Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim shotgunned a beer at the Khatsahlano Street Party main stage Saturday and in doing so stirred debate on social media about both Vancouver’s reputation as a so-called “no fun city” but also the ongoing matter of policing the open use of drugs on streets and in parks — something the mayor focused on addressing in his fall 2022 electoral campaign.
Khatsahlano took place on West 4th Avenue, between McDonald and Burrard streets and featured four designated beer gardens.
Sim was on stage with his council colleague Mike Klassen, who also shotgunned a beer. The video, posted on Reddit, was circulated widely on many media platforms.
On Sunday, Sim retweeted an article on the event, and his beer chug, stating on his Twitter account, “We’re serious about bringing fun back to Vancouver.”
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Vancouver lawyer and legal and political commentator Kyla Lee suggested Sim’s beer chugging cannot be viewed separately from the city’s ongoing enforcement of other drug use in public.
“This open drug use is allowed and celebrated. Even though alcohol is undeniably linked to property crime, assault, death, injury, and illness. I’m fine with this conduct. I’m not fine with the artificial lines we’ve drawn between this and other drugs,” wrote Lee.
As Lee noted on Twitter, according to Correctional Service Canada, using self-reported data, “over 40 per cent of offences are a result of [substance use], with alcohol responsible for the greatest proportion of crimes.”