Vancouver Green Party nominates Annette Reilly as its candidate in upcoming byelection

Filmmaker and health advocate Annette Reilly has won the Green Party of Vancouver's nomination to run in the city's two-seat byelection on April 5.

Green Party Coun. Pete Fry, the only opposition voice left on council currently, announced Reilly's candidacy from the front doors of city hall on Thursday morning, surrounded by other Green party members, including former Green Party Coun. Adriane Carr and Park Board Comm. Tom Digby.

"Housing affordability, climate action that actually protects our children's future, and a government that is transparent and puts public interest first are my priorities," said Reilly.

Reilly was raised in a small farming community in Alberta, did her post-secondary education at the University of Victoria and has lived in Vancouver since 1995.

She describes herself as a working mother, filmmaker, actress and health advocate who lives in East Vancouver.

At the age of 30, she was diagnosed with an advanced form of colon cancer while raising her first child. She believes her cancer and the cancer that claimed the life of her sister were caused by environmental factors.

"I did many months of treatments, many surgeries while raising a toddler," she said. "I know what hard work is like, and that pushed me to be a voice for that community that so often gets forgotten."

Her plan is to get face-to-face with as many voters as possible, with Carr, Fry and Digby in support, to win one of the two vacant seats on council and partner up with Fry in opposition to Mayor Ken Sim and his seven ABC councillors.

The Green platform says its positions centres on evidence-based decision-making, participatory democracy, social justice and sustainability.

"Annette's quite a keener and has really gotten involved and really leaned in on a lot of the civic issues," said Fry. "So, I've really had a chance to work with her a bit already, and I'm very excited about this."

The race to replace OneCity's Christine Boyle and the Greens' Adriane Carr has five candidates now, with the only remaining major party yet to announce being the one with the supermajority on council, ABC Vancouver.

At an unrelated news conference on Thursday, Sim confirmed that his party would run two candidates in the byelection, with the announcement possibly coming next week.

"We still have 58 days before the byelection. An announcement will be coming soon," he said.

The byelection comes two and a half years into council's four-year mandate, with Boyle resigning in December after being elected to the provincial legislature.

Carr quit in January, saying she had lost confidence and trust in the mayor.

In 2022, ABC ran on a platform of public safety and fiscal responsibility but has recently attracted criticism over decisions around supportive housing, climate policies, championing bitcoin for the city, questioning the work of the city's integrity commissioner and a move to dissolve the elected park board.

For the April 5 byelection, all candidates must be declared by Feb. 28. Mail-in ballot packages for eligible voters will be available starting on March 18, with advance voting on March 26 and April 1. General voting day is April 5.