ABC Vancouver parts ways with Coun. Rebecca Bligh

Coun. Rebecca Bligh has been asked to leave ABC Vancouver, the party announced Friday.

Bligh will remain a city councillor, but in a statement, the party says she is not aligned with ABC’s “shared priorities and team-oriented approach.”

“Governing a city as complex as Vancouver requires a collaborative team that is united in its commitment to delivering real solutions. Time and again, Councillor Bligh has shown that she is not a core value fit with ABC Vancouver,” party president Stephen Molnar said.

“Rather than working with caucus to find common ground and advance solutions, she has chosen to put her own views ahead of the collective work of the team.”

Speaking to reporters Friday afternoon, Bligh said she was informed of her status with a phone call.

“It was a pretty one-way conversation, and it was short, and the mayor confirmed what was shared by the party, which is that it’s best that we part ways and that the party would prefer I no longer be part of the ABC caucus,” she said.

Meanwhile, she says she isn’t going anywhere.

“Well, I’m a Vancouver city councilor,” she said.

“I am busy, as many people know, as president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, advocating for municipalities, not just here in Vancouver, in our region, our province, but our country, at a time when we are struggling to reconcile volatility and uncertainty from the Trump administration.”

In the end, Bligh had a parting shot for the mayor.

“Mayor Ken Sim has abandoned the core principles that brought me to ABC in the first place, and while this was not my decision, I think it’s the right direction for me and for our city.”

Last week, Bligh openly questioned Mayor Ken Sim’s plan to “freeze” new supportive housing on the Downtown Eastside.

She was appointed president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities last fall.

With files from John Ackermann.