Vancouver city council’s ruling party ABC Vancouver has kicked Coun. Rebecca Bligh out of its caucus, claiming she is “not aligned with the shared priorities and team-oriented approach that defines” the organization.
Bligh’s departure comes after she had taken conflicting positions with the party at council over the past few months.
“Time and again, Councillor Bligh has shown that she is not a core value fit with ABC Vancouver …she has chosen to put her own views ahead of the collective work of the team,” stated the party’s president Stephen Molnar, via a written statement on Friday afternoon.
Bligh confirmed the split on X on Friday.
Bligh remains a councillor and ABC continues to hold a 7-2 advantage in seats with a byelection coming for the recently vacated seats left by Adrianne Carr (Green) and Christine Boyle (One City).
Most recently, Bligh (along with ABC Coun. Lisa Dominato) questioned Mayor Ken Sim’s plan to freeze new supportive housing projects in the city.
Last year, Bligh went against the party’s majority, choosing to maintain a policy implemented in 2022 that bans natural gas for heating and hot water in construction of new detached homes — although in this instance she aligned with two other ABC councillors.
Bligh also butted heads in chambers last October with ABC Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung, who swore at Bligh over a matter of procedure (Kirby-Yung later apologized).
Bligh’s departure is not the first rift in ABC Vancouver.
The party lost park board members Brennan Bastyovanszky, Laura Christensen and Scott Jensen, all of whom resigned over Sim’s ongoing effort to eliminate the board entirely.
And Vancouver School Board member Victoria Jung resigned from ABC in August 2024 after the party sought to suspend the work of the city’s integrity commissioner.
Banning new supportive housing, eliminating the park board and suspending the integrity commissioner were not part of the party’s fall 2022 platform, which was focused on lowering crime rates.
This week, Bligh said she was working with Bastyovanszky and Christensen to explore a passenger ferry from downtown Vancouver to Bowen Island and the Sunshine Coast.
