Vancouver In Common

We need a united front to defeat Ken Sim and his billionaire backers.

In February, 2025, DSOV unanimously endorsed Sean Orr and his campaign with the Coalition of Progressive Electors. 

Saturday, April 5th, Sean was elected in an historic win that saw him top the polls with votes from over 50% of the nearly 68,000 people who cast a ballot. 

DSOV members and the 2022 VOTE Socialist team mobilized together to help make this happen. We held our own canvass for Sean on a rainy day in March, and dozens of our members joined the hundreds of volunteers who covered the City to let residents know about COPE’s Fight for Vancouver platform. 

In his remarks to the joyful crowd late Saturday night, Sean reminded us that this successful run for office had roots in his 2022 run for Council with VOTE Socialist – which grew out of a municipal politics working group of DSOV. 

Sean also paid tribute to the countless volunteers who made this win possible, and to the working class and poor people who saw themselves reflected in this campaign. He ended by honouring the memory of Myles Gray, victim of a brutal police killing – by pointing to the crushing defeat of ABC’s candidates including police union head Ralph Kaisers.

If you missed the victory party at the WISE Hall, you can hear the complete audio of Sean’s victory speech HERE.

Now we know it can be done. But our tradition has always known it. When we fight, we win. 

In 2022, Vote Socialist ran a single candidate for each level of city government: council, school board, and park board. Informed by listening circles and consultations with grassroots organizers, we developed and ran on a detailed platform we called “Vancouver for All.” And on voting day, tens of thousands of Vancouver residents cast a vote for one or more of our candidates. 

In that election, the centrist and left-of-centre parties were crushed by a right-wing wave as Ken Sim and ABC swept to power flush with money from the likes of libertarian billionaire and real estate speculator Chip Wilson. Their election was aided by the political climate created in part by well-funded far-right influencers like Aaron Gunn and Angelo Isidorou, two of the key organizers behind the BC Conservatives, who produced and disseminated the propaganda film “Vancouver Is Dying” – an effort in mass disinformation and fearmongering also supported by their billionaire patron Wilson. 

Conservative and far-right political forces are moving aggressively to win control of every level of political office in Canada and worldwide. In this context, the left needs to unite and must take seriously the work of organizing to influence, contest, and win elections.

In the interests of left unity and to maximize the potential for electing a representative of renters and working class people in Vancouver, Vote Socialist will not be nominating its own candidate in this year’s municipal by-election but will be encouraging supporters and activists to back the candidate who will: 

• Strongly advocate for the City to build public, coop and other social housing on city-owned land – and take real steps to end the frenzy of speculation and commodification of housing by advocating for vacancy control and for the City to have the Right of First Refusal on purchasing apartment buildings for sale. 

• Push for meaningful climate action that tangibly improves the lives of working-class people, such as expanded and fare-free public transit. 

• Refuse to vote for increases to the police budget that do nothing to contribute to public safety but in fact reduce the City budget available for urgently-needed public services. 

• Take concrete action to make Vancouver a Solidarity City, protecting workers and defending migrants and refugees under attack in this new era of far-right politics. 

In recent discussions initiated by the Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE), we are encouraged by COPE’s openness to uniting with others on the left towards achieving these ends. We look forward to working with COPE and other left organizations to help to elect a champion for renters and workers in Vancouver in the upcoming municipal by-election. 

To win City Hall in 2026, the left will have to unite and broaden its appeal to elect a majority on city council. Voters at all levels are rejecting centrist defenders of the status quo. By coming together around a bold and transformative political agenda, and by building grassroots political power in all Vancouver’s neighbourhoods, we can defeat Sim and ABC.