Vancouver mayor asks premier for urgent action on foreign influence at City Hall

Mayor Ken Sim during his first council meeting in 2022. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /PNG

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Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim has asked the province to take urgent action to restrict what he described as “foreign interference” after a local union enlisted supporters from the U.S. to phone into a city council meeting this week.

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But not everyone agrees with the mayor’s decision to also involve the police.

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Sim became concerned, he said, after a public hearing on Wednesday, during which several people in California phoned into Vancouver City Hall to address council. The callers, who confessed upon questioning they had never been to Vancouver, used similar talking points and urged council to reject the so-called villages proposal, a contentious land-use plan that would add commercial and residential density to 17 areas around Vancouver.

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Then, on Thursday, the president of Unite Here Local 40, B.C.’s largest union representing hotel workers, confirmed to Postmedia her organization had asked contacts in the U.S. to phone into the meeting. The president, Zailda Chan, insisted there was nothing wrong with this approach, which she called an act of solidarity with fellow workers across borders.

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On Thursday, Sim wrote to Premier David Eby and Municipal Affairs Minister Christine Boyle, a former Vancouver councillor, to “urgently request” the province amend the Vancouver Charter so that only residents of Canada can register to speak at public hearings and other council meetings.

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On Thursday morning, the city changed its public hearing procedures so that speakers who are not residents of Canada are placed at the end of the queue, said Sim’s letter to the province. While that immediate step was within council’s authority, Sim wrote, “a procedural change is not an adequate long-term solution. The city requires clear statutory authority to protect the integrity, accessibility and orderly conduct of its democratic processes.”

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Sim also wrote that he had referred the matter to the Vancouver Police Department.

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Vancouver Police Chief Steve Rai met with Sim later Thursday to discuss the issue, said police spokesperson Const. Megan Lui.

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The police department will review Sim’s complaint to “determine whether to investigate, and whether the VPD is the appropriate agency to investigate or if it should be turned over to RCMP,” Lui wrote in an emailed statement Friday. “At this stage, it would not be appropriate to speculate on the outcome of that review.”

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It is not clear what law Sim believes may have been broken.

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In an emailed statement, Sim’s office said the mayor’s request to the police “does not presume any particular finding” and “is intended to determine whether there are coordinated or organized efforts to disrupt the lawful business of council and to help inform any next steps.”

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Political scientist Max Cameron agrees with Sim that participation at hearings should be limited to residents and others directly affected by council decisions. But he disagreed with the mayor’s decision to refer the matter to police.