FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PLEBISCITE: LIBERALS LAUNCH “NO VANCOUVER PRISON” CAMPAIGN
Allam: Vancouver needs treatment, not a “mental-health prison” in Canada’s most densely populated downtown
VANCOUVER — September 28, 2026 — Vancouver Liberal mayoral candidate Kareem Allam today announced his party’s opposition to Mayor Ken Sim’s proposal to establish more than 100 involuntary-care beds at the former St. Paul’s Hospital site.
The proposal is the subject of a plebiscite on the October 17 municipal election ballot. The Vancouver Liberals have also launched www.NoVancouverPrison.com to help people have their say.
“Vancouver desperately needs more mental-health and addiction treatment,” said Allam. “But I do not support building what amounts to a 100-bed mental-health prison in the middle of downtown Vancouver.”
The plebiscite asks whether the City should formally request that the Province convert portions of the old St. Paul’s Hospital, or another similar site, into a secure medical facility providing acute voluntary care and more than 100 involuntary-care beds. The result is advisory and does not itself create the facility.
“A referendum doesn’t create a single treatment bed,” said Allam. “It asks Vancouverites for an opinion on something the Province ultimately has to deliver. We need a mayor who will sit down with the Province and get a real agreement.”
Allam said he supports involuntary intervention where it is medically necessary and meets the requirements of B.C.’s Mental Health Act.
“B.C. already has a legal framework for involuntary care,” said Allam. “What Ken Sim is proposing is more than 100 secure beds concentrated in one institution between Davie Village and the central business district. I don’t believe that is the right model or the right location.”
Allam also questioned using the aging St. Paul’s complex which is now on land owned by a developer.
"Ken Sim is offering land he doesn't own," said Allam. "St. Paul's was sold to a developer to pay for the new hospital. It's moving because those buildings can't meet modern standards. If they're not safe for patients now, they're not safe for 100 people behind locked doors. Ken Sim knows that, and he's misleading voters."
He said the site should instead contribute to the future vitality of downtown.
“This is one of the most important redevelopment sites in Vancouver. We should be bringing more housing, businesses, public spaces and activity downtown — not creating a massive locked institution.”
Allam notes that under Sim violent crime in Vancouver jumped 12.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025, and remained 6 per cent higher through the first six months of the year. Homelessness has also risen sharply: Vancouver’s latest count found 2,715 people experiencing homelessness, up 12 per cent from 2023 and the highest number ever recorded in the city. At the same time, Sim’s Council has paused net-new City investment in homelessness-response supportive housing.
“Violent crime is up again. Homelessness is at a record high. And City Hall stopped making new investments in supportive housing,” said Allam. “Now, weeks before an election, Ken Sim wants a referendum on a facility the City itself cannot create.”
Allam said Vancouver should instead press the Province for more voluntary treatment and stabilization beds, psychiatric and addiction care, supportive and recovery housing, longer-term treatment, and medically appropriate involuntary care where justified.
“If I am elected, I will work with the Province to get a deal for Vancouver,” said Allam. “I will work cooperatively with them to get people the care they need instead of playing games with political gimmicks.”
A Vancouver Liberal council would seek a new formal agreement among Vancouver, British Columbia and Canada to coordinate action on mental health, addiction, homelessness, housing, public safety and the toxic-drug crisis.
“The choice isn’t between leaving people suffering on the street and locking them inside a giant institution,” said Allam. “We need treatment. We need recovery. We need housing. We need public safety. And we need governments working together to deliver all of them.”
More information: www.novancouverprison.com
Media Contact:
Vancouver Liberals Communications