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Vancouver Plebiscite: Nearly 70% of Voters Back Outdoor Drug-Use Ban and Involuntary Treatment Beds
Vancouver's election commission released official public-safety plebiscite results on Oct. 21: both questions passed with about 68% support but are non-binding. Mayor-elect Pete Fry was cautious, saying the province has committed to involuntary treatment beds at the new St. Paul's Hospital.
Why it matters
This was one of Vancouver's largest recent exercises in direct democracy: nearly seven in ten voters told City Hall to get tougher on public hard-drug use and to convert old St. Paul's Hospital into an involuntary-treatment facility. The results are non-binding, but they leave Green Party mayor-elect Pete Fry — sworn in Nov. 2 — with a public-opinion mandate he cannot ignore.
Full report
Vancouver's election commission on Oct. 21 released official election results, including the public-safety plebiscite held alongside the Oct. 17 municipal election.
Question 1: whether to support the city strengthening legislation to ban the use of hard drugs (heroin, methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine) in public places — 200,058 ballots cast, about 68% in favour. Question 2: whether to have the city formally ask the province to convert part of the old St. Paul's Hospital (or a similar site) into a secure medical facility providing more than 100 involuntary beds for acute detox and mental-health treatment — 199,231 ballots cast, about 68% in favour.
The plebiscite was championed by outgoing mayor Ken Sim, who lost the same-day mayoral race to the Greens' Pete Fry by about 30,000 votes; his ABC party was also nearly swept out of council.
Fry was cautious about the result, calling it a Sim-style mobilization tactic, but said the province has committed to involuntary treatment beds in the new St. Paul's Hospital and a new recovery centre at Clark Street and 1st Avenue. Fry is sworn in on Nov. 2.
The plebiscite is non-binding; whether any of it is implemented depends on negotiations between the new council and the province.
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