Category Archives: Vancouver Votes 2018

Follow The Bouncing Ball, Where It Lands Nobody Knows

May 9, 2018BC Politics, Politics, Vancouver, Vancouver Votes 2018Raymond Tomlin

Vancouver voters go the polls in October of this year, E-Day October 20th determining the victors

The evening of Monday, May 7th, 2018 was hardly a salutary one for Hector D. Bremner, sitting NPA Vancouver City Councillor, elected to office in a by-election to fill the vacant seat of Geoff Meggs (now Premier John Horgan’s Chief of Staff) on October 19th, 2017. Monday night, Mr. Bremner was informed by Gregory Baker, the President of the Vancouver Non-Partisan Association (NPA) Board of Directors, that despite his candidacy passing muster with the party’s Greenlight Committee — as Mr. Bremner states in his Facebook post below, the NPA Board rejected his candidacy, Mr. Baker stating to the MetroStar civic affairs reporter Jen St. Denis that he “disputed (Mr. Bremner’s) version of events.” (Baker) said the committee had serious reservations about Bremner, which the committee communicated to the board verbally. “They (the Greenlight Committee) discussed them at the board, and the board voted on them, and that was that,” he said. Mr. Bremner’s Mayoral candidacy was no more.

May 7 2018 | Hector Bremner NPA Mayoral candidacy | REJECTED

Mr. Bremner has accused the board of kneecapping his bid.
Hector Bremner has stated that an unnamed candidate had “stacked” the board (ed. note, one would have to think that Mr. Bremner is referring to his mortal enemy, Glen Chernen, whose NPA Mayoral candidacy is moving forward) and that even though the NPA’s Greenlight Committee agreed to move his name forward, “the board rejected their advice.”

“My team has tried to do the right thing at every step to keep moving forward in a positive direction, and signed up the most members to the NPA of all of the candidates, with over 2,000 supporters.”

But, again, Gregory Baker, disputes Mr. Bremner’s version of events. He continued to aver that “the committee had serious reservations” about Bremner, which the committee communicated to the board verbally. Mr. Baker has refused to expand on what “serious reservations” constitutes, and explain to the press, or to Mr. Bremner, what, exactly, that means.

“They discussed them at the board, and the board voted on them, and that was that,” he told the MetroStar’s Jen St. Denis.

Still, Mr. Bremner vows to fight on — what form that will take is yet to be decided — as he indicates in a Facebook post published Tuesday morning …

May 8 2018 | Hector Bremner NPA Mayoral nomination | REJECTED

As you might well expect, Mr. Bremner, his family and his many supporters — both inside and outside of the party (sitting Vancouver School Board trustee, Lisa Dominato, is one such supporter) — were devastated at hearing the unwelcome news from their party’s Board of Directors.

While Hector Bremner’s Mayoral candidacy would have proved a potent threat to victory for Vancouver’s progressive forces, in this year’s critically important civic election — given Mr. Bremner’s youth, his well-practiced Kennedy-esque presentation and his diversity marriage — a Hector Bremner Mayoral candidacy would have presented a similarly potent threat to the Vancouver Non-Partisan Association and the brand the NPA attempted to promote in the 2014 election and will again in 2018, that of the New Progressive Association, a socially forward municipal party still bent on lower taxes while providing service to the public — Hector’s ‘in the pocket of developers’ supply, supply, supply ethos and his, how do we say this, thickheadedness, would have proved death for a civic party doing its best to emerge from the electoral weeds, and resume power at City Hall.

John Coupar could very well become Vancouver’s next Mayor, come October 20th

That smiling face you see above (nice picture, by the way, John and City Councillor, George Affleck, who is John’s Mayoral campaign manager) is John Coupar, a current (and dare we say, outstanding) two-term member of Vancouver’s invaluable and necessary to the people of Vancouver, Park Board, on whom VanRamblings has written glowingly about, previously.
As the headline in Travis Lupick’s story published yesterday morning in The Straight states, the “NPA greenlights three potential candidates for mayor and rejects two others.” Once there were five, now there are three: the aforementioned Mr. Coupar; Glen Chernen (who if you didn’t click on the link on his name above, you should click here to learn a bit more about Mr. Chernen; and the corporate-backed businessman, and virtually unknown quantity (who we will seek to interview next week), Ken Sim, who — again for the record — still does not have a campaign website. Puh-leeze.
John Coupar, who is a nominally right-of-centre political figure, would relieve Vancouver’s often beleaguered “natural governing civic party” of their relatively recently-acquired reputation as a civic political party comprised of fire-breathing troglodytes, intent in locking up the homeless, throwing up towers willy nilly in your neighbourhood, and in the pocket of developers and foreign national interests who see Vancouver as the resort town of their dreams, the next Monte Carlo and a playground for the rich.
John’s candidacy, then, would provide the NPA with the opportunity to put their best foot forward, offering a Mayoral candidate of much wit and no little compassion — as we’ve written previously about Mr. John C. Coupar.

