Ken Sim needs to come clean and pull ad campaign that misleads voters
ABC Brings U.S.-style Misinformation Politics to Vancouver with Fake Road Tax Campaign
VANCOUVER, BC; August 29, 2022 – Ken Sim and his ABC candidates have resorted to U.S.-style misinformation politics to scare voters about a road pricing plan that doesn’t exist. The Forward Together campaign is calling on Ken Sim to come clean and immediately pull the ads that falsely claim that a road tax will be implemented in Vancouver.
“Ken Sim knows there’s no plan to implement a City of Vancouver road tax,” said Forward Together council candidate Alvin Singh. “Moreover, he knows full well, Rebecca Bligh, his own ABC team member, was the councillor who asked staff to study the tax in the first place. Another one of his ABC councillors, Sarah Kirby-Yung, is even on the record saying such a tax is impossible for Vancouver to implement.”
“But to top it off, every single ABC councillor voted yes to fund the study Ken Sim is now using to mislead Vancouver voters,” said Singh. “This is the beginning of a U.S.-style campaign that can only harm our democracy. Ken Sim needs to come clean with residents and pull the ads immediately.”
The facts:
- On November 17, 2020, Ken Sim’s own ABC Council Candidate Rebecca Bligh moved a motion asking staff to report back (pg. 12) on the feasibility of transport pricing.
- On December 8, 2020, all three of his councillors – Rebecca Bligh, Lisa Dominato and Sarah Kirby Yung – voted to fund the study as part of the 2021 budget (pg. 23, Vote No. 06776).
- Sitting ABC councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung has acknowledged the City of Vancouver does not have the legal authority to put a road tax in place.
- City management confirmed no work is being done by staff on implementing a City of Vancouver-road pricing system.
“ABC has recently ramped up its negative U.S.-style misinformation campaign, spending tens of thousands of dollars on expensive radio ads, direct mail, bumper stickers and social media, all aimed at creating confusion and fear in order to win this fall’s municipal election,” said Singh. “If Ken Sim is willing to make up fake news about a non-existent tax to win votes, Vancouver residents should be very worried.”
About Forward Together:
Publicly-launched in April 2022, Forward Together is the electoral organization that supports Mayor Kennedy Stewart and his team of city council candidates – Dulcy Anderson, Hilary Brown, Alvin Singh and Russil Wvong – for this fall’s Vancouver municipal election.