Category Archives: BC Politics

Vancouver Votes 2018 | Non-Partisan Association

August 21, 2018BC Politics, Politics, Vancouver, Vancouver Votes 2018Raymond Tomlin

2018 Vancouver Non-Partisan Association candidates for City Council and Park Board The happy, smiling 2018 NPA crew seeking office for Mayor, Council and Park Board

Two months ago, VanRamblings would have told you that the Vancouver Non-Partisan Association was all but a lock to become the majority party at Vancouver City Hall come the evening of October 20th. Not anymore.
When the NPA announced its candidate slate on July 31st, initially we were impressed: six of nine of their candidates for Council are women! When three of the four Green Party candidates for Council are men, and with most of the other parties (save COPE) offering mostly men for office, the surfeit of accomplished women running for Council with the NPA reinforces the notion that the 2018 Non-Partisan Association is not your ma and pa’s NPA, but a decidedly more progressive centre-right civic governance party.
The more women in civic government, the happier VanRamblings will be.
But, alas, VanRamblings believes that all is not well on the NPA front when it comes to electing a surfeit of candidates to City Council this autumn (no reflection on the candidates, most of whom we know, like, respect and admire), so as to gain their much sought after majority at City Hall. Even though it’s still too early to predict, we continue to believe Ken Sim to be the odds on favourite to secure the Mayor’s chair come October 20th.
Where, then, has the NPA “gone wrong”, and how have they managed to hurt their chances to secure their much cherished majority on Vancouver City Council? Read on and we’ll tell you …

Outsized slate. With left-of-centre parties running shortened slates, with OneCity Vancouver offering two candidates for Council, the Greens 4, and COPE 3, how in tarnation did the NPA think that running a near full Council slate would do them at all well when it comes to the vote this upcoming October? Vancouver voters are not slate voters — you’d think the NPA, which ran shortened slates in 2011 and 2014, would know better than to run a near full slate, and risk splitting the vote among their ‘far too many’ Council candidates. Apparently not. Alas.

We’ve heard from various sources within the NPA that it was NPA apparatchik Peter Armstrong and mayoralty candidate Ken Sim who wanted to run a full slate. Peter, sophisticated politico that he is oughta know better, and Ken Sim — well, maybe, he’s just a tad over-confident.

Whatever the case, with some 50 candidates for Council running with nine different Vancouver civic parties (if you include Jamie Lee Hamilton’s IDEA party), and at least a few independents whose candidacies for Council could succeed (think Rob McDowell and Sarah Blyth), running nine candidates for Council is akin to the NPA shooting itself in the foot even before the election has properly gotten underway.
Division and dislike. Three of the NPA’s female Council candidates have a visceral dislike, bordering on hatred, for one another (and, no, we’re not going to say who those three are), which oughta make for fun times on the hustings and at all-candidates meetings in September and October, and not so much fun in the NPA caucus over the next 9 weeks.
Rob McDowell. In the 2014 Vancouver civic election, the NPA’s Rob McDowell secured 53965 hard-fought-for and well-deserved votes, has long sat as a member of the NPA Board, came up with the new purple colour scheme and the New Progressive Association nomenclature for the party. Rob — an incredibly bright man of much accomplishment, and someone we have long admired — is one of the most respected politicos in town, and is much loved, respected and admired within the party. And yet, and yet, Rob did not secure an NPA nomination for Vancouver City Council! How can that be? For VanRamblings, not putting Rob McDowell on the ballot beggars belief — and we are far from alone in believing that both within and outside of the Non-Partisan Association. Rob is now running as an independent — not out of a sense of pique, but because of his broad support in the community across the political spectrum.

Too many Council candidates, candidates “not on the same page” politically or policy-wise, and without Rob McDowell in the mix, the NPA would seem to be hewing to an overcrowded (far) right politically in the 2018 Vancouver civic election. All of which smacks of a hubris that won’t serve them well.
Still and all, VanRamblings has every intention of endorsing Sarah Kirby-Yung for Council (and writing recommendable things of at least two more), will support John Coupar and Casey Crawford for Park Board (and probably more NPA Park Board candidates), and will most assuredly endorse our friend Christopher Richardson for Vancouver School Board.
We know each of these very fine people mentioned above well, believe them to be great and good public servants of the first order, and believe, as well, that the electorate will be well-served by casting a vote for each.