Campaign launch for Vision Vancouver School Board candidate, Aaron Leung

On Monday evening, at the kick-off for Vision Vancouver Aaron Leung’s sure-to-be-winning campaign for School Board, even former Vision Vancouver Park Board Commissioner and political adversary, Trevor Loke, had good things to say about the accomplished John C. Coupar.

“I like John,” Trevor Loke told VanRamblings Monday. “When we were on Park Board together, he worked hard, was passionate about parks & recreation issues, and the life of our city. We may be on opposite sides of the political fence, but I possess a great deal of respect for the man.”

As such, then, if you’ve visited John Coupar’s campaign website, and watched the video on the front page of his website introducing his campaign, and if you’ve read the VanRamblings piece, must suggest to you that a John Coupar Vancouver Non-Partisan Association Mayoral candidacy would present the greatest impediment for victory on October 20th, for whoever it is that emerges as Vancouver’s progressive parties’ — COPE, OneCity, TeamJean, Greens, Vision Vancouver — ”unity Mayoral candidate.”
Oh, did we forget to mention that John Coupar has a lock on the Vancouver Non-Partisan Association nomination, come Tuesday evening, May 29th at the Hellenic Hall (hey, Peter Armstrong, want to see what you can do about making sure there’s going to be some great food there that night)?
Or, that John Coupar’s and George Affleck and team’s sign-up of existing and new members, according to the affable Mr. Affleck, went swimmingly well, and much to the satisfaction of Mr. Coupar, Mr. Affleck, and now certain-to-be NPA Council nominee, a generational nominally right-of-centre candidate, current Park Board Commissioner, soon-to-be Vancouver City Councillor, and a future Premier of the province (we know, we know — we weep, too, that the BC NDP won’t always hold power in Victoria — but if it ain’t gonna be the NDP’s John Horgan or David Eby as British Columbia’s Premier, it darn well better be a real Liberal, or at least progressive Red Tory conservative, and populist of the first order, not to mention a person of principle, that you would find we would have in …) Sarah Kirby-Yung.
In terms of debate, and a reasonable and fruitful electoral discussion of where Vancouver is heading — at least in the near future, what the issues are that the opposing Mayoral candidates will prioritize during their term in office, and who will emerge as the political figure who best reflects the concerns of Vancouver voters clamouring for change — the shenanigans that occurred Monday evening and yesterday concerning Hector Bremner’s rejected NPA Mayoral candidacy, will at the end of the day prove to serve the best interests of Vancouver voters who’ll be heading to the polls this upcoming October autumn, with John Coupar as the Vancouver Non-Partisan Association Mayoral candidate, and whoever in heck will emerge as Vancouver’s progressive party ‘coalition’s’ much-desired “unity candidate.”

Vancouver Votes 2018 | VDLC | Brokering a Necessary Civic Deal

May 8, 2018BC Politics, Politics, Vancouver, Vancouver Votes 2018Raymond Tomlin

Over this past weekend, the Vancouver & District Labour Council held a one day conference, open to members of the labour movement, and Boards of Directors and candidates running with Vancouver’s five progressive civic parties — the Greens, OneCity, TeamJean, COPE and Vision Vancouver — Saturday’s Crossroads Conference, a plenary session designed to put 100 Vancouver politicos, and labour activists, in a large conference room together, at the Croatian Cultural Centre, and introduce them to each other, many of the participants meeting one other for the very first time.
Ben Bolliger (pictured above), a candidate for nomination for Vancouver City Council in the current election cycle, running with OneCity Vancouver — the civic party VanRamblings believes will emerge as the powerhouse political force in the 2018 Vancouver civic election — attended the critically important Crossroads Conference on this Saturday past, and was kind enough to speak with VanRamblings about his experience.
Listen to the audio above. See if you don’t come away impressed with the expressively optimistic & politically sophisticated Mr. Bolliger. Articulate? Ben’s picture may be found right next to the definition of the word in your dictionary (c’mon now, people still have those in their homes, don’t they?).
Ben is a Project Manager with the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA), having worked in public health now for four years, including having served as the Manager of the Project and Change Management office with Providence Health Care, where he worked extensively and in close contact with staff and the administration at metropolitan St. Paul’s Hospital.

