Candidates had their names drawn randomly. Each set of candidates was given one question by our Panel of Inquisition (consisting of the CBC’s Justin McElroy, Discourse Media’s Francesca Fionda, and CTV’s Jon Woodward). The best answers in each set earned a pass to the next round.

MC Vanessa Richards kept the evening moving along, and an on-stage team, including time-keepers, score-keepers, our own “city clerk,” and the Mistress of the Gong, ensured that event proceeded without incident. Additional support was provided by a team of on-the-ground volunteers, while event sponsorship came via the Imperial Theatre, MRG Group, and Faculty Brewing.

Video of the event was graciously provided by Rick Etkin Productions – Rick Etkin and Gary Jones.

The following gives an overview of the different rounds and sets.

Round 1 – 11 sets of four candidates, three passes awarded per set

Set 1.1 – Maynard Aubichon (Independent), Jason LaMarche (Independent), Satie Shotta (Independent), Elizabeth Taylor (Vancouver First)

LaMarche, Shotta and Taylor advance to Round 2

Set 1.2 – Glen Chernen (Coalition Vancouver), Raza Mirza (Pro Vancouver), Shauna Sylvester (Independent), and Graham Cook (Independent)

Mirza, Sylvester, and Cook advance to Round 2

Set 1.3 – Tanya Paz (Vision Vancouver), Brandon Yan (OneCity), Pete Fry (Green Party), and Connie Fogal (IDEA)

Paz, Yan, and Fry advance to Round 2

Set 1.4 – Rohana Rezel (Pro Vancouver), Diego Cardona (Vision Vancouver), Katy Le Rougetel (Independent), Marlo Franson (Independent)

Rezel, Cardona, and Franson advance to Round 2

Set 1.5 – Penny Noble (Independent), Gölök Buday (Independent), Larry Falls (Independent), and Adrian Crook (Independent)

Noble, Falls, and Crook advance to Round 2

Set 1.6 – Abubakar Khan (Independent), Nycki Basra (Vancouver First), Rob McDowell (Independent), and John Yano (Independent)

Khan, Basra, and McDowell advance to Round 2

Set 1.7 – William John Spark (Independent), Justin Caudwell (Independent), Ping Chan (Independent), and Jean Swanson (COPE)

Caudwell, Chan, and Swanson advance to Round 2

Set 1.8 – David Chen (Pro Vancouver), Ken Low (Vancouver First), Françoise Raunet (Independent), and Gerald “Spike” Peachy (Independent)

Chen, Low, and Raunet advance to Round 2

Set 1.9 – Derrick O’Keefe (COPE), Anastasia Koutalianos (Independent), Christine Boyle (OneCity), and Elke Porter (Independent)

O’Keefe, Boyle, and Porter advance to Round 2

Set 1.10 – Ashley Hughes (Independent), Tim Ly (Independent), Franco Peta (Coalition Vancouver), and Catherine Evans (Vision)

Hughes, Peta, and Evans advance to Round 2

Set 1.11 – Katherine Ramdeen (Independent), Elishia Perosa (Independent), Melissa DeGenova (NPA), and Michael Wiebe (Green Party)

Perosa, DeGenova, and Wiebe advance to Round 2

Set 1.8 – Gerald “Spike” Peachy, Françoise Raunet, Ken Low, and David Chen (Photo: Rob Nordrum)

Round 2 – 11 sets of three candidates, two passes awarded per set

Set 2.1 – Françoise Raunet (Independent), Penny Noble (Independent), and Catherine Evans (Vision Vancouver)

Raunet and Evans advance to Round 3

Set 2.2 – Jean Swanson (COPE), Franco Peta (Coalition Vancouver), and David Chen (Pro Vancouver)

Swanson and Peta advance to Round 3

Set 2.3 – Tanya Paz (Vision Vancouver), Adrian Crook (Independent), and Shauna Sylvester (Independent)

Paz and Sylvester advance to Round 3

Set 2.4 – Melissa DeGenova (NPA), Marlo Franson (Independent), and Derrick O’Keefe (COPE)

