The four people with the best chance of becoming the next mayor of Vancouver are set to square off on Tuesday night in an election forum in Vancouver’s West End.
A poll conducted by Research Co. found that independent candidate Kennedy Stewart has 34 per cent of decided votes, while 20 per cent of decided voters asked have pledged to vote for NPA candidate Ken Sim.
The latest poll found independent candidate Shauna Sylvester in third with 16 per cent support, followed by Hector Bremner of Yes Vancouver with 10 per cent.
Stewart continues to poll well with people who voted for Mayor Gregor Robertson in the last election. Robertson is not running again and Vision Vancouver, the mayor’s party, is not running a mayoral candidate.
“Almost half of Vancouverites who supported Robertson in the last election are saying they would be voting for Stewart this year,” said the president of Research Co., Mario Canseco. “Conversely, Sim is holding on to two-in-five residents who voted for (2014 NPA candidate) Kirk LaPointe in the 2014 election.”
WATCH: A previous poll on the Vancouver mayoralty race released on Sept. 19. Keith Baldrey took a look at those results.
Tuesday’s debate will be broadcast live on the Global BC Facebook page. The organizing committee, consisting of west end community groups and local community members, set rules for inclusion in the debate to ensure “participation from those candidates most likely to become Vancouver’s next mayor.”
The four candidates leading were the only candidates invited to the debate.
“The forum will allow candidates to explain their positions and hear the concerns of local residents via questions that have been provided by residents and organizations in the West End,” reads the invitation to the West End mayoral forum. “Among the themes of concern within the West End about which candidates will have an opportunity to share their ideas are livability and quality of life, residential affordability and homelessness and viability of independent local businesses.”
WATCH HERE: Vancouver mayor has lowest approval rating among Canadian mayors: poll
The Research Co. poll was conducted from Oct. 4 to Oct. 7, 2018, among 402 adults. The data has been statistically weighted to account for census data.
David Chen of ProVancouver and Wai Young of Coalition Vancouver each polled at seven per cent and Vancouver First’s Fred Harding was the choice of four per cent of those surveyed. A little more than a quarter of residents are still undecided, down five points compared to a similar poll condicted last month.
Residents were also asked individually about which of the seven candidates would be a “good choice” for mayor in the city. The top-ranked contenders are Stewart (35 per cent), Sylvester (27 per cent), Sim (20 per cent) and Bremner (13 per cent).
The debate will be held at St. Andrew’s Wesley Church, starting at 7 p.m.
Editor’s note: Tuesday’s debate will be moderated by Global’s Richard Zussman