Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim says he is deeply disturbed by a Wednesday incident in which a stabbing occurred in downtown Vancouver, ending in the police shooting the suspect. The suspect died.
Sim said the incident, which occurred near Robson and Hamilton streets, has affected him greatly.
"We’re at a loss and we understand how everyone feels because we’re residents of this place and we love this place and we just want this place to be safe," he said.
The mayor’s remarks came at a Dec. 4 event hosted by BIV at Paradox Hotel Vancouver, where a business audience heard directly from Sim on topics including rezoning and permitting processes, densification and housing supply, and industrial development.
The mayor also discussed progress on campaign commitments, the city's relationship with other levels of government, and his vision for Vancouver's future. He even discussed the city's consideration of Bitcoin, and confirmed his plans to run for re-election in 2026.
Below are some key takeaways from the discussion.
On public safety and today’s (Dec. 4) stabbing incident downtown:
“The City of Vancouver has done everything we can with the tools that we have and the resources that we have. That’s not an excuse, that’s just an explanation. At the end of the day, as the mayor of the City of Vancouver, nobody cares about jurisdiction. We just want a safe place where this stuff doesn’t happen. It’s my responsibility and the responsibility of our council to step up and fight for what we believe is right, and if that means we piss people off and if that means we don’t get re-elected, I don’t give a shit. That’s what you’re going to get from us because I can tell you, if the feds and the province don’t step up, literally once a month probably, I’m personally going to have to go in front of the camera and say the exact same thing that you've heard me say probably 15 times over. Our hearts and thoughts go out to the people affected. We’re at a loss and we understand how everyone feels because we’re residents of this place and we love this place and we just want this place to be safe.”
On density:
“In your neighbourhood, if you live near a subway line and you see an application for a 15-storey condo tower, that’s something I can support, in general. I’d obviously have to look at the details of every single one as part of the process. It may not fit in the neighbourhood today, but in 30 years it’s totally going to fit in the neighbourhood because this city’s growing. There are going to be a million people in the City of Vancouver by that time. There’s only 700,000 now. We need housing, and so you may agree or disagree with what I say, but I think it’s my job to be very clear so you don’t have any surprises.”
On building more housing faster:
“A lot of it is out of our control. We don’t control interest rates, we don’t control inflation, we don’t directly control the talent pool that comes here, we don’t control demand which you need to make these things pan out if you’re creating a business model to build something. On the permitting side, we know what we need to do now, it’s just really executing on it.”
On infrastructure:
“A big challenge we have that’s going to affect everyone in this room is infrastructure. We have a half-billion-dollar-a-year infrastructure deficit. I’m not trying to litigate the past. We inherited what we inherited, so it doesn’t matter, no one cares. Previous administrations, to artificially keep the property tax increase lower, didn’t invest what was required in infrastructure. Now it’s our day of reckoning and we have a choice. Do we kick the can down the street and let the next person deal with it, or do we take the political hit and increase property taxes … to address capital? We took the hit because it’s the right thing to do.”
On property taxes:
“The city, they projected, I think, seven-to-nine-per-cent property-tax increases every year for the next, whatever, five years. We said, ‘No, get it to 5.5,’ and we should come [in] below that number.”
On affordability:
“Anything we can do to reduce the cost of building a home in the City of Vancouver, that’s a win. Anything we can do to bring fiscal responsibility to the city, that’s a win. … As an entrepreneur, we understand what you go through. So when some people think, ‘OK, well you have to wait six to 12 years for a permit, what’s the big deal?’ It’s a massive deal. You probably have two or three fundraising cycles in there. You don’t know where your demand is. You don’t know what the cost of your materials are going to be. The list goes on and on. So you have to build [in] all these risk premiums. I’m surprised people even want to build, right? We can shave all that time off and let the builders make the decision whether or not they are going to build or not, and they don’t have all that risk and debt. That’s a big win.”
On Bitcoin:
“We’re still working on this stuff, but there’s something going on that’s out of our control that people have to be conscious of. We can do everything we are going to do, and there are going to be so many people who are shut out of housing in this city. Our currencies, not just in Canada but across the planet, are getting debased at a rate higher than what people are making. That’s why accountants, lawyers, teachers, police officers, first responders, physicians are getting priced out of the market. … We can do all this stuff, you can do all this stuff you’re doing as builders, you can have the most fiscally responsible civic government, you can make houses as affordably as possible, and people are going to get lost because they are getting killed by inflation. … That’s one of the reasons why we’re looking at, our team members are exploring, Bitcoin. That’s a whole other conversation. I know there are a lot of people that think it’s sort of quack science and all that stuff. I highly encourage people to get educated on it. I’ve been in it for five years, we understand it. Once you really do your research, you go, ‘My God, this is something that can actually not only save our city but also give people the opportunity to be able to buy a home.’”
On city council’s ban on natural gas for heating new homes:
“We ran on 94 points, that wasn’t one of them. … I’m a big believer in surrounding yourself with people of diverse views and smart people. And so that vote went down and I was very clear, I support natural gas because it makes sense, and in fact in that chamber … they mentioned that we could be in a dire situation where temperatures rise between three and four per cent on the globe. So I asked the question, ‘By banning natural gas, what impact will it have on the rate of change of temperature?’ You know what the answer was? Zero. That comes at a cost. I know it’s important for Vancouver to signal to the world that we are going to take a leadership role, but I also like to ask myself, at what cost? Zero impact at the cost of $80-90[,000] to $100,000 per every duplex, potentially slowing a permit by six months because you have to wait for BC Hydro for a hook-up, the list goes on and on. And so, personally I was very clear, I support natural gas, I voted for it. We lost the vote. We can’t revisit that for a year.”
