Yes Vancouver

Yes Vancouver (stylized as YES Vancouver) is a municipal political party in Vancouver, British Columbia, created in June 2018 to support the candidacy of Hector Bremner for mayor. Yes Vancouver is the first municipal political party in British Columbia explicitly dedicated to YIMBY principles.[2] The party's platform includes increasing the supply of housing, capping permit wait times, and establishing a citywide housing plan, among others proposals.

YES Vancouver
Active municipal party
Leader	Hector Bremner
President	Kerry Gibson
Founded	June 28, 2018
Split from	Non-Partisan Association
Ideology	Fiscal conservatism Social progressivism Pro-housing development
Political position	Centre[1]
Seats on City Council	0 / 11
Seats on Park Board	0 / 7
Seats on School Board	0 / 9
Website
yesvancouver.ca
Political parties

History

Hector Bremner was first elected as an NPA councillor in the 2017 Vancouver by-election, but his bid to run for the party's mayoral nomination in the city's 2018 election was blocked by the party executive. The president of the NPA did not reveal the reasons for rejecting Bremner's bid for nomination.[3] This resulted in a divide between Bremner and his supporters and the NPA leadership, prompting Bremner to split from the NPA and create Yes Vancouver on June 28, 2018.[4][5]

Platform

The platform of Yes Vancouver is mainly focused on the city's housing shortage. The party promises to increase the supply of rental housing in Vancouver to reduce the cost of rent by establishing citywide pre-zoning, using incentives on city-owned land to add affordable housing, and capping permit times. The party also supports the specific targeting of speculation over the current homeowners of Vancouver.[6]

Yes Vancouver's education platform includes expanding basic financial education in schools and offering more diverse language options while proposing to pass a balanced budget.[7]

Electoral history

Party leader Hector Bremner ran as Yes Vancouver's mayoral candidate for the Vancouver municipal election, held on October 20, 2018. Five candidates from Yes Vancouver ran for city council: entrepreneurs Brinder Bains, Glynnis Chan, Stephanie Ostler, Phyllis Chan and Jaspreet Virdi, none of whom were elected to city council. Educator and former NPA School Board candidate Julian Prieto unsuccessfully ran for the Vancouver School Board for the second time, last running with the NPA during the 2017 by-election, and coach Leo Heba also unsuccessfully ran for the Vancouver Park Board.[8][9][10]

Mayoral

Election year	Candidate	Votes	%	Position	Result
2018	Hector Bremner	9,940	5.73	5th	Not elected

Vancouver City Council

Election year	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
2018	64,792	4.63	0 / 11

References

1. "About - Yes Vancouver". Yes Vancouver. Yes Vancouver. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
2. Marissen, Mark (December 7, 2018). "Mark Marissen: YIMBYs will dominate future Vancouver politics". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
3. Robinson, Matt (May 8, 2018). "NPA mayoral candidate hopeful Hector Bremner rejected by party board". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
4. Little, Simon (June 28, 2018). "Rejected NPA candidate Hector Bremner launches new 'Yes Vancouver' civic party". Global News. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
5. Smith, Charlie (June 28, 2018). "NPA councillor Hector Bremner and friends launch new Yes Vancouver Party". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
6. "YES Vancouver platform". yesvancouver.ca. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
7. "Proposals YES schoolboard". voteprieto.com. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
8. DH Vancouver Staff (July 30, 2018). "Hector Bremner's YES Vancouver party announces its election candidates". Daily Hive. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
9. "2017 by-election results: City of Vancouver". vancouver.ca. City of Vancouver. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
10. "Election results (unofficial): City of Vancouver". vancouver.ca. City of Vancouver. Retrieved October 21, 2018.