Photo ops, mainstreeting and sign waving marked the last day of the Vancouver election campaign, as mayoral candidates and their parties hit the streets in a final bid to secure votes.

Mayor Gregor Robertson and his main rival Kirk LaPointe also continued to take digs at each other, with both candidates insisting that their campaigns focused on the issues, rather than personal attacks.

“I’ve never endured personal attacks like we’ve seen over the past number of months by the NPA,” Robertson contended at a press conference. “That’s the style and approach that they’ve taken, and I don’t think it’s good for politics in Vancouver.”

LaPointe said that any “attacks” have been focused on performance and policy.

“I’ve felt at times personally attacked, but I’ve been really careful and I’ve checked myself and I’ve been really cautious about it,” he told the Straight as he stood near a group of placard-waving NPA candidates on Main Street.

“I don’t believe that a personal attack on anyone makes any sense—I think it’s one of the things that has made people quite fed up with politics and somehow contributes to things like low voter turnout,” he continued. “I’ve been very, very aggressive about the policy piece and about the performance piece. I think that that is really where we have to design ourselves and largely address the attack.”

Coalition of Progressive Electors mayoral candidate Meena Wong argued that her party is the one focusing on the issues.

"Just listen to their ads going at each other," she said of Robertson and LaPointe. "And on the other hand, COPE, we’re the only ones that are talking about issues and focusing on issues and policies."

This morning, Robertson launched Vision Vancouver’s final campaign day with an event at Arbutus Street and West 7th Avenue, surrounded by the party’s full slate of candidates.

In a speech that repeatedly referenced “optimism”, Robertson reiterated his plea from earlier this week for support from progressive voters.

“Only the Vision Vancouver team can beat the NPA as a progressive voice for Vancouver, and in an election that is this close, we are asking the progressive voters across Vancouver who are still undecided to cast their votes for Vision,” Robertson said.

The mayor made the pitch for former COPE voters to support Vision in a final debate this week, where he also issued an apology to voters. Robertson indicated today that the apology reflected his desire “to do more listening in the four years ahead”.

“I apologized for having a very bold agenda, that frankly some people didn’t think they were heard as we made the tough decisions on homelessness, on transportation challenges, on affordable housing,” he said.

“We need to do better and make sure people do feel heard, but we also have to tackle those tough issues. We will not walk away from the tough issues as Vision Vancouver, and we’ll be very focused in the years ahead on making sure that people do feel better heard, that consultation and engagement keep improving.”

LaPointe dismissed Robertson’s apology as “a last-minute repentance”.

“I think if you’re going to acknowledge a mistake, that you need to do it in real time, you know, over the course of your mandate,” LaPointe said.

“Because that’s when it’s actually more genuine, and people get the idea that you’re human, that you make mistakes, that you misstep,” he continued.

“I certainly get all that, but when you basically go through six years when you don’t really acknowledge a mistake and then with three days to go you say ‘I’m sorry for everything, I’m sorry if I’ve offended anybody, I’m sorry some of the things we did weren’t really done well’—I mean I think that people look through that right away and go, you know, that can’t possibly be genuine.”

Wong also dismissed the apology from Robertson.

"They had six years," she told the Straight during a campaign stop in Kitsilano. "I mean, do people still trust their words? They didn’t keep their promise. And I think that you, know, the voters will tell him tomorrow."

The COPE mayoral candidate described Vision's efforts to draw progressive votes as "desperate", and repeated her plea for Vision Vancouver supporters to cast their votes for COPE.

"They call themselves progressive—I’m sorry, they’re not," she stated. "That’s why we are calling upon progressive electors, the Vision voters—they now have a true alternative: come home to COPE."

Vision Vancouver wrapped up its final campaign photo-op with its team of candidates piling on a westbound B-line bus at Broadway and Arbutus—a nod to the much-talked about Broadway subway, which would extend to the intersection.

Meanwhile, after being waved over by a bus driver honking in support, LaPointe stepped on to a Main Street bus to remind its passengers to go vote Saturday.

Various other candidates also spent the day meeting voters and asking for their support on election day. The schedule for Green council incumbent Adriane Carr and her team of candidates included sign waving in Chinatown and on the Burrard Bridge.

Polling stations around the city will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday (November 15).

According to the City of Vancouver, advance polls have received a record turnout, with 38,556 ballots cast.