Sean Orr says ABC Vancouver’s election signs have appeared in “strange places” and links the issue to housing empty-homes policy decisions.
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Sean Orr, a former Vancouver city councillor with COPE Vancouver who is seeking re-election, said he is concerned about where ABC Vancouver election signs have been placed, after sending an email last week that pointed to several locations where he says signs have appeared.
In the email, Orr asked, “Have you noticed ABC signs popping up in strange places? Empty apartments, publicly funded senior homes, abandoned lots with a redevelopment sign up, or in a public space?” He added, “We’ve noticed.” Orr also alleged that “empty lots and apartments are voting Ken Sim and ABC because he keeps them empty.”
ABC Vancouver responded that, “ABC‘s lawn signs go up with the permission of property owners and supporters, and we follow the city’s rules on election signage.” The party also said its housing approach is to “fix the process so more homes get built faster,” including “cutting red tape, speeding up approvals, and making it easier to build the homes people need, including rental and affordable housing.”
Orr’s email connected the sign-placement concerns to Vancouver’s Empty Homes Tax, which he said he believes supports vacant-property outcomes. He referenced City Council decisions in 2023, when an ABC majority voted to keep the empty homes tax at three per cent rather than raising it to five per cent, as originally put forward by Mayor Kennedy Stewart.
In 2023, ABC councillor Mike Klassen introduced an amendment that created an exemption for new, unsold homes that are vacant. While City staff recommended keeping the empty homes tax at three per cent alongside the amendment, they did not recommend applying it retroactively to the year 2022; Orr said Klassen’s amendment included taxes collected in 2022, which resulted in City Council returning $3.8 million to developers.
Orr’s email said COPE would “enforce the empty homes tax, close the loopholes, and phase in increases to nine per cent,” adding that COPE would “incentivize development without displacement by taxing vacant lots and cracking down on land-banking for profit.”
Voting day is Oct. 17.
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