OPINION | Ken Sim: Your Aspiring Neighbourhood Autocrat
Photo Credit: City of Vancouver
Imagine a leader. A commander whose actions have the power to change the lives of many. To paint a more accurate picture, imagine a politician who lacks integrity and undermines the very system that brought them to power. This leader bypasses public consultation, caters to the wealthy, and changes the place their constituents call home without transparency — and they continue to do so, as we speak.
This leader is none other than Vancouver Mayor and ABC party leader Ken Sim (You didn’t think I was talking about the dictatorial leader of our southern neighbour, did you?). You may have never heard his name, which makes sense, considering his lack of local presence and staggering amount of undelivered campaign promises. If you have heard of him, it’s likely from when he turned a city hall boardroom into his personal gym after the ABC majority City Council increased the Mayor’s Office’s discretionary budget. But behind the scenes, Sim has slowly and silently been dismantling democratic systems and bypassing guardrails since being elected in 2022. These dictatorial measures, enacted by Sim and his ABC majority City Council, are robbing citizens of their political power and irreparably changing our city.
Like a classic autocrat, Sim expects fealty from members of his party and won’t hesitate to punish those who don’t fall in line. He demonstrated this in February of this year, when he kicked City Councillor Rebecca Bligh out of the ABC party after she spoke out against his plan to halt a housing initiative in the Downtown Eastside. This suggests that Sim and his party, as stated by UBC political scientist Stewart Prest, according to CBC News, have a “very little tolerance for any kind of dissent.”
Sim’s attempts to co-opt democracy reach beyond the bounds of his own party, as he has tried to use his political power to centralize government while diminishing transparency and accountability. In December 2023, Sim brought forward a motion to amend the Vancouver charter and give the city authorization to dissolve the Vancouver Park Board, the only independently elected board of its kind in Canada, and transfer all of the group’s responsibilities to City Council without public consultation. A 2024 report from City Hall claimed that dismantling the board would save $7 million per year, but according to Independent commissioner Laura Christensen via CTV News, “there’s no backup on where these numbers came from. They came up with this number of $7 million a year, but the report itself says […] they are unable to really estimate what those savings are.” If the financial gain isn’t as sufficient as Sim claims, the only obvious reason for removing the board is that it will enable Sim and the City Council to develop parkland. This fear is shared by independent commissioner Brennan Bastyovanszky, who said of the potential board demolition in an interview with The Tyee: “The only thing it’s going to allow [City Council] to do is strip out park board assets and sell off parts of the park.” This was another clear example of Sim bypassing democracy for his own political gain. Fortunately, in October, the provincial government ruled that the Parks Board can only be dissolved through a referendum, meaning the power to enact municipal change is back in the hands of Vancouverites.
During his descent into autocracy, Sim has made numerous changes to Vancouver which may impact reducing crime, increasing housing and aiding business. Make no mistake — he did not make these changes with the betterment of his city in mind. In true oligarchic fashion, Ken Sim is using his power and influence to pander to the wealthy instead of meeting the needs of his constituents. Last year, he proclaimed Oct. 3 as “Summer and Chip Wilson Day” in Vancouver after the billionaire founder of Lululemon and his wife. This seems like just fun and games until you realize that Wilson and his family all made multiple maximum donations of $1,250 to ABC in 2022, adding up to approximately $10,000, as well as numerous contributions to Sim in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Wilson is also the founder of Low Tide Properties, a Vancouver real estate development company which aims to have a portfolio value of $1.5 billion by 2026, which could greatly benefit from Sim’s pro-development stance. In 2023, Sim voted to return $3.8 million in empty homes taxes that were collected on unsold real estate back to the developers who owned the vacant properties. By rewarding developers whose real estate was likely still on the market due to inflated pricing, Sim used money that was supposed to fund social housing to line the pockets of his wealthy friends.
Despite a lack of municipal checks and balances due to ABC’s majority, other elected and government officials are speaking out against Sim’s dismantling of democracy. In August, the Vancouver integrity commissioner Lisa Southern ruled that the Mayor and his ABC City Councillors violated the Vancouver charter by discussing and coordinating specific motions and in private group chats, email chains, and party meetings, therefore “depriving the public of participation in the policy development and decision-making processes that serve to build public trust and confidence in local government” according to Southern’s report. In response, Sim brushed off the report, asserting that he and his councillors were merely caucusing, saying in a statement to The Vancouver Sun: “It is not misconduct.” Pete Fry, a Green Party City Councillor who filed the original ethics complaint against Sim, commented on the mayor’s reaction, telling The Vancouver Sun, “It’s sort of consistent with his idea of running the city like a business, except it’s not a business — it’s a duly legislated governing body. We have a different set of rules than a business with a big boss […] And the rules are important.”
Elected officials are not the only ones speaking out against Sim’s anti-democratic agenda. This month, after the city announced a “Zero Means Zero” budget, which promised a zero per cent property tax increase by cutting $120 million worth of city services, over 600 Vancouverites signed up to speak at the budget’s public hearing. Many were outraged at how the proposed budget would cut other city services by as much as 14 per cent while increasing funding for policing services by $50 million, as well as its projected increase in community fees and lack of benefits for renters. The tax plan also unfairly benefits Vancouver’s wealthiest (like Chip Wilson, who owns the most expensive residential property in British Columbia), who pay the most in residential property taxes, over lower-income owners or renters who will be most impacted by cuts. Ken Sim, who has spent the last three years flirting with autocracy, wasn’t pleased by this show of community opposition. According to COPE City Councillor Sean Orr, after the 11-hour public hearing on the “Zero Means Zero” budget concluded, Sim referred to the proceedings as “an awesome waste of time. Another day in paradise.” A mayor who supported democratic processes would never refer to public consultation as a waste of their time, and these comments from Sim show that he views civic engagement as an obstacle. While the budget will cause irreparable harm to Vancouver’s public services if passed, Sim’s attitude towards participation in government reveals the dangerous impact he has had on this city.
Next year, Vancouverites will have the opportunity to uphold our democratic system, and they must do so by voting Ken Sim and ABC out of office. A leader is meant to put the needs of their citizens first, not denigrate their needs in the pursuit of power. If Ken Sim remains in power, he will irreparably harm our city and the democratic institutions which uphold the power of the people.