Vancouver and Ottawa Prepare for Municipal Mayoral Elections
Voters in Vancouver and Ottawa are heading to the polls this month to elect mayors amid debates over housing, public safety, and transit.
Municipal elections in Canada are reaching a climax this month, with high-stakes mayoral races in Vancouver and Ottawa. In Vancouver, incumbent mayor Ken Sim is seeking a second term with ABC Vancouver, campaigning on a platform of zero percent property tax increases and strengthened public safety bylaws. He faces a primary challenge from Pete Fry, a two-term Green Councillor who positions himself as a progressive alternative focused on the economy, transportation, and housing.
Other Vancouver candidates, including Kareem Allam, Rebecca Bligh, and Colleen Hardwick, have rejected the label of spoiler candidates. The Vancouver election also features two non-binding plebiscites regarding involuntary medical care and the prohibition of open-air hard drug use. Voter engagement is notably high, with advance voting increasing 60 percent over 2022 levels.
Meanwhile, Ottawa will hold its mayoral election on October 26. Fourteen candidates are registered, led by frontrunners incumbent mayor Mark Sutcliffe, councillor Jeff Leiper, economist Neil Saravanamuttoo, and homebuilder Alex Lawson. While the frontrunners lead the race, other candidates are focusing on the failure of the Ottawa Greenbelt, housing affordability, and infrastructure decline. The race includes Ali Shayvard, running as a democratic socialist, and Queen Divine Priya Amber Bakshi, the only woman in the contest. One candidate, Geoffrey Nicholas Griplas, was recently charged with criminal harassment and uttering death threats against Mayor Sutcliffe and Premier Doug Ford.
