Why COPE’s Mayoral Candidate Suspended Her Campaign

COPE mayoral candidate Stephanie Allen suspended her campaign Wednesday, saying there is no path to victory over incumbent Mayor Ken Sim if multiple progressive candidates split the left-wing vote.

Allen called on the Vancouver Greens and centre-left party OneCity to follow her lead and choose just one candidate to go up against Sim, a one-term mayor who froze the construction of new supportive housing in the city and has focused on policing as the solution to public safety concerns.

Sim and his ABC party won a decisive majority on city council, the school board and the park board in 2022, although several park board commissioners, one school trustee and one city councillor have since left the party.

“While I’m announcing the end of my campaign for mayor, I’m also here to recommit to our common fight for mayor,” Allen told reporters on Wednesday. “Ken Sim and ABC must be evicted on Oct. 17.”

Allen said she made her decision shortly after a Monday meeting with Pete Fry, a city councillor who is running as the Greens’ mayoral candidate, and William Azaroff, the mayoral candidate for OneCity.

But Fry said he expects the conversation between him and Azaroff will now “accelerate.”

“Frankly, I think on the doorstep, in the polling, on all the metrics that apply, I think that I’m clearly in the front-running for the three progressive [parties], and I think that’s momentum I’ll continue to build on,” Fry told reporters following Allen’s press conference outside city hall.

“I think the only possible [factor] that could prompt me to pull out of the race would be some sort of complete collapse of the support we’ve been hearing on the doorstep and seeing in the polls. I’m in it to win it.”

Giving his own press conference a few hours after Allen and Fry spoke, Azaroff bridled at Fry’s confidence.

“The reality is Pete and Stephanie and I talked on Monday. Pete and I are planning to go for a walk tomorrow. There are conversations still to take place, and for Pete to circumvent all that and make that statement, I find that disappointing,” Azaroff said.

Azaroff questioned whether Fry will be able to maintain the momentum shown by a Research Co. poll earlier in the summer. The poll showed Sim leading with 30 per cent support, Fry and former ABC campaign manager Kareem Allam both at 19 per cent and Azaroff at just five per cent, while Allen received four per cent support.

“I don’t think there’s another party with the kind of infrastructure we built around money raised, doors knocked, volunteers gotten and the endorsement of the Vancouver and District Labour Council,” Azaroff said.

Azaroff said a decision on whether he or Fry will stay in the race will likely come by the candidate nomination deadline of Sept. 11. Civic election day in British Columbia is Oct. 17.

This year’s mayoral race is a crowded field, with candidates on both the right and the left jockeying for position. Council currently includes six ABC councillors, one OneCity councillor, one COPE councillor, one Green and one independent.