Fry defeats Sim to be Vancouver’s next mayor

Updated 4:30 a.m. PT Oct. 18: Preliminary city figures show COPE and the Greens winning most council seats, with one A Better City councillor re-elected; details below. Earlier, CTV News and Global News also projected Pete Fry as Vancouver’s next mayor, and Ken Sim conceded, according to Global News. Results remain unofficial.

Green candidate Pete Fry was projected Saturday night to become Vancouver’s next mayor, unseating incumbent Ken Sim after one term, according to CBC News, CTV News and Global News.

Sim, of the A Better City slate, conceded. “Tonight marks the end of my time as mayor,” he said, according to Global News, which also reported that he called being mayor “the highlight of my life” and acknowledged that voters wanted a different direction.

Fry told supporters the result was a bit overwhelming. “Putting your trust in me and my team here, we’re not going to let you down,” he said, according to Global News.

With 73 of 149 polls counted as of 10:34 p.m. PT, Fry had 55,832 votes, or 47.6 per cent, to 39,612 votes, or 33.8 per cent, for Sim, according to Poliwave’s live results page, a lead of 16,220 votes. Poliwave said results stay unofficial until the city’s chief election officer declares them.

Colleen Hardwick had 10,224 votes, or 8.7 per cent, Kareem Allam had 5,600 votes, or 4.8 per cent, and Rebecca Bligh had 4,558 votes, or 3.9 per cent. Sim won the 2022 race with 51.0 per cent of the vote.

Later preliminary City of Vancouver figures, with 148 of 149 voting places reporting as of 12:30 a.m. PT Sunday, put COPE and the Greens in control of most council seats, according to Daily Hive. Sean Orr (COPE) led with 75,305 votes, followed by Annette Reilly (Green) with 71,794, Chloe Leslie (COPE) with 61,731, Devyani Singh (COPE) with 59,371, Stephanie Smith (Green) with 58,461, Camil Dumont (Green) with 57,143, Lucy Maloney (OneCity) with 56,593, Solomon Yi-Kieran (COPE) with 54,811, Mike Klassen (A Better City) with 53,665 and Bridget Burns (Green) with 53,032. Klassen was the only A Better City councillor to be re-elected, Daily Hive reported. Joyce Gillespie of A Better City was next with 51,273 votes. Final results are due Wednesday, Oct. 21, Daily Hive reported.

Daily Hive also reported that the new Park Board is made up entirely of Green and COPE commissioners, and the new School Board entirely of COPE, Green and OneCity trustees. At an earlier stage of the count, with 73 of 149 polls counted, Poliwave showed Sean Orr of COPE first at 48,582 votes and Annette Reilly of the Greens second at 44,655. Incumbents Lucy Maloney of OneCity and Mike Klassen and Joyce Gillespie of A Better City were also among the leaders. The last seat was separated by 168 votes, with A Better City’s Peter Meiszner and Lisa Dominato just outside the top 10. CP24 reported that no party appeared to hold a council majority.

For the Park Board, Poliwave showed Green incumbent Tom Digby first with 44,628 votes. The final School Board seat was separated by three votes between OneCity’s Rory Brown, Alisha Masongsong of the Greens and Sherry Breshears of OneCity, with Steve Cardwell of OneCity just behind.

All three borrowing questions were leading. Poliwave showed yes votes at 78.7 per cent for the $292-million transportation question, 79.9 per cent for the $438-million community and civic infrastructure question and 81.1 per cent for the $60-million parks question. Results for the two advisory plebiscite questions on public drug use and a secure medical facility at the former St. Paul’s Hospital had not been reported. Final turnout was not shown.

Close council and school board races could change as the remaining polls report. Elsewhere in Metro Vancouver, Doug McCallum was elected Surrey mayor over incumbent Brenda Locke, and in Richmond, Rob Howard was named the new mayor.

Vancouver voters on Saturday, Oct. 17, were choosing a mayor, 10 city councillors, seven Park Board commissioners and nine School Board trustees, and answering five yes-or-no questions, according to Daily Hive’s voter guide. The City of Vancouver describes the three borrowing questions, worth a combined $790 million, as part of its $3.5-billion 2027-2030 capital plan, and says Council can borrow the funds if a majority votes yes on a question. The two plebiscite questions are advisory and do not require Council to act.

Record turnout in the advance voting period we reported earlier this month pointed to heavy interest in the race. Daily Hive reported that 103,810 people voted across the four advance days, compared with roughly 65,000 advance voters in 2022. Final turnout will not be known until election-day and mail-in ballots are counted.

Sources: Poliwave; CBC News; CTV News; Global News; CP24; City of Vancouver, borrowing and plebiscite questions; Daily Hive on advance turnout.

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