At Vancouver city hall, 'abstain' means 'yes'
Some city councillors see abstaining as a protest vote, but under the Vancouver Charter it amounts to a 'yes'
Most weeks in local politics, there's debate over whether councillors voted for or against an important motion.
But, as CBC Vancouver's municipal affairs reporter Justin McElroy reports, this week in Vancouver, the question was about councillors not voting at all.
"It's not always easy to cast votes … but I think that's why we're there, and I think people expect us to make them," said Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung, who has been critical of opposition councillors abstaining from a couple of different votes this week.
"Abstentions are not a vociferous voice. You're not taking a position."
A councillor who abstained from two of those votes defended the importance of abstentions. But the weird truth of Vancouver city hall is that abstaining is taking a legal position — though not the one the public might expect.