DeGenova and O’Keefe advance to Round 3

Set 2.5 – Larry Falls (Independent), Raza Mirza (Pro Vancouver), and Elizabeth Taylor (Vancouver First)

Mirza and Taylor advance to Round 3

Set 2.6 – Brandon Yan (OneCity), Abubakar Khan (Independent), and Ken Low (Vancouver First)

Yan and Khan advance to Round 3

Set 2.7 – Pete Fry (Green Party), Justin Caudwell (Independent), and Ping Chan (Independent)

Fry and Caudwell advance to Round 3

Set 2.8 – Nycki Basra (Vancouver First), Ashley Hughes (Independent), and Graham Cook (Independent)

Hughes and Cook advance to Round 3

Set 2.9 – Rohana Rezel (Pro Vancouver), Rob McDowell (Independent), and Elishia Perosa (Independent)

Rezel and Perosa advance to Round 3

Set 2.10 – Michael Wiebe (Green Party), Christine Boyle (OneCity), and Elke Porter (Independent)

Wiebe and Boyle advance to Round 3

Set 2.11 – Diego Cardona (Vision Vancouver), Satie Shottha (Independent), and Jason LaMarche (Independent)

Shottha absent for Round; Cardona and LaMarche advance to Round 3

Round 3 – 7 sets (six sets of three candidates with two passes awarded per set; one set with four candidates, three passes awarded)

Set 3.1 – Abubakar Khan (Independent), Jason La Marche (Independent), and Michael Wiebe (Green Party)

Khan and Wiebe advance to Round 4

Set 3.2 – Brandon Yan (OneCity), Raza Mirza (Pro Vancouver), and Ashley Hughes (Independent)

Yan and Mirza advance to Round 4

Set 3.3 – Rohana Rezel (Pro Vancouver), Graham Cook (Independent), and Franco Peta (Coalition Vancouver)

Cook and Peta advance to Round 4

Set 3.4 – Justin Caudwell (Independent), Melissa DeGenova, and Shauna Sylvester (Independent)

DeGenova and Sylvester advance to Round 4

Set 3.5 – Pete Fry (Green Party), Jean Swanson (COPE) and Elishia Perosa (Independent)

Fry and Swanson advance to Round 4

Set 3.6 – Tanya Paz (Vision Vancouver), Elizabeth Taylor (Vancouver First), and Catherine Evans

Paz and Evans advance to Round 4

Set 3.7 – Derrick O’Keefe (COPE), Christine Boyle (OneCity), Françoise Raunet (Independent), and Diego Cardona (Vision Vancouver)

Boyle, Raunet and Cardona advance to Round 4

Round 4 (three sets of five participants; two passes awarded per set)

Set 4.1 – Françoise Raunet (Independent), Catherine Evans (Vision Vancouver), Jean Swanson (COPE), Pete Fry (Green Party), Christine Boyle (OneCity)

Fry and Boyle advance to Round 5

Set 4.2 – Aubakar Khan (Independent), Tanya Paz (Vision Vancouver), Shauna Sylvester (Independent), Melissa DeGenova (NPA), and Brandon Yan (OneCity)

Sylvester and Yan advance to Round 5

Set 4.3 – Michael Wiebe (Green Party), Graham Cook (Independent), Raza Mirza (Pro Vancouver), Diego Cardona (Vision Vancouver), and Franco Peta (Coalition Vancouver)

Wiebe and Cook advance to Round 5

Set 5.1 – Michael Wiebe, Christine Boyle, and Pete Fry (Photo: Andrew Pask)

Round 5 (Semi-Final Round) (two sets of three participants; one pass awarded per set)

Set 5.1 – Pete Fry (Green Party), Christine Boyle (OneCity), and Michael Wiebe (Green Party)

Boyle advances to Round 6

Set 5.2 – Brandon Yan (OneCity), Graham Cook (Independent), and Shauna Sylvester (Independent)

Sylvester advances to Round 6

Round 6 (Final Round) (one set of two participants)

Set 6.1 – Christine Boyle (OneCity) and Shauna Sylvester (Independent)

Christine Boyle is the Last Candidate Standing

Wednesday, October 3, 2018

Imperial Theatre

319 Main Street

6:00pm-10:00pm*

The event started off with an introduction by Paola, chair of the Vancouver Public Space Network. The rest of the debate ran smoothly thanks to the humorous MC Mark Busse,  Industrial Brand partner & managing director. He also made sure there was absolutely no delay hitting the gong when the one-minute limit was up for each candidate.

