He will be the first Chinese-Canadian mayor of Vancouver, where more than 28% of the population has ethnic Chinese origins, according to the 2016 census.
“The history of this moment has not been lost on me,” he said in his speech. “But the honor really goes to those on whose shoulders I stand.”
Sim paid tribute to the Chinese-Canadian pioneers who came before him, as well as his parents, who he said immigrated from Hong Kong to Canada in 1967 with just $3,200, hoping to provide their children with an education and a better future Sim was born and raised in Vancouver.
Wong, who has run his bakery on Keefer Street for more than 20 years, said he was excited on election night at the prospect of Sim bringing change to Chinatown, which is struggling with crime, disorder and the lack of security.
But for others in the neighborhood, Sim’s victory is being seen very differently, from across a generational and political divide.
While some business and community figures hail his victory as a historic and aspirational moment, a younger generation of progressive Chinatown activists view Sim and his promises of law and order with suspicion.
Rachel Lau, director of programs at the Yarrow Intergenerational Society for Justice, a nonprofit that supports lower-income seniors in Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside, said they were “devastated and disappointed” by the big win for Yes about Kennedy Stewart.
“I know the Chinese Canadian community is very excited about the first Chinese Canadian mayor. I just want to point out that just because someone looks like you doesn’t mean they’re really going to take care of you. That’s the unfortunate truth,” Lau said.
On a walk through Chinatown after Sim’s win, most of the business owners he approached to talk about him said they were happy with his choice, though they wouldn’t comment on the record.
Some simply gave a thumbs up sign. “If you ask me about my reaction. This is my attitude,” said a middle-aged woman.
Fred Kwok, president of the Chinese Cultural Center in Chinatown, said Sim’s background made immigrants feel he was representative of the community. But more important was how his election platform resonated in the neighborhood, with his promises of more police and a city hall office in Chinatown.
“I’ve seen what Chinatown has been through over the past few decades with business owners waking up to graffiti or their windows being broken and people feeling unsafe walking the streets. I’ve also experienced attacks personally,” Kwok said in an interview conducted in Mandarin.
“These policies can improve neighborhood safety and increase the confidence of many business owners,” Kwok said. “I think Sim will be a good mayor.”
Chinese-language newspapers and other media in Vancouver described Sim as the “pride of people of Chinese descent” and the “glory of Hong Kong”.
But the Yarrow society’s Lau said they feared the next four years under Sim would be “challenging”.
“I think we need people who have similar values and who have a solid understanding of what it takes to support the people. It’s good that this new mayor looks like us,” Lau said.
Lau said Sim’s idea to hire 100 more police officers and another 100 mental health nurses would take away funding from other community organisations. Instead, neighborhood priorities should be housing, access to public restrooms, and safe drug supply and food security.
Lau said there was a generational gap with Chinatown elders, especially when it came to understanding strategies around safe drug supply and harm reduction.
“I think, culturally, there’s this idea that the police are good and the police will help, the police are here to serve the people,” Lau said.
“There is a huge amount of trust that is placed in the police to be able to tackle social problems. But in reality I think what happens is that the police arrest, punish or intimidate vulnerable people who need support.”
Vince Tao, a community organizer with the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users said he was concerned about the election results because of Sim’s support for policing and real estate development.
“He’s just the guy who got lucky and got the developer money this time … and that’s how he got in,” Tao said.
“And I don’t actually see Ken Sim’s city changing dramatically. But we’re on the road to collapse (as long as we allow city developers, real estate interests, and the police to determine the course of every city policy “.
More police is not the answer, Tao said.
“Nowadays, every interaction I see between the Downtown Eastside and Chinatown is mediated by the police and it’s because the government and all these non-profits and people who claim to support Chinatown are not trying to build bridges,” he said.
“We’re actually trying to build walls between these neighborhoods … the borders drawn between Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside are always political. And so my fear is that as we continue to burn bridges, it’s only going to create more tension in the streets. Meanwhile, distract the real issues people need: money, welfare and housing.”
Tao said many seniors in Chinatown were “lovely, compassionate people” who needed education about how harm reduction works and how safe supply could save lives.
“I don’t discount the elderly… When you talk to the elderly, many of them are linguistically isolated and they are also isolated in their living situations and the Chinese-language media is quite conservative,” he said.
“We need to be building those bridges. And again, I think education is key and making sure that the Chinese elderly have a collective voice,” Tao said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on October 20, 2022.
This story was produced with financial assistance from Meta and the Canadian Press News Fellowship.
Nono Shen, The Canadian Press