VANCOUVER — Ken Sim is officially Vancouver’s new mayor and is promising to set a tone of co-operation — despite his ABC Vancouver party holding a strong majority on council.
Sim and the new council were sworn in at an inauguration ceremony at the Orpheum theatre where he also called for help from the federal and provincial governments to address the opioid crisis.
Sim is making history as the city’s first Chinese Canadian mayor after beating incumbent Kennedy Stewart in the October election.
All seven candidates for Sim’s centre-right ABC Vancouver party won a seat on the 10-member council, setting the stage for a more united municipal government than under Stewart.
The ABC Vancouver slate was elected on promises to tackle housing affordability by speeding up the permitting process and hire 100 more police officers and 100 more mental health nurses to address public safety concerns.
In his inaugural address, Sim asked for other branches of government to help deal with Vancouver’s opioid crisis, saying the city can’t solve the situation alone.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2022.
The Canadian Press
