This record covers Iona Bonamis, candidate number 113 for Vancouver City Council with OneCity. It draws on the campaign site, a 2022 run for the same office, published planning work, and news reporting on a court case about the name shown on the ballot.
No public appearance by this candidate was confirmed in the sources checked on September 22, 2026. The voting dates below apply to every voter. An empty day is a gap in the research, not proof that nothing is happening.
Checked September 22, 2026 · All event times are Vancouver local time. Recheck the organizer before travelling.
On dates without a confirmed appearance the public schedule is unknown; the candidate may still have activities that day. This static page changes only when its research is updated.
01 / Introduction
About Iona Bonamis (陶思穎)
Iona Bonamis (陶思穎) appears on the City of Vancouver's final 2026 candidate list for City Council, with ballot number 113. The City records the affiliation as OneCity.
The campaign says Bonamis has spent 20 years as an urban and transportation planner.
The OneCity candidate page says Bonamis has worked for two decades as an urban and transportation planner, with a focus on walking, cycling and public transit connections and on direct neighbourhood outreach.
The campaign site says Bonamis is a registered professional planner and a graduate of the University of British Columbia's School of Community and Regional Planning.
The Vancouver Sun reported on September 14, 2026 that Bonamis works as a TransLink planner and is a former City of Vancouver employee.
A Vancouver Sun column dated September 8, 2022 reported that Bonamis was then a senior transportation planner at Vancouver City Hall on a salary of $106,000 paid from general revenue, and began an unpaid leave on August 15, 2022.
Bonamis ran for council with OneCity in 2022 and finished 12th with 33,745 votes, behind Forward Together's Dulcy Anderson at 33,985 votes.
The campaign site says Bonamis founded a small business called A Healthy Beginning, co-chairs OneCity's Chinese Cultural Working Group, formerly co-chaired Women Transforming Cities and formerly served on the board of the Trout Lake Community Centre Association.
A 2022 VoteMate profile completed for that election listed an M.Sc. in community and regional planning from UBC and said Bonamis was born in Vancouver, is Chinese-Canadian and speaks Cantonese.
The ballot lists Bonamis at number 113 with the Chinese characters 陶思穎 following the English name, after a provincial court ruling on September 18, 2026.
voche.me assembled this profile from the official candidate list and the campaign material linked under Sources. The campaign has not been contacted, and no candidate-supplied content appears on this page.
Published positions and selected commitments, separated by election cycle. Status labels describe the evidence reviewed, not a numerical score or a complete audit of the platform. Council approval is different from delivery.
8 commitments shown · Checked Sep 22
2026 · Public servicesCampaign pledge
Investment in South Vancouver
Direct city investment to South Vancouver so services keep up with the number of people living there.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
The first episode of the campaign video series says 110,000 South Vancouver residents share one public swimming pool. The post names no specific project, cost or date.
What still needs checking
Which facilities Bonamis would fund first, and from which budget.
Return the City of Vancouver to Living Wage Employer certification, which it gave up in 2023.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
A campaign article dated January 19, 2026 makes this argument and criticises the use of a five-year rolling average instead of the current living wage figure. The article urged readers to write to council before a standing committee meeting on January 21, 2026. The outcome of that meeting was not found.
What still needs checking
What council decided on January 21, 2026, and what the current certification status is.
Add free 24-hour public washrooms, add sidewalk-level street lighting, fund and speed up permits for outdoor festivals, help long-standing businesses modernise, and build more coordination between Chinatown and Downtown Eastside organisations.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
Set out by Bonamis in a Vancouver Sun opinion article on July 26, 2022, during the previous council campaign. The article names washroom trailers used in Downtown South and the Downtown Eastside as the model and names Chinatown organisations that run festivals. No cost figures are given.
What still needs checking
Whether Bonamis is running on the same five actions in 2026.
Make room for under-represented residents in decisions
Bring women, youth, seniors, low-income households, people with disabilities, Indigenous, racialised and LGBTQ2S+ residents into city decisions, and invest in East and South Vancouver.
Evidence & next checks
Evidence reviewed
Stated on the campaign site under the heading of an inclusive city. The site does not describe the mechanism, such as a committee, a budget line or a reporting requirement.
What still needs checking
What process change Bonamis would move at council to make this happen.
Each entry below names its source. Campaign material is the candidate's own account. Nothing here is presented as a verified outcome unless the entry says so.
No reviewed entries have been added to this section yet. This is a research gap, not a finding about the candidate.
Recent appearances / Read and watch
Talks, interviews & statements
Read original statements and reporting, or open the publisher’s video. A summary of a speech is labelled separately from a full recording.
Statement
Statement after the ballot name ruling
After Judge Roger Cutler ruled that seven candidates could use their usual names, Bonamis said by phone to the Vancouver Sun that the decision brought relief, and said the hope is that future candidates can use the names their communities know them by without a court case.
Before the hearing, Bonamis told reporters the Chinese name has been part of a lifelong identity, was given at birth, and is used by relatives and by many people in the Chinese community.
The first video in a campaign series argued that public services and infrastructure in South Vancouver have fallen behind population growth, and gave the example of 110,000 residents sharing one public swimming pool.
Bonamis joined a Cantonese talk show panel about political misinformation reaching Chinese-Canadian residents, and called for an apology delivered through WeChat in Mandarin over false claims made about Councillor Sean Orr.
A campaign article said the City of Vancouver is not paying a living wage, criticised the five-year rolling average the city uses, and asked readers to contact council before a January 21, 2026 committee meeting on restoring the certification.
Bonamis spoke against the zero percent tax increase budget put forward by the mayor and ABC, raising the effect on city services and on staff morale. The campaign post gives a summary rather than the full remarks.
