British Columbia·AnalysisIt was a scene at Vancouver City Hall as age-old as local government itself: politicians accusing other politicians of playing politics. With 2026 election cycle heating up, accusations of posturing on all issues are likely to growJustin McElroy · CBC News · Posted: Oct 24, 2025 9:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesVancouver Mayor Ken Sim, seen here at a city council meeting on Feb. 26, 2025, accused opposition councillors of playing politics after a motion to create a new city-run corporation to build thousands of rental homes has failed to pass. (Ben Nelms/CBC)It was a scene at Vancouver City Hall as age-old as local government itself: politicians accusing other politicians of playing politics.“I’m really disappointed,” said Mayor Ken Sim after four opposition councillors blocked his ABC Party’s plan to create a private housing corporation that would develop and manage more than 4,000 units of rental housing at six sites across the city, with potentially others to follow. “Unfortunately, politics came into play today.” It was the first major loss for a Sim initiative since council kept a ban on natural gas heating in new homes. His response was repeated multiple times: that the concept, which staff had worked on for more than a year, would have gone through if not for the fact that opposition councillors put their animus toward Sim’s party ahead of good policy.“There were four councillors in that chamber who are not standing with me right now,” he said, “and the people that lose are the people of Vancouver.”It’s a charge rejected by the opposition. “It’s unfair, quite frankly, to accuse various members of this council of being political when we deeply care about doing the right thing. It’s just the right thing can look different from different life perspectives,” said OneCity Coun. Lucy Maloney, who seconds later argued that ABC Vancouver might also be playing politics.“Maybe there is a political element to make sure it gets voted down.” LISTEN | Justin McElroy and Stephen Quinn break down this week in Metro Vancouver politics:This is Vancouver29:58What went wrong with Ken Sim’s big housing idea?Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim’s plan to create a new housing corporation was blocked at City Hall — even though his ABC team had more votes. Municipal Affairs Reporter Justin McElroy breaks down what happened, why both sides are blaming each other, and what it means for the city’s next big budget fight. Plus, a conversation about the election campaign beginning in B.C.’s 4th largest city. Amendment after amendmentThe majority of the five-hour debate at city hall was not actually councillors shouting “politics!” over and over again, but a series of amendments by opposition councillors to modify how the proposed Vancouver Lands Development Corporation — with the city as sole shareholder — would be able to operate.Coun. Rebecca Bligh of Vote Vancouver asked for a delay on the vote until staff could provide a financial model and further information on how the city would be financially protected if the corporation faced serious financial issues.Green Party Coun. Pete Fry wanted guarantees that profits from the project be used for future affordable or social housing projects. OneCity’s Maloney wanted the for-profit corporation scrapped in favour of a non-profit model, and also asked that if it did go ahead, that there be a mandate for 20 per cent of space to be rented at rates below current market values. With the exception of an amendment by ABC’s Mike Klassen to make the 20 per cent non-market mandate a goal “where feasible,” amendments were uniformly rejected by ABC Vancouver councillors, who advocated for a hands-off approach. That shouldn’t have come as a surprise, because in his initial remarks Sim didn’t seem in the mood for further collaboration. “I really do hope this passes unamended,” he said, before any amendments were brought forward. “The only analogy I can think of is sometimes when the parents squabble and people suffer … put the political stuff aside, and think about what we’re trying to achieve here.”Of elections and budgetsWhether the outcome was political posturing or genuine disagreement, it comes at a time when there is plenty of political activity in and out of city hall.This week, COPE Vancouver is holding an “eviction notice” fundraiser to mark one year before local elections. The Green Party formally endorsed Pete Fry as its mayoral candidate — Fry says he’s still deciding his future) — while the Vancouver Liberals will formally nominate former Sim chief of staff Kareem Allam as their mayoral candidate. In a few weeks, new city manager Donny van Dyk will present the draft 2026 budget to council, with plenty of speculation on how the city will generate cuts to projected budgets in order to achieve a zero per cent property tax increase. In a private employee town hall that was posted as an unlisted link on YouTube and shared publicly by OneCity, van Dyk outlined the mix of employee buyouts, early retirements and utilization of financial reserves that could be used to meet that target.“There will be reduced labour force going forward,” he said, saying he was hopeful employees would voluntarily choose incentivized retirements and buyouts. “If we’re in a position where we can offer choice … that will hopefully reduce the need wherever possible for larger reductions for those that do not choose.”When the proposal comes forward, the only guarantee is sharp debate, a budget that is eventually passed one way or another — and little break from accusations of political posturing until the 2026 election 51 weeks from now.ABOUT THE AUTHORJustin is the Municipal Affairs Reporter for CBC Vancouver, covering local political stories throughout British Columbia.
Is Ken Sim’s housing loss a case of politics, or plain disagreement?
