THE ORR REPORT: 2026 is the Year We Evict Ken Sim
Well after a nice break to rest and recharge we are back at it.
December was a bit disheartening following the budget vote, ABC voting against social housing, the DTES area plan, an emotional vote on the Filipino cultural centre, and a huge developer bailout package which included scrapping the community benefit agreement policy, transportation demand management, and below market rental thresholds. It looks like we will be seeing a record number of public hearings this year as developers rush to get their projects in.
Despite all this, I'm excited about 2026 because this is the year we evict Ken Sim.
COPE is making plans for a massive grassroots campaign. We’re up against a party backed by billionaires, and the only way to beat them is with People Power. That means we need everybody to get involved, to talk to their neighbours and co-workers, and to make sure we have a higher than normal voter turnout in October.
This year ABC is going to try to convince people that up is down, day is night. When bad things happen, like London Drugs closing its DTES location, they’re going to try to convince you that this means that we need to double down on their priorities of cutting public services, giving tax breaks to the rich, and pouring ever more money into the police budget. None of this will lead to real public safety and affordability for working people. It will only make things worse.
After a slow start to the year for me, I’ve started to attend more events in community. I spoke at Alliance Phillipines’ brand new Filipino Language School along with Jenny Kwan and Don Davies as well as Burnaby councillor Maita Santiago, who ran with COPE in 1993! I attended the last performance of the cherished East Van Panto and they knocked it out of the park again. Lots of digs at our mayor and his billionaire buddies…
I also attended a presentation on FIFA by Jennifer Li, who talked about the impact this mega event will have on our community with a focus on human rights, gender-based violence, sex work, reconciliation and more. On Saturday the 17th I was able to attend the Hands off Venezuela demo to show solidarity. With Trump threatening the world and terrorizing minorities and migrants in the U.S., it’s more important than ever that we think globally and act locally to build a better world. On Jan. 29th Vancouver will be marking the Day of Remembrance and Action Against Islamophobia, because the threat of far-right violence is real in Canada as well.
This Week’s Council Agenda
Coming up this week on Council, we have the long awaited report on the City’s Washroom Strategic Framework. We absolutely need more public washrooms across the city, especially in our poorest neighbourhoods. COPE has been pushing for more public washrooms in Vancouver for decades.
Also on the agenda this week, I've got a public safety motion addressing the growing problem of excessive headlight glare. Vancouver has developed the ambitious Vision Zero plan for pedestrian and road safety, but unfortunately it just hasn't been a priority for this ABC council. My motion is a practical step in the right direction and I hope it will pass unanimously. You can sign up to speak in support and/or write to Council to support the motion.
Councillor Pete Fry has a motion to crackdown on bad landlords, using City powers by introducing new conditions on business licenses. This motion aims to reduce the number of bad faith evictions, and it has the endorsement of the City’s Renters Advisory Committee.
Another important one: Pete Fry and Lucy Maloney are co-sponsoring a motion to restore the City’s Living Wage policy that ABC ditched back in 2023. This is a shared priority among COPE, the Greens, and OneCity. We actually drew straws to see who would get to bring forward this motion. I drew the short straw, but needless to say I'll be supporting this wholeheartedly. It's unlikely ABC will reverse themselves, especially after they've locked in austerity and job cuts with their Zero Sense tax gimmick Budget.
Next up: I’ll have a motion coming soon on supporting and improving food recovery in the city. And there’s lots more in the works. And of course my team and I are working hard to find whatever means we can to stop or at least slow the cuts resulting from Ken Sim and ABC’s reckless and destructive Budget.
This year I’ll continue to work to keep you informed about what’s happening at City Hall. I’ll keep doing my best to communicate how things work at City Hall, what I’m learning and what obstacles we’re facing, and how you can get more involved to make a difference. If you have ideas to share, please reach out.
This fight for Vancouver needs all of us. It’s an honour to do this work with you.