Vancouver Votes 2018 | VanRamblings’ Election Coverage Resumes

August 20, 2018BC Politics, Politics, Vancouver, Vancouver Votes 2018Raymond Tomlin

Two months from today, British Columbians will go to the polls to elect civic governments in their municipalities to four year terms of office.
As is always the case in a democracy, voting is crucial to our future — look what happened down south when not enough Democrats and independents got out to the polls in 2016 to cast a ballot for Hillary Clinton.
Commencing on Tuesday, August 21st, VanRamblings will take a look at where we are election-wise in Vancouver nine weeks out from election day, Saturday, October 20th, each day taking an in-depth, non-partisan look at each of the civic parties offering candidates for office.
On the right, there’s the Vancouver Non-Partisan Association, Wai Young’s Coalition Party, YES Vancouver and Vancouver First, and on the left, you’ll find a renewed Coalition of Progressive Electors, OneCity Vancouver (star candidate, Christine Boyle), Vision Vancouver, and Pro Vancouver.
All but one of the civic parties running candidates in the 2018 Vancouver municipal election have announced their candidates for City Council, Park Board and School Board, including eight serious-minded, well-funded charismatic candidates who have announced for Mayor, each of whom will be seeking your vote when the advance polls open on Wednesday, October 10th, through until 8pm ten days later when the polls close.

Vancouver Votes 2018 | Patrick Condon | The Man With a Plan

July 5, 2018BC Politics, Politics, Vancouver, Vancouver Votes 2018Raymond Tomlin

UBC’s Patrick Condon — The Unlikely Revolutionary

Patrick Condon, the tousle-haired 2018 revolutionary candidate for Mayor of Vancouver

In today’s VanRamblings post, we set about to introduce you to University of British Columbia professor in Urban Design and Landscape Architecture — okay, okay, let’s call him what he is: a City Planner, and a damn fine city planner at that, and a professor at UBC who has taught more than 80% of city planners currently employed across the Metro Vancouver region and who has played a key behind the scenes role in developing whatever livable aspects of life on the Lower Mainland that exists across our region today.
In today’s VanRamblings we refer to Mr. Condon — we’re going to call him “Patrick” from here on in, because that’s the way he’d want it, and that’s the way you should see him, as a friend, as a neighbour, and as one of us struggling to make ours a more livable city for all — as the Man With a Plan, and in the body of today’s post, as The Unlikely Revolutionary.
Why?
The answer is a simple one: never before in our city’s 132-year history have we had an accomplished city builder with a lifetime of experience in designing livable cities for all offer himself up as a candidate for Vancouver Mayor — that, at least in part, addresses the Man With a Plan headline.
Mr. Condon well elucidates his affordable housing and livable city plan in some great detail in the interview available at the top of today’s column.
You’ll want to listen closely to today’s interview with the affable, gregarious, and utterly charming and respectful of you and me, Mr. Condon — and if you don’t come away saying to yourself, “Patrick Condon is the guy I want to see as Vancouver’s next Mayor,” VanRamblings will be very surprised.

2018 Vancouver Mayoral aspirants Shauna Sylvester, Ian Campbell & Kennedy Stewart

All of which is to say that, as well, we continue to harbour immense respect for independent Mayoral candidate, Shauna Sylvester — Vancouver is long overdue for a woman Mayor — and that we kinda think the sun sorta rises & sets on Squamish Nation hereditary Chief Ian Campbell, one of the ‘great men’ we have met in our lifetime, accomplished and incredibly bright, and a man of integrity, wit and compassion — and a humble man of substance who means much good for our city; or, Kennedy Stewart — who’s worked as a federal NDP Member of Parliament for Burnaby-Douglas / Burnaby South since 2011, a Wolfville, Nova Scotia Maritime boy born and bred (Canadians don’t come any finer than those folks who’ve lived in the Maritimes), and an accomplished Parliamentarian with a democratic history of governance — and, the only candidate in the progressive coalition race with a successful electoral history, and first-hand experience in governance.
Patrick Condon’s entry into the Vancouver Mayoral race, though, has set the bar high for all the other 2018 Mayoral aspirants — there’s no bafflegab and no spin in the Patrick Condon zone, and when you’re a Mayoral candidate of vision and accomplished city building competence, how can you not have set the standard for what the electorate might expect in their next Mayor?

Still, we have referred to Patrick Condon as the unlikely revolutionary, and as such, we oughta explain ourselves — although Patrick does a pretty fine job of doing that all on his own, as you’ll hear in the interview above.
As Patrick told Straight editor Charlie Smith in a June 10th interview …

“With the support of the federal and provincial governments, the city should build sufficient public housing on land made permanently public like they do in many European countries,” he declared. “Vienna is a model for what Vancouver could do. If we fail, this city will soon become nothing more than a parking place for cash and a pretty place to visit.”

So, what makes Patrick Condon’s Mayoral candidacy revolutionary?

