Citizens rally against Vancouver mayor’s budget

An unprecedented 630 people registered to speak Wednesday against Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim’s controversial proposed budget in a marathon city council session that could stretch into next week.

The flood of speakers follows a Canada’s National Observer report that Sim is planning to eliminate the city's sustainability and climate department in his proposed 2026 budget.

Sim said there are “false claims” that "sustainability’s work is being eliminated,” as the meeting got underway.  However, Sim and city officials did not give a clear answer about the sustainability team's fate when directly pressed on the service by Green Party Coun. Pete Fry. 

“I can't get into specific details on specific team or position impacts,” said Josh White, general manager of the planning, urban design and sustainability department. 

Pillars of the Vancouver plan, including equitable housing, “complete” communities, an economy that works for all, climate protection and restored ecosystems, are a key priority for the department, White said.

Direction from council will be incorporated, and “there are processes that we have to follow as a city under our labour and collective agreements,” he said.

In a statement, the city said that until the council approves the budget, it cannot confirm what resources departments will be assigned to deliver services in 2026. 

Once it is approved, the city will discuss the implementation of the changes with the impacted departments, according to the statement. The proposed budget lumps planning, urban design and sustainability together as a line item and collectively cuts their funding by 14 per cent.

The council meeting will likely stretch into Friday due to the huge number of people that signed up to speak, said Shawn Vulliez, co-chair of the Coalition Of Progressive Electors (COPE).

A 'fulcrum' 

Bryn Davidson, co-owner of Lanefab Design/Build, told council Wednesday that the city’s sustainability, planning and cultural departments are a "fulcrum" key to Vancouver's environmental and business success. 

The sustainability department is particularly important because its staff are uniquely skilled at "working across silos" to bring together engineering, building and licensing, fire and building code rules and other areas to achieve the city's sustainability goals. 

"It's important the department exists in a stand-alone capacity," he said. 

The city's climate and sustainability department is its "institutional nerve centre," wrote Naomi Klein and Carol Liao in an op-ed published in Canada's National Observer Thursday. The department ensures "that every unit — from transportation and housing to waste, infrastructure, and planning — aligns with and is held accountable for the city’s emissions targets and resilience goals."

Bryn added that the department has helped carve out new business opportunities, transforming Vancouver into a hub for green jobs. That includes his own business, which was able to grow thanks to the department's push for denser and more sustainable housing. 

'Unusual situation'

This is “definitely an unusual situation … We haven't been able to find an example in Vancouver history where there were over 600 speakers to something like this,”  said Vulliez.

COPE is a Vancouver-based civic reform group and started mobilizing people to speak against the budget as early as this summer. Vulliez said the climate and sustainability news was likely a “major” motivator, with roughly 400 people signing up in the last couple days.

“We suspected that climate was on the chopping block, but having that confirmation, I think, really did put a lot of wind in the sails of people who are able to see the scope of what this budget is going to mean,” Vulliez said. 

“We're being sold out for a short-term tax break for billionaire, multi-multimillionaire property owners,” he added.

Initiatives, such as Vancouver’s zero waste program, climate mitigation and emergency response, “are life-saving measures and these are investments in the future of the city,” Vulliez said, pointing to the deadly 2021 heat dome — which killed 117 people in Vancouver alone — as well as sea level rise, drought and extreme weather events. 

“This is the most opaque budget in history. This is the least detailed budget that's ever been presented to city council. There's huge cuts that they're promising, that they haven't indicated where they're coming from and the only way we're finding out is through the media,” Vulliez said. Throughout the meeting, some councillors also expressed concern about a lack of detail in the budget.

Minimal support

A budget survey presented during the meeting showed only 10 per cent of resident respondents wanted a zero per cent tax increase if it led to a reduction in services.

More than 40 per cent of residents surveyed indicated they would prefer a five per cent property tax increase to maintain the current level of services.

This fact was brought up by many people speaking against the budget on behalf of unions and organizations or as individuals.

“Residents were clear they're willing to pay a little more to protect the services that keep Vancouver livable,” Michael Robinson, business agent for CUPE local 1004, told council. 

“We're deeply disappointed to see a proposed budget that doesn't align with residents' feedback. A zero per cent tax increase doesn't make Vancouver more affordable. It makes the city less functional.”

The public needs to know "what service would be cut and who would pay the price" of the transparent proposed zero per cent property tax increase, Robinson said.

City council set aside time to hear from registered speakers on Nov. 13, 18, 19 and 20. 

Vulliez said COPE hopes the public pressure can convince the Ken Sim “brain trust” to reverse course, or perhaps sway some of the ABC caucus members to break with Sim’s agenda. This is a “narrow possibility” but still possible, he said, noting that a year ago three ABC councillors — Rebecca Bligh, Lisa Dominato and Peter Meiszner — voted against Sim’s proposal to remove a ban on heating new homes with natural gas. Bligh was kicked out of the ABC caucus a few months after that vote.

“I think that this hearing is just the beginning of the resistance that we're going to see to Ken Sim and ABC, if they keep down this path which is going to badly damage the city,” Vulliez said.