bylaws so police could issue $0 tickets to people caught using drugs in public, detain them briefly and seize their illegal substances without a more cumbersome criminal investigation. The second asked whether the City should “formally ask the province of B.C.” to add involuntary care beds in Vancouver. It suggested parts of the soon-to-be-vacated St. Paul’s Hospital site downtown as a possible temporary location.

A City spokesperson told CTV News on Sunday morning that plebiscite results would be available Wednesday along with the official election results. The City has not yet released official civic election results, but unofficial results show Green Party candidate Pete Fry elected Vancouver’s next mayor, defeating incumbent Ken Sim.

**Move drew criticism**

When Sim and his ABC majority reconvened council in August to add the questions to Vancouver’s election ballots, then-councillor Fry called the move political theatre and strongly opposed it. Fry left the council meeting, followed by councillors Rebecca Bligh and Sean Orr. Fry described asking voters about public safety as “electioneering by punching down on folks in health crisis” and a “misguided frustration of the democratic process.”

Kareem Allam, Sim’s campaign manager in 2022, ran against him in this year’s election under the Vancouver Liberals banner. Allam was even more critical, telling CTV News at the time: “A plebiscite won’t solve anything, and neither will Ken Sim. I see this as nothing more than a cheap election trick to try to distract from his four years of poor governance of the City of Vancouver.”

Sim defended the non-binding questions, saying they “represent the most significant policy and culture shifts this city has considered in decades.” After the questions passed, he referred to the opposition’s comments as political theatre. “We’re actually trying to solve something. We are asking the tough questions, and we are debating those issues—and we’re voting on them,” he said.

Fry’s public safety platform proposes a 24/7 non-police outreach team to respond to non-emergency situations involving people in crisis. The mayor-elect also said he would repeal the bans on supportive housing and overdose prevention sites.

B.C. already has the highest rate of involuntary detention under its Mental Health Act of any province in Canada. B.C.’s chief justice struck down public consumption laws, warning of “irreparable harm” if they were upheld.