1. A movement to 50% non-market housing: Patrick Condon says his goal is to increase the percentage of non-market housing in Vancouver, from 15% to 50% — as you’ll hear in the interview, a mix of co-op, co-housing and rental, with a social housing component for those requiring supports. Patrick explains how he’d go about that: building on city land — as he avers, there is currently $2.7 billion in Vancouver’s much-lauded Property Endowment Fund, and both the federal and provincial governments own hundreds of acres of Crown land in our city — Patrick Condon proposes to build non-market housing on those lands, on a leasehold basis, similar to what we see along south False Creek, as he explains today, in VanRamblings’ interview with the good Mr. Condon;

2. Neighbourhood consultation. With Patrick Condon as Mayor, you’d see him in your neighbourhood often, consulting with and listening to you, working together to build the city we need;

3. Negotiation of a fair collective agreement with City workers. And a collective agreement that would continue to set the standard for municipal collective agreements across British Columbia. A Patrick Condon candidacy would not come at the expense of city workers, nor any other worker employed by the city of Vancouver;

4. A radical re-think of Vancouver’s property tax system. A Patrick Condon Mayoralty, following an application to the province to make the required changes to the Vancouver Charter, would see a shift away from the current property tax system, such that first-time owners would pay much less, while properties assessed at $5 million or more would pay more, as would the multi-national corporate head offices located in Vancouver, with cuts to the small business tax — similar to the plan retired Vancouver City Councillor Tim Louis put in place when he was Finance Chair on Vancouver City Council, from 2002 – 2005.

There’s a great deal more that Patrick Condon has on mind that you’ll want to attend to when you listen for all of the detailed explanation in his unassailable plan, fiscal and otherwise, for creating a fairer, more just, and more inclusive city for all, a legacy for Patrick, and as he says a capstone for his career — and for all of us, the realization of the city we need.

Vancouver Votes 2018 | Green Party of Vancouver Candidates

June 28, 2018BC Politics, Politics, Vancouver, Vancouver Votes 2018Raymond Tomlin

On Wednesday evening, June 27th at the Heritage Hall in Vancouver, the Green Party of Vancouver selected its candidates for civic office: Vancouver City Council, Vancouver Park Board and Vancouver School Board.
As is usually the case in the realm of politics, as in life, the events of last evening did not proceed without a hitch. One VanRamblings correspondent called it a #shitshow — and so, in some respects, it was, but not out of malice, ill will or ill intent. Truth to tell, none of us are perfect.
Having attended all of the Vancouver municipal party nomination meetings to date, VanRamblings can report that what occurred at Heritage Hall Wednesday evening was not unique among Vancouver civic political party nomination meetings. Nomination meetings and hurt feelings go hand in hand.

The evening’s events started out well, as may be seen in the video at the top of today’s column, with longtime Green Party activist (& VanRamblings friend) Jacquie Miller introducing the 2018 Vancouver Green Party nomination candidates, a more inspiring, heart-filled, competent, caring and ready for governing contingent of our city’s most civic-minded citizens than you could ever hope to find gathered at one place, at one time.
When the candidates had finished speaking — each candidate was given one minute to speak — was when a storm of discontent started brewing at the Green Party nomination meeting, a storm that turned into a full blown cyclone by meeting’s end. Seems that the affable Ms. Miller, her vetting committee cohort and the evening’s co-chair, Anthony Hughes, and two other Green Party vetting committee members — all four members on the Green Party Board of Directors — had made a decision to recommend a limited retinue of candidates to fill the spots that needed filling, leaving the remaining candidates feeling as if they had been left out in the cold.
There was such a chill in the air following the announcement of the “recommended” candidates, that as voting got underway to select the winning candidates — that despite the warm weather of the evening, parkas seemed like fitting nomination meeting wear for what was to follow.
VanRamblings was told that the decision to recommend candidates occurred as a consequence of a belief by the Board, and longtime members of the Green Party of Vancouver, that preference be given to those who had served the party well over a number of years. Ms. Miller, in announcing the retinue of recommended candidates was careful to point out that Green Party members could vote as they might wish, and select the candidates of their choice, but asked that due consideration be given to the recommended candidates. Of course, there was a flaw in that argument.

