Vancouver byelection candidates differ over how best to reach voters

As Vancouver nears its April 5 two-seat byelection, candidates have been in neighbourhoods talking directly with voters at several all-candidates meetings, but two in particular have, so far, been absent.

The pass on the events by ABC Vancouver candidates Jaime Stein and Ralph Kaisers — running for the party with a current majority on council — has puzzled some voters and candidates from opposition parties who are making community-led events a central pillar of their campaigns.

"I mean, this is democracy manifest, right?" said Theodore Abbott one of two TEAM for A Livable Vancouver byelection candidates at an event Monday in the Grandview-Woodland neighbourhood.

"This is democracy in action happening."

On Monday, Abbott was one of seven candidates who individually sat at tables, available to answer questions from voters, before assembling a panel for another Q&A session altogether.

"I love meeting all these people," said the Green Party of Vancouver's candidate, Annette Reilly. "It just kind of gives me energy and uplifts me as I get to know everyone."

The all-candidates event was the latest in a series across the city aimed at allowing public access to candidates to ask them questions and hear them debate core issues facing the city, such as toxic drug poisonings, development like the Broadway plan, aging infrastructure and taxation.

Organizers of the Grandview-Woodland all-candidates meeting invited ABC Vancouver to the event, but the party declined.

"I think they were afraid to come, maybe," said Vancouver resident Yvonne Peters, who attended the Grandview Woodland event. "But it's important to be able to have conversations with people. That's what politics is all about."

Sean Orr, the candidate for the Coalition of Progressive Electors, along with others, has said the byelection is seen as a referendum on ABC Vancouver, which has been in power for more than two years of its four-year term.

In 2022, ABC ran on a platform of public safety and fiscal responsibility but has attracted criticism over decisions around supportive housing, climate policies, championing bitcoin for the city, questioning the work of the city's integrity commissioner and a move to dissolve the elected park board.

ABC elected 18 candidates across council, park board and school board in 2022, but only 13 currently remain in the party.

"I think people are really wanting change," said Orr. "But I think another thing is that they want to hear from ABC, and I think it's a real travesty that ABC isn't here to answer their questions."

ABC Vancouver's campaign manager, Stephen Carter, said the party has a different take on the utility of all-candidates meetings, saying they don't "make sense for us."