Just a few of the very fine folks in OneCity Vancouver, who are working for you.

More, you want to know more about the affable and — ”Hey, I’m casting a ballot for Ben Bolliger at the advance Vancouver civic election polls in October, or on election day, Saturday, October 20th, aren’t you? You are? Good! — Ben Bolliger (the link, it’s Ben’s candidate website — really, honest, you should click on it, learn more about Ben, and then come right back here) is, as you may have gathered at this point, seeking a OneCity nomination for Vancouver City Council. Ben, a person of conscience.

Ben Bolliger, OneCity Vancouver nomination candidate for Vancouver City Council

Ben Bolliger, an avid cyclist and active transportation advocate

2018. Entering the political fray? Emerging as a difference maker? Nope, this isn’t Ben’s first visit to the farm. He’s been there as a graduate political science student focusing on First Nations history — in our nation’s capital, at the University of Ottawa — after which, Ben went on to work as a parliamentary assistant with late NDP leader, Jack Layton’s federal NDP.
In 2008, Ben moved to the west coast, settling in the West End. Ben, as may be seen in the rough and tumble photo above, is an avid cyclist, currently completing his second term as a member of the City of Vancouver’s essential Active Transportation Policy Council. Good for us.
Ben’s issues, the ones he is focusing on? How about: working collegially with his colleagues on Vancouver City Council, one of whom will most assuredly be fellow One City candidate, Christine Boyle; tackling Vancouver’s current affordable housing crisis — which means, of course, the construction of thousands of housing co-op units on city-owned land, on a 66-year lease, with no cost to taxpayers, given that developers will build the housing co-ops as part of Vancouver’s much-vaunted Community Amenities Contribution programme — as well as working with the federal and provincial governments, and businesses in our city, to continue the diversification of Vancouver’s booming economy, although an economy that continues to leave some Vancouver citizens out. Ben aims to fix that.
Addressing the issue of accessibility is also a key concern for Ben Bolliger — Ben is right when he says, “Vancouver must be a city for everyone.”
Conscientious, accomplished, ready to get to work for you, an elected official who will answer all calls placed to his office at City Hall, will respond to each & every e-mail, who will listen to your concerns, and take action to remedy those concerns, working with others to ensure remediation occurs.
And, if you get out there to support Ben’s candidacy — as you must — Ben Bolliger will emerge as a soon-to-be-elected public official who will be on your side, each and every day. Voters simply can’t ask for more than that, in 2018 or in any other year, when traveling to the polls to cast their ballot.

A Destructive Political Divide, One We May Not Be Able to Bridge

May 7, 2018BC Politics, Politics, Vancouver Votes 2018Raymond Tomlin

In the age of Trump, a great chasm has opened on our political landscape, one that — despite the best of intentions — may not be able to be bridged.
On the one side, you have that portion of Vancouver’s population who reside in multi-million dollar homes located predominantly in Yaletown and southeast False Creek, West Point Grey, Dunbar, Kerrisdale and Shaughnessy, whose populations turn out in droves — up to 85% of residents in these neighbourhoods arriving at their local pollings station on election day to cast their ballot — to vote for the Vancouver Non-Partisan Association, the corporately-funded-and-backed municipal political party that has, for generations, protected their class and economic interests.

These are the folks — pictured above — who rallied last week at West Point Grey’s Trimble Park to oppose a move by the BC NDP government to impose a school surtax on homes worth more than $3 million, a newly-created tax that would see a westside homeowner who owns an $8-million home paying an extra $18,000 in property taxes, annually, to the province.
The mainly westside residents think it unfair, after decades of right-of-centre B.C. Liberal / Socred provincial governments, and the right-of-centre Vancouver Non-Partisan Association pulling the levers of civic government, that new wealth taxes be imposed on them so that government can better fund our public education system (from which the B.C. Liberal government cut $58.3 million in funding in Vancouver each year from 2002 to 2015), build affordable homes to house the 50% of seniors in our city living on less than $26,000 a year, the construction of affordable housing, and provision of funding for the one in five children in Vancouver who live in poverty.
In order words, these are the Darwinian “I’m all right, Jack, you make out of life what you put into it, I’m not responsible for you” folks. Nice.

