Above, a pundit panel gathered by Coastal Front’s Andrew Johns, featuring …
- The eminence gris / the doyenne of Vancouver civic affairs reporting, Frances Bula — who has covered the civic scene dating back to 1994, first for the Vancouver Sun (where she worked for 20 years), and since then for The Globe and Mail, as a “stringer”. For awhile now, Ms. Bula has written for Vancouver Magazine, where she is a featured columnist. In addition, Frances Bula is a past Chair of the Journalism Department at Langara College, where she continues to teach, and is also an adjunct professor in the School of Journalism at the University of British Columbia. Phew, we know — where does she get all that energy, and just how many hours are there in a day that affords Ms. Bula the opportunity to be such a productive citizen, and invaluable member of our community? Fortunately (or is that, unfortunately) the no-nothings, the disrespectfuls, the “basket of deplorables” in our community gain much pleasure in their meaningless lives by deriding the incredibly humane Ms. Bula online, and sometimes in her appearances on panels, unlike the one above.
- Then there’s the first of the two good guys: multi-term Non-Partisan Association (NPA) — when Vancouver’s oldest municipal party was a functioning civic party, a party mostly beloved by Vancouver citizens — Vancouver City Councillor, George Affleck. At one time an on-air host with the CBC and, for many years the CEO of Curve Communications, a successful full service digital marketing agency, Mr. Affleck is the president and CEO of the agency. Politics: between 2011 & 2018, Mr. Affleck served as a Councillor at Vancouver City Hall. Yes, we’re talking accomplished. Did we mention that he’s a bright guy, a kind guy, an engaging guy, and a politically adept fellow, possessed of a wry sense of humour? Well, he is, as well as many more good things.
- That handsome, erudite fellow of good cheer, and much élan — by far the hardest working, best researched and most humanely engaging “podcaster” in British Columbia — we have the multi-talented and engaging Mo Amir. Possessed of a Bachelor of Business Administration, and a Master of Arts in Political Science from Simon Fraser University, Mr. Amir launched the This is VANCOLOUR podcast in 2018, as an exploration of culture and politics in Vancouver and B.C. — and what a massive hit this ‘must listen to’ (and now, must-watch on CHEK-TV) podcast has become.
You couldn’t ask for a better informed, more engaging, more erudite and — when you get right down to it — more non-partisan panel of civic election pundits than the accomplished Frances “don’t try to put one over on me” Bula, George “hey, let’s get real … you can’t be serious” Affleck, and Mo “I may appear affable, but I’m not going to let you get away with a darned thing” Amir. So, that’s what we’re presenting for your edification today — where the 2022 Vancouver civic election campaign is at, how the Mayoral candidates and the civic parties they’re running with are faring, and predictions as to how this whole meshuggeneh election will turn out!
