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MARCH/APRIL 2023 BCBUSINESS.CA 37 L et's get something out of the way right off the top. When I first interviewed Kareem Allam in the con- fines of Vancouver City Hall, I had no idea he was going to resign from his post of chief of staff to the mayor of Vancouver a few weeks later. In fact, in our first conversation, which lasted around an hour, Allam stressed to me that, after helping mayor Ken Sim and his slate of ABC councillors win the 2022 Vancouver municipal election, he was in it for the long haul and would be staying the rest of the term. On a call shortly after his resignation was made public, Allam explained that after the main pillars of the campaign he orchestrated had come to fruition—city WINNING TIME The man behind some of the most influential campaigns in B.C. politics is going back to private practice... for now, at least council voting to approve the 100 cops/100 nurses project in the Downtown Eastside was the last puzzle piece—he felt comfort- able leaving. He also said he was physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted. Fair enough. But as Allam retreats back to the consulting business he co-founded, Fair- view Strategy, we thought it was worth taking an in-depth look at the man who helmed some of B.C.'s most effective politi- cal campaigns of the last few years. And whether or not he might be back. Allam was born in Vancouver to immi- grants from Cairo in 1979. He spent a few years back and forth between Canada and Egypt before his family permanently moved to Richmond. After high school, he studied history at SFU and was thrown into politics as a young man when he helped Canadian Alliance candidate Joe Peschisolido beat incumbent Liberal Raymond Chan in the 2000 federal election. Allam got some notoriety within the party for that and ended up working for Alliance leader Stockwell Day, planning his trips and scheduling. But it didn't take long to realize he wasn't a fan of Ottawa's weather. He came back to B.C. and, in addi- tion to helping Dianne Watts win the Sur- rey mayoral election in 2005, worked for a number of organizations, including Terasen Gas (now FortisBC), the Vancouver Board of Trade and Fraser Health. In 2011, he served as Kevin Falcon's deputy campaign manager for a BC Liberal leadership campaign in which Falcon nar- rowly lost to Christy Clark. "That was a bit POINT MAN Veteran campaign manager Kareem Allam is coming off a pair of big political wins. Will he be back in politics soon?