Profiling Vancouver's political parties: VOTE Socialist

It's a straightforward name, and its council candidate says it's a straightforward message. 

"VOTE Socialist," said Sean Orr. 

"It's in the name, you know what you're getting. It's not some vague kind of acronym. It's quite clear, and it's quite bold."

VOTE Socialist is one of a record 10 political parties with candidates in this year's municipal elections scheduled for Oct. 15. 

With only one candidate for council, school board and park board each, they have the fewest candidates of the 10 — but the smallest party is arguing for the biggest changes to society. 

"We are offering some bold and radical solutions to some very big structural, systemic problems," said Orr, adding, "I do sincerely now believe that capitalism really is at the root of all of our social problems."

VOTE Socialist is running school board candidate Dr. Karina Zeidler, park board candidate Andrea Pinochet-Escudero, and council candidate Sean Orr in this year's election. 

218-promise platform

But what does that actually look like in terms of political promises? 

The party has put forward a giant platform with 218 separate promises, put together after what Orr described as grassroot conversations with community members on issues ranging from land back to accessibility justice, to electoral reform and governance.

• To read their full platform, click here

Some of them are pretty straightforward — using the city's building code to establish maximum temperatures, similar to minimum temperature regulations that already exist, which Orr said would force property owners to install air conditioners or heat pumps in buildings. 

Other promises include a free city-operated bus route around Stanley Park, reinstating the mask mandate in schools, widening all sidewalks to four metres minimum to increase accessibility, and creating a voluntary addition to property tax forms, where landowners could donate an additional amount to local First Nations, similar to what Victoria has done.

But a lot of the promises are either areas outside the city's historic control, such as changing how property taxes can be assessed, or where the province or courts have vetoed changes in the past. 

The party promises vacancy control on rental units, but that was rejected by the Supreme Court earlier this month. 

They pledge to reduce the Vancouver Police Board budget by 50 per cent, but the province rejected an attempt by council to override the police board and freeze the VPD budget in 2020. 

The platform proposes eliminating bus fares for residents under 18 and over 65, but TransLink has rejected requests by several municipalities to change their fee structure. 

Shifting the narrative

With only one candidate running at the council, school board and park board level, much of their platform could be seen as aspirational at best. 

"Certainly advocacy is one part of it. We talk about shifting the Overton window, and kind of steering the narrative away from what the right is trying to control," said Orr. The Overton window refers to the range of policies that are politically acceptable to the mainstream population, at a given time.

At the same time, he believes much of their platform could become reality if enough candidates from left-wing parties are also elected. 

"I do think we can get things done on council, as well as being an advocate for those grassroots organizations."

VOTE Socialist began in part out of disputes their supporters had with the COPE, the venerable left-wing Vancouver political party that is hoping to re-elect incumbent councillor Jean Swanson this election. 

When asked if Orr's approach on council would be similar to that of Swanson over the last four years, he responded affirmatively — but with one caveat. 

"I'd be similar to Jean, but maybe a little more fiery? Maybe a little more raw?" he said.

"I'm a columnist and I'm a dishwasher. I'm not used to this kind of work. So it'd be different."

CBC News will be profiling all 10 political parties in Vancouver ahead of the municipal elections in October.