Kennedy Stewart’s Forward Together ticket releases platform as Vancouver mayor race tightens
Forward Together, the party led by Vancouver mayoral incumbent Kennedy Stewart, released its election platform on Tuesday.
The plan includes some new ideas and also recycles some unfulfilled promises made by Stewart four years ago.
The most ambitious part of the platform relates to housing and calls for 220,000 new units to be built over the next decade with 140,000 of those being rentals.
"We're going to change how we approve housing in this city to get it done faster. I understand people are finding it tough. I know what it's like to live with the stress of housing insecurity,” Stewart said.
“But no other platform is going to address this. No one else has the knowledge and know how to get the funding from provincial and federal governments."
Forward Together is also promising to do away with the city’s at-large system for electing city councillors and replace it with a ward system where residents only vote for the councillor representing their section of the city.
Stewart made a similar pledge four years ago when he ran as an independent but it went unfulfilled.
Asked about it Tuesday, Stewart said he brought it forward but didn’t have enough support on council to make it happen.
As part of his 2018 platform, Stewart also promised to “end big money influence on elections.”
There is no similar commitment in Forward Together’s platform this election.
Last month, a resident found a fundraising document linked to Forward Together on the sidewalk on West Broadway.
It lists several of the city's most prominent and wealthy developers as fundraising captains with specific dollar amounts listed next to their names.
Embattled Vancouver Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini had a fundraising goal of $110,000 listed next to his name.
Asked about it on Tuesday, Stewart would only say Forward Together follows campaign finance regulations.
“Under Elections BC rules, corporations and unions cannot donate to parties, only individuals can,” Stewart said. "If you look at our disclosure on the website, you'll see the amounts that individuals are giving and that is what is required by Elections BC rules and that's what's being reported,” said Stewart.
The platform release comes just as new polling data shows the mayor’s race tightening.
According to numbers from Research Co., Stewart has the support of 36 per cent of decided voters, with Ken Sim of the ABC Party just behind at 34 per cent and Colleen Hardwick of TEAM For a Livable Vancouver polling in third with 14 per cent support.
Stewart beat Sim, then with the Non-Partisan Association, by less than a thousand votes to win the mayor’s seat in the 2018 election.
"The phone calls to those supporters are going to be coming in hard in the next couple of weeks because with an election this close, it's ultimately about who can get their vote out,” said Research Co.’s Mario Canseco.
Public safety, crime and street disorder have been the key campaign priorities for both Sim and Hardwick while Stewart has made affordable housing his central plank.
The Forward Together platform does include some promises related to policing, public safety and the opioid crisis.
Stewart says if re-elected, he will support fully funding Vancouver Police Board budget requests.
He has also promised to turn a section of East Hastings Street into what he calls a ‘wellness corridor’ with Indigenous-focused facilities and services and a new neighbourhood park.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
U.S. schools turn to artificial intelligence to spot guns as companies press lawmakers for state funds
Kansas could soon offer up to US$5 million in grants for schools to outfit surveillance cameras with artificial intelligence systems that can spot people carrying guns. But the governor needs to approve the expenditures and the schools must meet some very specific criteria.
Air quality advisories issued in 5 provinces, 1 territory
Air quality advisories are in effect across Western Canada as smoky conditions plague some areas, according to the latest forecasts. Here's where.
Just how bad are ultraprocessed foods? Here are 5 things to know
Many foods fall under the category of ultraprocessed foods, depending on their exact ingredients. This type of food has been studied a lot lately, and the results aren’t great.
No refund for travellers who cancelled flight already scrapped by airline: regulator
Four years on, the controversy over whether airlines owed refunds to passengers after cancelling hundreds of thousands of flights during the pandemic continues to simmer, aggravated by a sluggish, opaque complaints process.
opinion Harry and Meghan's Nigerian adventure: traditional attire to warm welcomes
For her latest column on CTVNews.ca, royal commentator Afua Hagan writes about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's recent visit to Nigeria, calling it a 'deeply meaningful campaign' that was about aligning their ongoing efforts to foster mental-health awareness and promoting the Invictus Games.
'Oh my God, you're my brother': Man in his 70s discovers 6 unknown siblings
After receiving a DNA kit one Christmas from his son-in-law, Hugh McCormick soon discovered that he had six unknown siblings, with whom he shared the same birth parents.
'It happened so fast': Evacuees describe fleeing Fort Nelson, B.C., wildfire
Thousands have been forced to flee a wildfire burning near Fort Nelson. Meanwhile, some experienced volunteers are staying behind to fight the fire.
Rates of cancer declining in Canada, but more work needed to save lives: projections
A new study projecting declining rates of cancer cases and deaths in Canada demonstrates the success of prevention and early detection programs, but also highlights areas where more work is needed to save and prolong lives, researchers say.
DEVELOPING Cohen expected to take the stand as testimony in Trump hush money case enters 4th week
The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial is set to take the stand Monday with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president.