Forward Together is a non-profit advocacy organization and former municipal political party in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, British Columbia, Canada. The party was led by then–Vancouver mayor Kennedy Stewart through the 2022 municipal election, which he lost to

Ken Sim Kenneth Sim (; born October 18, 1970) is a Canadian politician and businessman who has served as the 41st mayor of Vancouver since 2022. Biography Born in Vancouver to Hong Kong immigrants Francis Sim (d. 1999) and Maria Theresa Kim (1932– ...

History

In government

Kennedy Stewart was elected mayor as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

in the

2018 Vancouver municipal election The 2018 Vancouver municipal election was held on October 20, 2018, the same day as 2018 British Columbia municipal elections, other municipalities and regional districts in British Columbia selected their new municipal governments. Voters elect ...

, presiding over 10 councillors elected from four different parties. Though he pledged to work co-operatively with councillors, ensuing policy disagreements with other parties prompted Stewart to form his own organization in 2020, initially called Team Kennedy Stewart. In April 2022, the party rebranded as "Forward Together with Kennedy Stewart". With Stewart seeking re-election as mayor in the

2022 Vancouver municipal election The 2022 Vancouver municipal election was held on October 15, 2022, the same day as the 2022 British Columbia municipal elections, municipal elections held throughout British Columbia. Voters elected the mayor of Vancouver by First-past-the-post ...

, Forward Together announced its first three council candidates in June 2022, and another three candidates by September 2022.

2022 election

The party aimed to elect a "progressive majority" to city council, which, as elected in 2018, was evenly divided between the centre-right/right-wing

Non-Partisan Association The Non-Partisan Association (NPA) is a municipal political party in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was established by the city's business leaders in 1937 to challenge the democratic socialist British Columbia CCF, Co-operative Commonwe ...

(NPA) and the centre-left/left-wing Greens, OneCity, and

COPE A cope ( ("rain coat") or ("cape")) is a liturgical long mantle or cloak, open at the front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colour. A cope may be worn by any rank of the Catholic or Anglican clerg ...

. Forward Together stated it would run up to six council candidates, leaving room for other centre-left parties to elect their own councillors. Kennedy Stewart, prior to being elected mayor, served as a member of Parliament and was affiliated with the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

, as were council candidates Dulcy Anderson (constituency assistant to

BC NDP The New Democratic Party of British Columbia (BC NDP) is a social democratic political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum and is one of the two major parties in British Columbia; since ...

MLA

David Eby David Robert Patrick Eby (; born July 21, 1976) is a Canadian politician and lawyer who has served as the 37th and current premier of British Columbia since November 18, 2022. Eby is a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (NDP) a ...

), Tesicca Truong and Jeanette Ashe (previously BC NDP candidates). Council candidate Russil Wvong served as riding chair for the

Vancouver Kingsway Vancouver Kingsway is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1953 to 1988 and since 1997. It is located in Vancouver. Demographics This riding's population is ...

Liberal electoral district association. Stewart was defeated in his candidacy for re-election on October 15, 2022. None of Forward Together's six candidates for city council were elected. The party did not run any candidates for school board or park board, opting to endorse

Vision Vancouver Vision Vancouver is a green liberal municipal political party in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Vision was formed in the months leading up to the 2005 municipal election. Formation Vision was founded by former Coalition of Progressi ...

's school and parks candidates. Stewart was endorsed by Vision in the mayoral race.

Post-election activities

After the 2022 election, the party changed its ballot name to "Forward Together". The party states it is working to advance several priorities ahead of the 2026 municipal election, including affordable housing, democratic reform, and climate change policies. In the summer of 2024, Forward Together was deregistered as a local elector organization and re-established as an advocacy group seeking to overturn the

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...

voting system, particularly in Vancouver and

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, British Columbia's two largest cities.

Electoral results

References

{{Vancouver political parties Municipal political parties in Vancouver 2022 establishments in British Columbia Social democratic parties in Canada Political parties established in 2022 Socialism in British Columbia