Frances Raunet, unsuccessful Vancouver Green Party candidate for City Council

VanRamblings has known, and known of, Francoise Raunet for many years.
We run across each other frequently, as we live in the same neighbourhood. When Ms. Raunet was working on her Masters degree in International Studies at the University of British Columbia, we ran into each other regularly as she was ferrying her children to her home on the University Endowment Lands. At the moment, Ms. Raunet teaches at General Gordon School, the school where VanRamblings’ two grandsons attend.
In 2013, Ms. Raunet ran as a Green candidate in Vancouver-Point Grey (against VanRamblings’, and British Columbia’s, most beloved David Eby, currently our province’s highly regarded Minister of Justice and Attorney General). VanRamblings has always held Ms. Raunet — a Green Party stalwart if there ever was one — in the highest personal regard. Yet Ms. Raunet was not one of the recommended candidates. Strange that.
Francoise told VanRamblings that, having lost out on a Green Party nomination for Vancouver City Council (in a flawed process unbecoming of a party that prides itself on openness and transparency) that she intends to run as an independent candidate in the coming Vancouver civic election, where she knows she will not win. Clearly, Francoise is an accomplished woman of intellect and acumen and would make for a great City Council candidate — still, we think it a terrible mistake that she would seek to run against a party she loves and has dedicated her life to, even if she feels, quite rightly, that the party’s executive council let her down.

While Ms. Raunet’s perturbation at the course of the events of the evening and her unsuccessful attempt to secure a Green Party of Vancouver City Council nomination was muted, the same could not be said of Denise Brennan, the Executive Director of Creative Coworkers, a non-profit community space in Vancouver’s Railtown neighbourhood.
VanRamblings moved in Ms.Brennan’s direction when we witnessed how infuriated she seemed to be. Ms. Brennan turned to VanRamblings — if looks could kill, you would not be reading this column at present.
Ms. Brennan’s intent — both in publicly addressing her concerns on the flawed process for selecting candidates, the lack of diversity among the candidates (“And here I thought the Green Party was committed to diversity. Four women civic election candidates have been selected by the party, and seven men. So much for diversity, so much for fairness, so much for fair play, so much for progressive Green values, huh? I hope you’re all proud of yourselves.”) — would seem to be to hurt the party. Suffice to say, we would not wish to run across Ms. Brennan in a dark alley late at night.
Denise Brennan is likely to be trouble with a capital “T” for the Green Party of Vancouver this summer, to which we say, entitlement much?
In VanRamblings estimation, the process for selecting the Green Party of Vancouver’s civic election candidates was flawed — but as we pointed out at the nomination meeting, it was not a fatally flawed process. Green Party members voted, party members could vote as they wished, and based on the comments we heard from dozens of party members about the “recommendation process“, some members went out of their way not to vote for the recommended candidates. Still, all but one of the recommended candidates proved successful in securing a nomination.
VanRamblings has been around politics for more than 50 years, and what we’ve discovered is that, like life, politics just ain’t fair.
Are you a budding politician, and want to secure a nomination: put in the work. In politics, that’s called organizing. Successful Green Party School Board candidate Nicholas Chernen organized, acute enough in his bid to secure a nomination that he approached Green Party City Council candidates Pete Fry and Michael Wiebe, impressed the heck out of them, who ended up asking their legion of supporters to support Mr. Chernen, that he would prove to be a great candidate for the Green Party, and would be someone Green members might be duly proud.
Here’s the bottom line: the Green Party of Vancouver selected first-rate, supportable candidates on Wednesday evening.

VanRamblings will predict now that the competent and humbled-by-the-opportunity-to serve candidates who were selected will contribute to what is destined to be a breakout municipal election for the party, who look to elect all four candidates to City Council (there’s still a negotiation going on with the Vancouver & District Labour Council that could see that number reduced to three), and do well on both school and park board.
OneCity Vancouver candidate for City Council Ben Bolliger — who ran one of the most masterful nomination campaigns we’ve ever witnessed — was unsuccessful in securing a nomination, but you’re going to find that there’ll be no harder working and more dedicated worker on the campaign trail for all of the One City candidates for civic office than Ben Bolliger. And that’s how it should be. The same will be true for the unsuccessful nomination candidates for each of the other civic parties — and that’s how it should be.
There are many ways to serve your community other than elected office.
There are 33 advisory committees and agencies at City Hall — ranging from the library board, the engaged city task force, the all-powerful Board of Variance, and the seniors advisory, active transportation, public arts, civic asset renaming, and heritage, planning, and so many other committees and agencies of city governance where you can make a difference. There’s just ain’t no time to kvetch, when there’s so much that needs doing.
VanRamblings hopes that members on the Green Party Board of Directors, and the successful candidates and Green Party elected officials reach out to Ms. Raunet, Ms. Brennan, Mash Salehomoum and each of the disgruntled candidates who were not selected on Wednesday evening, to bring them back into the fold, to let them know how much they are valued, and the opportunities that lie ahead for them in the arena of civic governance.
Politics is not about personal ambition, either — at least it shouldn’t be.
Politics must continue to be about what has always been true: one enters political life to be a difference maker — and that political involvement includes volunteering, door-knocking, fundraising, hosting coffee klatches, donating monies, and even coming forward as a nomination candidate for civic office — because one desires, needs to serve the greater good.