Rebecca Bligh says homelessness rose 12 per cent under Sim, pledges to reverse housing freeze

Rebecca Bligh has been a Vancouver city councillor for eight years. She was first elected in 2018 with the Non-Partisan Association, then re-elected in 2022 with Mayor Ken Sim's ABC party. In February 2025 she was expelled from ABC's caucus after publicly disagreeing with the party's direction, including its freeze on new supportive housing proposals. She is now running for mayor with Vote Vancouver, a party she founded in September 2025.

Vote Vancouver is a party founded by Rebecca Bligh in September 2025. The party describes itself as proudly centrist and pragmatic. It fielded candidates for city council and park board alongside Bligh's mayoral run. Voting day for the Vancouver municipal election is October 17, 2026.

Bligh told The Ubyssey that the Metro Vancouver Homeless Count found homelessness in Metro Vancouver has increased by 12 per cent since 2023. She attributed this trend to Mayor Sim's record and said that what has been happening under Sim is not working. If elected, she says she would reverse the supportive housing freeze Sim's council passed in February 2025.

In February 2025, Mayor Ken Sim's council passed a temporary pause on hearing new proposals for low-barrier public housing that comes with round-the-clock support services. The pause remains in place. Rebecca Bligh publicly opposed it while still sitting as an ABC councillor, which was among the reasons ABC expelled her from its caucus. She says she would reverse the freeze if elected mayor.

In February 2025, ABC President Stephen Molnar wrote that it had become clear Bligh was not aligned with the shared priorities and team-oriented approach that defines ABC Vancouver. Among the specific disagreements was Bligh's public opposition to Mayor Sim's supportive housing freeze.

Bligh proposes creating a small business concierge position at city hall, a single point of contact to help entrepreneurs navigate permits and regulations from different city departments. She told The Ubyssey that city hall is currently making it harder, unintentionally, for small businesses to operate because of how many departments a business owner has to deal with.

The extension of the SkyTrain line to the University of British Columbia is part of Vote Vancouver's platform. Bligh told The Ubyssey that the Broadway subway line is scheduled to reach Arbutus within the next two years, and she sees that completion as the right moment to push for funding to extend the line further to UBC. She acknowledged the project has moved slowly since it was first proposed in 2008.

Voting day is Saturday, October 17, 2026. Most voting places are open from 8 am to 8 pm. Voters need to vote at their assigned location. You can find your assigned voting place through the City of Vancouver's election office website or through the where-to-vote page at voche.me. If you registered to vote by mail, your completed ballot must be received by the election office before polls close at 8 pm on October 17.