2017 Vancouver municipal by-election


A municipal by-election was held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on October 14, 2017. Unlike in full elections, voters were only asked to elect one councillor and nine school board trustees rather than the full complement of elected municipal positions. The by-election was necessary for two reasons: the resignation of Vision Vancouver councillor Geoff Meggs from City Council to become BC Premier John Horgan's chief of staff and the desire of the new provincial NDP government to reconstitute the Vancouver School Board, whose elected members had all been fired by the previous BC Liberal government.
This election marked the first time a OneCity candidate was elected to any position in Vancouver's elected government.

Background

The by-election was called to replace the single vacant council seat, due to Geoff Meggs' departure to take on the role of Premier John Horgan's chief of staff. The by-election was also meant to elect a new board of school trustees, who had been dismissed by provincial education minister Mike Bernier after failing to pass a balanced budget and allegations of workplace harassment arose.

Nomination process

Non-Partisan Association

On September 6, 2017, the Non-Partisan Association held a nomination meeting to decide their representative for the lone Council position. Hector Bremner, the successful nominee, beat out former school trustee Penny Noble and former leader of the Cedar Party Glen Chernen. Candidates for the five school trustee positions were announced at the same time.

Green Party

, who had unsuccessfully ran for Council in 2014, was the first confirmed nominee for council by any major political party in Vancouver. The Greens also nominated former incumbent Janet Fraser to run for re-election alongside Judy Zaichkowsky and Estrellita Gonzalez.

Results

Councillor

School Board trustees

denotes incumbents prior to the dismissal of all nine School Board trustees by Education Minister Mike Bernier in October 2016.
Candidate NameParty affiliationVotes% of votesElected
Janet FraserGreen Party of Vancouver27,36056.24%X
Judy ZaichkowskyGreen Party of Vancouver23,38348.06%X
Estrellita GonzalezGreen Party of Vancouver20,30741.75%X
Joy AlexanderVision Vancouver19,70940.52%X
Allan WongVision Vancouver18,67838.40%X
Lisa DominatoNon-Partisan Association18,25837.53%X
Fraser BallantyneNon-Partisan Association18,04837.10%X
Carrie BercicOneCity Vancouver17,82236.64%X
Ken ClementVision Vancouver17,58336.15%X
Theodora LambVision Vancouver17,20435.37%
Robert McDowellNon-Partisan Association17,14035.23%
Erica JaffOneCity Vancouver17,11735.19%
Mike LombardiVision Vancouver17,09435.14%
Christopher RichardsonNon-Partisan Association16,83934.62%
Diana DayCoalition of Progressive Electors16,68334.30%
Julian PrietoNon-Partisan Association16,29933.51%
Adi PickIndependent10,26321.10%
Christine ArnoldIndependent9,20918.93%
Jamie Lee HamiltonIDEA Vancouver8,59017.66%