Writing in the Vancouver Sun as a 2022 council candidate, Bonamis set out five actions for Chinatown and linked the neighbourhood's problems to the concentration of housing and support services in the Downtown Eastside.
Records are labelled by type, including official findings, civil proceedings and political disputes where applicable. Each entry identifies the response found in the sources and the latest status verified for this page.
Campaign dispute
Court application over the Chinese characters in the ballot name
Vancouver's chief election officer, Jason Twa, filed two provincial court applications asking whether the names on seven candidates' nomination papers, which pair an English name with a name in Chinese characters, are their usual names under the Vancouver Charter. Bonamis was named in one of the filings, together with ABC councillor Lenny Zhou and OneCity school board candidate Christopher Lee.
Candidate or party response
Bonamis said the Chinese name 陶思穎 was given at birth, is used professionally and on social media, and is what relatives and many people in the Chinese community use. Bonamis also said the challenge felt like being told that only part of an identity could appear on the ballot, and pointed out that another council candidate was allowed to use the usual name Rollergirl.
Verified status and limits
On September 18, 2026 Judge Roger Cutler ruled that all seven could use their usual names on the October 17 ballot, with written reasons to come later. The city lawyer said the chief election officer would be informed in time for the draw setting the ballot order.
Working at city hall while seeking a council nomination
A Vancouver Sun column reported that Bonamis kept working as a senior transportation planner at Vancouver City Hall for months after being announced as a OneCity council candidate in March 2022, and while seeking and receiving a Vancouver and District Labour Council endorsement. The column questioned whether the rules on leave for civic employees are clear, and stated that Bonamis had followed the rules and that nothing improper was suggested.
Candidate or party response
Bonamis agreed the rules should be clarified, said written notice was given in July 2022, unpaid leave began on August 15, 2022 and nomination papers were filed on the first day of the nomination period. Bonamis also said a plan was in place to avoid commenting on Vancouver projects on social media and that the staff work stayed impartial.
Verified status and limits
No rule required a separation of the two roles at the time, and the column reported no finding or complaint against Bonamis.
A dated reading list from independent publishers. The headings below are voche.me summaries; follow each link for the original article, context and any corrections.
Reporting
Vancouver Sun
B.C. judge rules Vancouver city candidates can use Chinese names on ballot
Judge Roger Cutler ruled the seven candidates, Bonamis among them, could use their usual names on the October 17 ballot, with written reasons to follow. The city lawyer told the court the decision arrived in time for the draw that sets the order of names.
Vancouver's lawyer challenges candidates seeking Chinese names on ballots
At the hearing, city lawyer Grant Murray told the court that every candidate except Bonamis appeared to use only the English name on social media, and said it was odd that the Chinese names were added after the original filings.
Vancouver takes some civic election candidates to court over Chinese-character names
Chief election officer Jason Twa filed two provincial court applications asking whether the names on the nomination papers were the candidates' usual names under the Vancouver Charter. Bonamis, Lenny Zhou and Christopher Lee were named in one filing.
OneCity confirms 13 candidates for Vancouver civic election
OneCity's confirmed list put Bonamis among five council candidates alongside incumbent Lucy Maloney, Frances Bula, Jarrett Hagglund and Caitlin Stockwell.
Four OneCity party hopefuls form 'Builders' slate for Vancouver City Council race
Bonamis joined Frances Bula, Jarrett Hagglund and Mike Tan in a slate called OneCity Builders. Bonamis was quoted saying the career has been spent helping communities be more liveable, inclusive, safe and connected.
B.C. law lets city staff keep working as they run for council
Columnist Daphne Bramham examined the rules that let City of Vancouver staff campaign while employed, using the Bonamis candidacy as the main example, and wrote that Bonamis followed the rules to the letter with no suggestion of wrongdoing.
Ending Vancouver's 'apartment ban,' is it progress or 'disaster'?
Columnist Dan Fumano covered OneCity's 2022 proposal to allow apartment buildings in all residential neighbourhoods. Bonamis appeared as one of the four OneCity council candidates behind the proposal.
Sources checked September 22, 2026. Official records establish decisions; campaign material establishes stated positions; reporting adds investigation and context. None alone establishes every claim.
Sources describe the current employer differently. The Wikipedia article on the election and the campaign site refer to the City of Vancouver, while Daily Hive in May 2026 and the Vancouver Sun in September 2026 say TransLink, with the Sun describing Bonamis as a former city employee. This record follows the Sun. Two campaign posts print the day and month but not the year, so the dates for the Fairchild Radio panel and the first campaign video are taken from the site's own sitemap, which places them in 2026. The OneCity endorsement release could not be opened. The outcome of the January 21, 2026 council committee meeting on living wage certification was not found. No candidate forum or campaign event naming Bonamis was found for the period after September 22, 2026.
Research status
What voche.me has checked
Evidence reviewed on September 22, 2026: Current campaign material; biographical claims require corroboration.
Campaign page read on September 22, 2026. 2 stated positions and 1 background fact recorded here, each checked against a quotation from that page.
Checks still to do: Verify professional roles and separate City projects from TransLink responsibilities.
The ballot name, office, ballot number and party label come from the City's final candidate list. Everything described as campaign material is the campaign's own account and has not been confirmed by an independent source.
03 / Background
Experience & community
As of 2026
Lead planner, TransLink
Daily Hive reported this role in May 2026 and the Vancouver Sun reported in September 2026 that Bonamis works as a TransLink planner.
A Vancouver Sun column reported this role and salary in 2022. The 2022 VoteMate profile says the work included leading a study on cutting traffic emissions and developing the transportation network for the Broadway Plan area.