MC Mark Busse

The debate went on through three rounds of questioning. Candidates stood under a bright spotlight and answered questions to showcase their diverse ideas for Vancouver’s future. These questions were posed by the Panel of Inquisition: Emily Jackson of Metro News, CTV News reporter Jon Woodward, and Jackie Wong, UBC/Megaphone Magazine. To make it even more engaging, a few audience members were able to ask questions as well. Candidates answered questions on a huge range of topics, including how Vancouver can shake its ‘no fun city’ title, our tech sector, bike lanes, and City Hall’s transparency to the public. To top it all off, five-minute breaks featured The New Shackletons playing music for everyone to enjoy.

Panel of Inquisition: From left to right – Jackie Wong, Jon Woodward, Emily Jackson

And because this isn’t your regular debate, the event was filled with creativity such as rapping, plush toy props, sound effects, distributing election pins to please the panel, humour, and Vancouver Cedar Party‘s audience-wide pizza delivery. The evening’s lively and friendly atmosphere featured passionate speeches, with enthusiastic clapping and cheering from both the audience and the candidates.

Panel of Inquisition, candidates and the very important gong

In the end, it was up to Pete Fry from Green Party of Vancouver and Andrea Reimer from Vision Vancouver to battle it out. With the audience clapping and whistling, and a .1 difference in the sound meter, the winner of this year’s Last Candidate Standing debate goes to…Andrea Reimer!

A huge thank you to everyone who volunteered to make this event happen and everyone who came out despite the rainy and chilly Vancouver weather. Make sure you vote on November 15th, and just like what one candidate said – even if you have to drive your reluctant friend to a voting location, make sure they vote!

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The 2014 Edition of Last Candidate Standing is produced by the Vancouver Public Space Network, with amazing support from SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement, and the Urbanarium Society.

Make sure you check out VPSN’s Flickr for the event’s photos!

Vancouver, BC (November 2, 2011)

Unlike other debates, Last Candidate Standing doesn’t just focus on the frontrunners – all 61 registered candidates running for mayor or council have been invited to make their case before an expert panel and a sold-out audience of more than 200 voters.

Candidates will be on the clock as they respond to the panel’s questions covering a broad range of campaign issues. The candidates with the best answers, as judged by the panel and audience, will move on to the next round – those that don’t measure up will be eliminated. At the end of the night, only one candidate will be left standing.

“This event is a great opportunity for voters to learn about the diversity of candidates who are seeking office in our city,” says Anthony Hamilton, coordinator of the VPSN’s Democratic Spaces working group. “We’re pushing the boundaries of the debate format to have some fun while creating a more inclusive public forum that represents the full spectrum of viewpoints in this election.”

Last Candidate Standing will be hosted by Vancouver-based writer and broadcaster Steve Burgess. Panelists include:

• Theresa Lalonde, reporter, CBC Vancouver
• Matthew Soules, assistant professor, UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
• David Beers, editor-in-chief, The Tyee
• Alissa Sadler, vice-chair, Vancouver Public Space Network

The sold-out event takes place from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at UBC Robson Square. In between rounds of the candidate showdown, local band Wee Boy Pretty will provide musical entertainment. Limited wait-list spots available: lastcandidatestanding.eventbrite.com

Last Candidate Standing is part of the VPSN’s Vancouver Votes initiative. Throughout the civic election campaign, the VPSN has been maintaining www.vancouvervotes.ca as an up-to-date, non-partisan resource collecting candidate survey responses, election news, and essential voter information. Vancouver Votes is also active on Twitter at @VanVotes.

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More information:
www.vancouvervotes.ca
www.twitter.com/vanvotes (event hashtag: #LCSVan and #VanElxn)

Media contact:
Anthony Hamilton
Vancouver Public Space Network
604.565.1213
anthony@vancouverpublicspace.ca