Vancouver mayoral race: tight at the top, Kennedy Stewart still leading

There are only four percentage points between the top two contenders in this year’s mayoral race in the City of Vancouver, according to a new poll.

Current mayor Kennedy Stewart and TEAM for a liveable Vancouver candidate Colleen Hardwick lead the group, according to the survey by Mainstreet Research, originally published in ipolitics Tuesday.

Among a pool of 552 respondents, 17 per cent said they were leaning towards voting for Stewart, with 13 per cent intending to vote for Hardwick.

Ken Sim, the candidate for ABC Vancouver, and Mark Marissen, for Progress Vancouver, are trailing in third place at 11 per cent each.

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Meanwhile, under a combined 10 per cent of respondents are intending to vote for candidates John Coupar and Golok Buday.

However, according to the survey results, 40 per cent of respondents are unsure of who they will vote for come October.

In the same poll, 60 per cent of those surveyed said they disapproved of the current mayor Kennedy Stewart, with only 9 per cent saying that strongly approved of him.

Almost 40 per cent of respondents said the most important issue facing Vancouver is creating more affordable housing, with decreasing taxes coming in second at 23 per cent.

Only 13 per cent of respondents thought improving transit was important, and only 9 per cent believed roads and infrastructure were the most important issue.

An overwhelming 82 per cent of respondents believe housing in Vancouver is unaffordable, however, respondents were split in whether they think the city is building the right amount of new homes.

Forty-five per cent of respondents believe the city is building too little, while the other 55 per cent believe the city is building the right amount or too much. Sixty-four per cent of respondents said the city is building enough homes in their neighbourhood, while only 36 per cent said more should be built where they live.

All respondents were aged over 18 and were surveyed between July 25 and 27, according to Mainstreet Research.