---
title: "Six Vancouver 2026 candidates take questions at Mount Pleasant queer town hall"
description: "Six candidates in the October 17 Vancouver election took questions on housing, AI, the arts and safety at a queer town hall at The Birdhouse in Mount Pleasant, The Tyee reported."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/news/queer-town-hall-mount-pleasant-september-25"
last_updated: "2026-09-25T22:27:07.865Z"
---

Six candidates running in Vancouver's October 17 municipal election took questions at a queer town hall inside The Birdhouse in Mount Pleasant, The Tyee's Phoebe Fuller reported on September 25, 2026. About 150 people attended what host Ky Sargeant had planned for 175, according to the paper. The panel talked about housing, artificial intelligence, the arts and safety, The Tyee reported.

## Who was on the panel

The Tyee named the six candidates on the panel. From the mayoral race, [Kareem Allam](/candidates/kareem-allam) of the Vancouver Liberals and [Rebecca Bligh](/candidates/rebecca-bligh) of Vote Vancouver. From the council race, [Devyani Singh](/candidates/devyani-singh) of COPE, [Annette Reilly](/candidates/annette-reilly) of the Green Party of Vancouver and [Jarrett Hagglund](/candidates/jarrett-hagglund) of OneCity. From the Park Board race, [Allan Fawley](/candidates/allan-fawley) of TEAM for a Livable Vancouver. Every one of the six is on the October 17 ballot.

## What they said, from the paper

The Tyee reported four direct quotes from the stage. Allam said, "From a national security perspective, we need AI data centres." Bligh said, "Let's make sure the next government is not an ABC government." Host Ky Sargeant, opening the event, said, "Why can't gay people ever show up on time?" Community organizer Laurence Lewis Neal, in a line The Tyee also reported, said, "What's nice about today is, yes, everyone's fired up, so what do we do?" The paper adds one number that reaches beyond the room: 36 per cent voter turnout in Vancouver's last municipal election.

## Which races were represented

Two of the panelists sit at the top of the mayoral ballot in The Tyee's telling, one from the Vancouver Liberals and one from Vote Vancouver. Three run for a seat at the council table. One runs for Park Board. The School Board race had no candidate on the panel in the paper's list.

## What a voter can do

If you want to see a candidate answer questions in person before October 17, this site's forums page and each campaign's own events page list upcoming events. Advance voting places and hours are on the [City of Vancouver election page](https://vancouver.ca/your-government/vancouver-2026-general-local-election.aspx) and on [where to vote](/where-to-vote).

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](/sitemap.md) for all pages.