Sitting on top of a cabinet in Mayor Ken Sim’s office at city hall is a small digital clock that he pays close attention to each day.
Sim, who marks his second anniversary as mayor this week, described it as a countdown clock.
What he’s counting down are the days, hours, minutes and seconds until the polls close on Vancouver’s next civic election day, which is Oct. 17, 2026.
The clock read 717 days, 10 hours, 35 minutes and 38 seconds on a recent Wednesday.
Why is the clock necessary?
“Two reasons,” the mayor said. “One, that bookmarks the date of the election. We're running at 100 miles an hour, and there are a lot of politicians who believe you need to slow things down and save stuff for the next election. We're not doing that. We have too many challenges to address. We don't have the luxury of time.”
Added Sim: “If we do everything [on our agenda] and it hurts us during the next election, so be it. Couldn't care less because the goal isn't, ‘Let's get re-elected.’ The goal is, ‘Let's make the city better.’ So if we don't get re-elected, we only have 717 days to make this place even more amazing.”
It’s a quote that invites more questions about the state of Vancouver under Sim’s administration, which has had the luxury of an eight-person majority on an 11-member city council since inaugurated Nov. 7, 2022.
Is the city more affordable?
Is it safer?
These questions and others were answered by Sim in a wide-ranging interview at his office, which is decorated with duplicate signs of the streets where he grew up and a large photograph of Chinese railway workers.
A small black book titled, “The Book of Swagger” sat next to the countdown clock, along with coffee table books about Vancouver’s history, which Sim made two years ago by becoming the city’s first Chinese-Canadian mayor.
The interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
This week will mark two years since you were inaugurated as mayor of Vancouver. How would you assess your performance?
I always found that question tough to answer. What we need to do is look at what we committed to and what we have done relative to those commitments. In the last election, we committed to 94 initiatives, and we've actioned over 70 per cent of those. I'll let the public decide what grade that is. Is that an A-plus or an F-minus? I have no idea. Don't really care.
We've actioned over 70 per cent of what we committed to, and that's only two years in. So we're happy with that. Did we get everything absolutely right with those commitments? No. As things change over time, you get better information.
Can you give me an example of making good on one of those initiatives?
We committed to 100 police officers, and we've hired more than 100 police officers. For the first time in 15 years, we have a fully funded police department. For the first time in eight years, we have a fully funded Vancouver fire department.
When we found out that our firefighters actually are wearing suits that cause cancer, that didn't sit well with us.
The technology didn't exist at that point in time, but we wanted to be the first city on the planet that would have access to the new technology. So by December, our firefighters are going to have suits that do not cause cancer. So that's something that we're super proud of. And by the way, those suits were not in our 94-point platform.
The data that I received from the Vancouver Police Department says that as of Sept. 26 a total of 179 officers were hired since you and your ABC Vancouver majority were elected. Over the same period, 112 officers left the department. The math doesn’t add up to 100 new officers.
It's a constantly moving thing. At some point we hit 100 [in March]. We've dipped below it.
You’ve got to realize that like any other organization, people quit, people retire, they go to other places like Surrey. So we're constantly hiring to make sure that we're right-sized.
During the election campaign in 2022, you also promised to hire 100 nurses. Council heard recently that 35 of a planned 55 mental health workers had been hired, instead. So what happened to the promise of 100 nurses?
Nothing has changed. We came up with 100 mental health workers, nurses, however you want to define it.
Nurses is what you said in the campaign.
OK sure, nurses. Nothing has changed. We still have all the financial support, and we're still going after the same objective. We also said that we were going to talk to experts, and the experts are Vancouver Coastal Health. So they took our support, they said “Thank you, and this is what we want to do.”
Initially it was 58 mental health workers and now they've revised their plan to 55. Based on their operations and what they're seeing and the resources they have and the gaps they had, they said, “This is our plan, and it's going to be a phased roll up.”
So at that point, we said of course we're going to support that. They've had some challenges hiring like every single organization on the planet. We will continue to support them. We have not changed anything.
What have we seen from that level of support? Well, we've seen a doubling of the car 87/88 program. We have an Indigenous crisis response team. We have health-care professionals triaging calls in the VPD command centre. So we're having a big impact.
Is Vancouver safer since your administration took office?
The data shows us the city is safer. I'm just looking at the stats here because I knew you were going to ask that question. Total crime is down 7.4 per cent, violent crime is down seven per cent, property crime is down 10.3 per cent, serious assaults involving a weapon are down 17.8 per cent, random stranger assaults are down by over 50 per cent.
But it's of cold comfort when you have random, infrequent, violent assaults that shake everyone in the city to their core. I'm going to take my mayor’s hat off here for a sec. I'm also a resident of Vancouver. I have a family. We have friends, and we're concerned as well. We live here. This is our place. This is our home.
