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The False Creek Residents Association (https://www.falsecreekresidents.org/) has announced this event.
2022 Mayoral Candidates Debate
September 21, 2022
7-9 pm, doors open at 6:30 pm
Creekside Community Centre (1 Athletes Way, Vancouver)
FCRA is a volunteer-run neighbourhood group dedicated to improving the quality of life for everyone that lives around and visits False Creek—the heart of the city of Vancouver.
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CityHallWatch is glad to see this meeting going ahead after the Coalition of Vancouver Neighbourhoods cancelled a mayoral debate that was slated for Sept 19, after Forward Vancouver’s Kennedy Stewart and ABC Vancouver’s Ken Sim rejected or refused to respond to invitations. References below:
Failure by Vancouver mayoral candidates Kennedy Stewart and Ken Sim (ABC) to participate leads CVN to cancel debate September 19
Link – https://coalitionvan.org/posts/media-release-mayoral-debate-cancelled-due-stewart-and-sim/
Mayoral candidates Ken Sim and Kennedy Stewart duck a second debate
(Charlie Smith, September 12, 2022, Georgia Straight)
Excerpt: … Let this be a message to any civic politician who doesn’t think that participating in debates is part of their job.
Link: https://www.straight.com/news/mayoral-candidates-ken-sim-and-kennedy-stewart-duck-a-second-debate
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Report from Upper Kitsilano Residents Association newsletter 22-Sep-2022
Most of the debate was spent on the opioid crisis and safety concerns in the False Creek area. Other topics discussed included derelict boating vessels, worsening water pollution in False Creek, and the loss of green space.
NPA candidate Fred Harding, a former UK police detective, said his party’s main election concern is the growing lack of safety on Vancouver streets, which he blames on a failure of leadership at City Hall. He would rehire 50 retired police officers, hire “new blood,” bring beat cops back to the streets, and arrest those dealing drugs on boats.
TEAM candidate Colleen Hardwick acknowledged that safety has “deteriorated beyond belief in this town,” and promised if elected to bring back the Four Pillars approach brought in by former mayor Philip Owen. The approach is based on four principles: harm reduction, prevention, treatment, and enforcement. She and the other candidates chastised Forward Together’s Kennedy Stewart for attempting to defund the police during his term. Hardwick said if elected, she would appoint a safety commissioner who would be responsible for the Downtown Eastside.
Mark Marissen of Progress Together said he would bring back the Vancouver Agreement — an initiative undertaken jointly by all three levels of government as well as community and business groups to develop and revitalize the Downtown Eastside.
ABC’s Ken Sim promised to bring in 100 police officers and 100 mental health workers to help those suffering from drug and mental health issues and provide 24-hour recovery centres with wrap-around services. Sim criticized Kennedy Stewart’s new plan to bring in a mental health response team of only 25 if elected.
Discussions also included the tearing down of the city’s viaducts and the contentious Broadway Plan. Sim and Marissen support the plan; Fred Harding said it is a “flawed plan,” but that “we can’t go back” and re-do the plan. Only Hardwick said she would rescind it. Calling the Broadway Plan a “cooked up” revenue generator deal, Hardwick said people have been misled and it’s not what’s best for the city. “ Sim disagreed, saying that the Broadway Plan would be too costly to change and cannot be repealed. But Hardwick told the audience that the City’s legal department told her it was possible.
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