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
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]
^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
^Chan, Cheryl The Vancouver Sun (August 7, 2024) "Vancouver school board chair drops ABC amid integrity commissioner furor" [2] Retrieved 2024-08-07
^Fumano, Dan. "Vancouver Sun". vancouversun.com. Retrieved December 1, 2024.