I have the same feelings that a lot of people have here, and it's important that we address those feelings as well. It's also important that we do something about it. We've done almost everything we can do, given the tools that we have as the City of Vancouver, and what’s in our jurisdiction.
What do you attribute the drop in crime to?
There's a whole host of things. Like right-sizing the police force, having more of a presence on the street, letting people know that we take crime seriously. Public safety will continue to be a focus.
How so?
The next phase is really what we asked the province and the federal government for, which is basically mandatory compassionate care for people who really need it. People have significant mental health challenges and/or a significant substance use disorder. Both of these are health-care issues. They're not criminal issues, but they manifest into criminal issues when we don't take care of people.
At some point, we have to call it what it is. Why is it OK to have individuals with significant mental health challenges get preyed on by criminals on the street, and have them in a situation where they can cause harm to themselves or other people?
So we're taking a big stand on this, and we know that different groups have different views on this, and that's OK. We have to look at this challenge differently, or you get the same results.
When you talk about the drop in crime, I looked at Vancouver police data going back 2019, three years before you were elected. Total crimes reported decreased from 56,807 in 2019 to 46,259 in 2023. Crime has plummeted since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared. What do you say to that?
We'd have to dig into the numbers to get the real story because there's a story within the story. I remember during COVID that anti-Asian hate crimes were up over 500 per cent and violent assaults on individuals of the Jewish faith were up across the country. So not just Vancouver.
I know property crime went through the roof. Random assaults were like five a day in the City of Vancouver during COVID. That number has gone down. So I would have to dig for the story within the story. Without looking at the data, I can't give you an informed answer.
Abandoned phone calls from citizens to the VPD’s non-emergency line, which is managed by E-Comm, has been a concern of Chief Adam Palmer, who has suggested several times that not all crime is being reported. I assume you would agree with that?
There are people that have given up calling because they know that — or they feel that — nothing is going to happen. And that's another reason why we asked the federal government to help us on bail reform for repeat offenders. We could add 1,000 more cops, and have them on every single street corner. And when you have catch and release [from jail] for people that are committing crimes, there's no point.
So I don't blame people for actually saying, “You know what, after the 14th time I'm not reporting this.” At the City of Vancouver, we don't have the tools to deal with that. We need help from the federal government, or nothing's going to change.
I wrote a story back in June saying the VPD was on track to spend more than $1 million in overtime this year assisting city crews on East Hastings Street to prevent another encampment there. Should citizens expect the VPD is going to run $1 million in overtime every year regarding East Hastings?
I can't predict the future when it comes to that. If the federal government doesn't step up and support us, it's going to be challenging. The province is making moves on mandatory care. You have to get these people the care that they need in a very compassionate way. Then hopefully the individuals are in a way better spot than they currently are right now, because what's happening on the Downtown Eastside is not humane.
If we get help from [senior governments], and that area gets better, there's probably less overtime for police.
Let’s switch gears and talk about housing. Do you have any evidence that housing has become more affordable under your watch?
It's a hard question to answer because there's so many factors out of our control that affect it. How we can affect affordability is we issue permits faster, we are in charge of rezoning and then we support our provincial partners. So there are a whole bunch of stats that have shown that we've sped up the process [of building homes]. We're doing everything within our wheelhouse to create an environment where builders can build faster.
But we don't control the economy. We don't control interest rates.
We don't control the amount of federal debt levels and printing of money. But everything that we can do, we've been hauling butt on it to make it better for builders to build more homes faster. Bringing back natural gas [for new detached homes], that will save $80,000 in construction costs per duplex. This is feedback from home builders.
You mentioned natural gas. Let’s talk about council’s 6-5 decision in July to have staff determine how to reverse the city’s policy to ban natural gas for heating and hot water in construction of new detached homes. Why do you want to reverse this policy?
I want to be very clear that I support building more homes faster. I support energy resiliency. I support whatever we can do to take costs out of building homes. We want to do that because — and people will debate this — because it leads to more affordable housing. The flip side is you can get to a point where you make it way too complicated and way too costly for home builders.
So we need to do everything that we can with a balanced approach to create an environment where home builders will want to build homes in Vancouver and can build homes in Vancouver.
Brad Badelt, the city’s director of sustainability, warned council the policy reversal will negatively affect the city’s climate goals. He said: “It would set us back potentially tens of thousands of [greenhouse gas emissions].” You’ve said many times that the city has the best staff on the planet. So why wouldn’t you take staff’s advice this time?
Having the best people on the planet, the best people in council, the best people anywhere doesn't mean that you're all going to agree on everything all the time. [Badelt] was asked for his opinion. He gave his opinion from one perspective. Life is complicated. The city is complicated. Home building is complicated. The environment we work in is complicated and it's multifaceted. So you have to look at trade-offs.
We have a housing affordability crisis in the city of Vancouver. There's pressure throughout the region on building homes. And if anyone who thinks that that is not the case, they haven't been paying attention.
