Vancouver 1st


Vancouver 1st is a municipal political party in Vancouver, British Columbia. It supported the mayoral candidacy of Fred Harding, a retired West Vancouver police officer, in the 2018 municipal election.

History

Vancouver 1st was founded in mid-2013 by Jesse Johl as a "pro-business, pro-development" anti-establishment municipal party. None of Vancouver 1st's 13 candidates won in the 2014 municipal election.
Fred Harding, Vancouver 1st's mayoral candidate for the 2018 municipal election, received 5,645 votes and placed 6th in the mayoral race.

Ideology

Vancouver 1st claims to be a "big tent, libertarian-minded party" that prioritizes residents and taxpayers. The party advocates for lower taxes and small government.
Vancouver 1st does not support SOGI 123, a resource package made for teachers and school administrators to help avoid discrimination in their curriculum based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This caused one of the party's school board candidates, Tony Dong, to quit the party a week before the 2018 municipal election.

Platform

2014

For the 2014 municipal election, Vancouver 1st's party platform included, among other things:
In October 2018, Vancouver 1st promised to negotiate the return of the Vancouver Grizzlies and construct a "world class" NBA stadium in southern Vancouver. The party also promised to get Vancouver a franchise spot in the MLB and construct an MLB stadium in the same area as the NBA stadium. Additionally, Vancouver 1st said it would reverse a decision made by the provincial government in early 2018 to exclude Vancouver from the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Electoral results

Election yearVotes%Seats+/–
201445,508–
201880,8555.79