Progressive unity talks go public

After at least six months of private negotiations, the debate amongst Vancouver’s left-leaning political parties on unity talks is now being done in public. 

As we reported in December, OneCity, the Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE), and the Green Party of Vancouver have been in discussions since last fall to agree on strategies to avoid vote splitting and give the three parties the best chance of electing a progressive majority in the October 2026 municipal election. 

Earlier this week, William Azaroff, OneCity’s newly elected candidate for mayor, held a press conference to announce a “progressive primary,” proposing a formal election process to select one left-leaning candidate for mayor. But representatives for COPE and the Greens were unaware of the proposal until it was announced by Azaroff. 

“I knew going in that we were doing something cheeky, because the parties have been talking for a long time,” Azaroff told Vancity Lookout. “At this point, I just didn't see how conversation could be fruitful,” he added.

Azaroff, who has not been part of OneCity’s negotiations team, characterized the press conference as a spark rather than a stunt. “How do we create a moment that gets [the other parties’] attention and makes an effort to get people back to the table because they have something to respond to,” he said in explaining his thought process for directing OneCity’s negotiators to create the proposal.

“It's a bold move to come out of the gate with such an autocratic approach to unity,” Green party mayoral candidate Pete Fry said in a social media post skewering Azaroff’s announcement. Fry has declined to participate, calling the idea “myopic and self-serving,” according to CityNews.

“I don't know if we could say that it really embodies the spirit of unity, if we were to choose another ‘U’ word, ultimatum kind of comes to mind,” Green Party of Vancouver Chair Nicolas Poppell told Vancity Lookout. 

“If we are unable to reach a deal on cooperation, then I want to focus our efforts and energy on earning the trust and the votes of half a million Vancouverites over the next 241 days,” Azaroff said in OneCity’s press release.

“I wouldn't call it an ultimatum. I would say it calls the question,” Azaroff said. “Pete has every right to be upset. We went to the media because I need this to happen now.”  

That urgency is reflected in the details of OneCity’s proposal, which includes specifics that only current members of the three parties as of February 17 would be eligible to vote, that the primary would take place before April 3rd, and that COPE and the Greens are required to answer the proposal by February 20. COPE Campaign Director Shawn Vulliez said those elements of the proposal were non-starters, which OneCity knew the other parties couldn’t meet.

“I don't really accept the premise that we need to say yes or no,” on the timeline outlined in OneCity’s proposal, Vulliez said. 

“There are definitely aspects of this list of demands that I don't feel our party can meet,” Poppell said.

“Maybe there are things in our proposal that can't work, but it cuts to the chase,” Azaroff said.

Poppell and Vulliez questioned whether the proposal was even legal under the province’s Local Elections Campaign Financing Act (LECFA), as it would be a unique arrangement in B.C. politics. OneCity board member Will Shelling said the party spoke with an elections lawyer who called the idea “defensible.” 

Elections BC told Vancity Lookout they have “been in contact with OneCity to ensure they understand their requirements under LECFA.” 

What’s the holdup?

“I'm very comfortable moving this discussion into public because … the cover of secrecy was being used to advance proposals that we think are not tenable,” Vulliez said.

Beyond the competing proposals to establish a unified mayoral candidate, a key piece of the negotiations is to avoid vote splitting among left-leaning voters at other levels by limiting the number of candidates each party runs for city council, school board, and park board. COPE said OneCity has been dragging its feet on finalizing a deal, while OneCity said it’s been left out of the loop recently by COPE and the Greens.

About a week ago, COPE put forward a proposed agreement for each party to run a maximum of five candidates for city council, including a mayoral candidate, and four candidates for each of park and school board. 

The Greens agreed to that framework while OneCity has yet to respond directly to that offer, according to Poppell and Vulliez. 

For COPE, the holdup through the months of negotiations has been that “OneCity has been insisting to us privately that they want to run a majority and a mayor … since last year,” Vulliez told Vancity Lookout.

However, Shelling, who is part of OneCity’s negotiations team, told Vancity Lookout that the party softened that position in the last round of formal negotiations in early December. “OneCity did come down from wanting a clear majority,” Shelling said, and agreed to limit itself to five city council candidates plus an additional candidate for either mayor or council. 

“We came down to five plus one because we were like, we need to get to a deal,” Shelling explained. 

For OneCity, they felt like the parties were “basically there” on a limiting agreement for city council and park board seats in early December, Shelling said. 

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