We have to take all the information that we have, and make judgment calls. Home builders across the region have opined on this, and they're telling us what is stopping them from building more homes in the City of Vancouver.
When they say this can actually save $80,000 on the cost of building every single duplex in the City of Vancouver, and it provides energy resiliency, and it actually provides us environmentally friendly solutions going forward in the future, you have to take all of this and make a decision.
And the question that was asked of Brad was only one sliver of this complex web of data that we have to look at when we're making a decision.
But there are builders who would argue with you and say they can build an energy efficient home without natural gas for around the same price.
Sure, and there are lots of builders that have told us it costs eighty grand more, and it's hurting them.
Property taxes. In May, you announced you want the property tax increase for 2025 to be no more than 5.5 per cent. You set that percentage despite a staff presentation and accompanying five-year budget outlook report that said the likely tax increase to support existing services is closer to seven per cent each year between 2025 and 2029. So to keep it at 5.5 per cent, does that mean cuts are coming?
No, we have to look at things and do things more efficiently. We can still celebrate all of our amazing people and programs, but we can deliver them in a more cost-efficient manner. I want to be very clear, because people think that making operations more efficient means getting rid of people. It doesn't. We need to look at the problem differently, and we have to bring in technology to make things more efficient to support the people that we currently have.
What’s your biggest disappointment as mayor?
Biggest disappointment? That I can talk about?
Preferably.
I don't know how to answer that question, because all the challenges we run into, they're learning opportunities. It's no different in life.
So there's not one thing that sticks out?
It's been interesting. Human nature always surprises me. In this job, you get to see the worst in people, but you also get to see the best in other people. And it's wild. It's been an incredible ride, and from that perspective, I’ve personally grown a lot more. Sometimes I'm surprised as to how people behave. I'm also blown away by the many incredible people in the city who love the city, who are completely selfless.
In life, you have givers, you have takers, and then you have people that give, but they want something in return. There are a lot of givers in the city who just give from the bottom of the heart. They're not looking for anything in return.
It's been a while since I talked to you about abolishing the elected park board. David Eby and his NDP government were re-elected. Are you confident his government will make the necessary changes to the Vancouver Charter to abolish the board?
The conversations that I've had with the premier is that they're going to be doing it in the next sitting of the legislature. So we're looking at the spring time. Nothing's changed, and we feel great about it. I can't answer for the premier, but what I can tell you is we have a great working relationship, and we're driving on as if this is going to happen because they committed to it.
One City Coun. Christine Boyle, as you know, continues to push back against your desire to abolish the elected park board. Now she's a member of David Eby’s government. She's been a steady critic of your agenda. Are you going to miss her on council?
Will I miss her? I actually will, for two reasons. First of all, I come from a world where we celebrate different points of view. It actually makes the process better. So I will miss her from that perspective. Also, Christine's a nice person. I like her.
OK, but will you miss her politics?
We celebrate diverse views, and you know it can be frustrating at times, but it helps you get to a better answer.
At some point early in the new year, a byelection will be held to fill the council seat left by Christine Boyle. Will your party be running a candidate?
Yes.
Why would you do that when ABC Vancouver already has eight of 11 seats on council?
I think we're looking at the problem differently. We want really strong people in that council, and whenever we have an opportunity where there's a spot, we are going to find the best person we can find to sit in that seat. We're definitely running someone.
To close here, what's your number one priority over the rest of your term?
I actually have five.
OK, let’s hear them.
In no particular order, the Downtown Eastside. It's a big priority. We're better than this as a society. We have a kind empathetic society, and we have smart people throughout our society. We can solve this. Just takes political courage.
Number two?
Having a united city. We've got to end the polarization. Other politicians, they can take shots all they want. We don't play that game. We don't punch back. And that's by design, because you know what, we can win the argument, but what happens is this place becomes more polarized. We actually celebrate divergent or different views. But having a united city where we can agree to disagree, as opposed to making people wrong, is super important to this administration.
Number three?
Chinatown. We've made some pretty good progress in Chinatown, and we haven't stopped. It's a big focus of this administration.
Number four?
Building a place where our kids and our grandkids will want to call home, and be able to call home. We can talk about affordability. We can talk about safety. We can talk about swagger all day long. Those are all tied into building a place that our kids and grandkids will want to call home.
Number five?
The office of the mayor is bigger than any one person, including myself. We want to recruit and groom our future leaders that will take over this place. The goal is this place — after I leave — will get better. And not because they ripped up the playbook and went in the opposite direction.
It's because we basically set the future leaders up for success, and we attracted and groomed individuals who can carry the torch and do a way better job than we ever did.
You mean in your office or across the city departments?
Elected office, but also the whole infrastructure, as well. We're constantly on the lookout for future leaders that want to run for office. We want to create an environment where people want to be here and they can experiment and they can learn and it's OK. And if we do that, we build an incredible city.