On the other side of this great political chasm, you have folks like United Church Minister and current OneCity Vancouver candidate for Vancouver City Council, Christine Boyle — and her progressively-minded colleagues in OneCity, Vision Vancouver, COPE, the Greens and TeamJean, the latter of which group’s core organizing philosophy revolves around “building the city we need”, a fairer, more inclusive and more just city for all of us, whether we live in the sometimes blighted Downtown Eastside neighbourhood where residents have come together in solidarity to build a vibrant community of the caring and compassionate, or Strathcona, Hastings Sunrise, Riley Park, Grandview Woodland, and any one of Vancouver’s 23 diverse neighbourhoods where housing is acknowledged as a right, and where the elimination of poverty and wont is a central operating principle of the five progressive parties offering candidates in the upcoming civic election.
The latter grouping of political parties have reached out a hand to those in our community who have been deemed to be “wealthy”, by dint of income or housing status, have attempted to bridge the political divide, thus far to no good effect. All of this is not to say, either, that there are not many good persons of conscience resident in Yaletown, West Point Grey, Dunbar, Kerrisdale and Shaughnessy who are at present, and as has been the case for some while now, working with their neighbours & with civic parties like OneCity Vancouver in common cause to acknowledge that Vancouver is, indeed, one city, comprised of diverse peoples from every socio-economic strata and circumstance, who live together in the village that is Vancouver, where we are — each and every one of us — responsible for one another.
For as President-elect John Fitzgerald Kennedy stated in an address (abridged) to the Massachusetts legislature, on January 9th, 1961 …

For those to whom much is given, much is required. And when at some future date the high court of history sits in judgment on each of us — recording whether in our brief span of service we fulfilled our responsibilities to the state — our success or failure, in whatever office we hold, will be measured by the answers to four questions:

First, were we courageous, possessed of the courage to stand up to our adversaries, to stand up when necessary, to resist public pressure, when such pressure does not serve the common good?

Secondly, were we possessed of good judgment — with perceptive judgment of the future as well as the past — of our mistakes as well as the mistakes of others — with enough wisdom to know what we did not know and enough candour to admit it?

Third, were we possessed of integrity, who never ran out on either the principles in which we believed or the public who believed in us — women and men whom neither financial gain nor political ambition could ever divert from the fulfillment of our sacred trust?

Finally, were we truly women and men of dedication — with an honour mortgaged to no single individual or group, and comprised of no private obligation or aim, but devoted solely to serving the public good? Courage — judgment — integrity — dedication — these are the historic qualities which must characterize the conduct of governance, in every city and in every region of our fair nation, in the four turbulent years that lie ahead.

And so it is. The divide in our city must be bridged, if at all possible, in the current civic election cycle, by the political figures who would seek to govern our city over the next four years, beginning in November of this year, each of whom must be governed by the notion of implementing legislation and policies based on what is best for all, and not one particular interest group — which for too long has been the overriding foundation of government in our province and, far too often, in our city.

We must together realize that, in principle and in fact, we are our brothers and sisters keepers, that collectively we have an obligation to one another, and that as has been stated: to whom much is given, much is expected.
In the coming election, let us all come together as one, let us bridge the chasm that would seem to divide us, let us work together to ensure that modular housing is built in neighbourhoods across our city (let’s make sure, too, that there is adequate, respectful, information-filled, and inclusive consultation with residents in neighbourhoods, as a pre-condition to the taking of decisions to construct that housing).
And, that new and truly affordable housing co-ops are constructed on city land, as homes for families across all of Vancouver’s 23 neighbourhoods; that Vancouver City Council work with the provincial government to ensure supportive social housing is built, opened and properly and humanely administered in the housing of those in need; that the tax structure at City Hall for small business, which is such a burden for small business operators, is moved to the multi-national companies in our town, who pay woefully less in business tax than is fair and proper — in the process, this transfer of tax responsibility to “big business” relieving the beleaguered home owner of the burden of annual titanic property tax increases; and that Vancouver continue to move forward as we’ve written previously, and will continue to write, to become a city defined by inclusion, social justice, and a city that truly serves the needs of all of Vancouver’s diverse citizenry.

Adriane Carr. MAYOR !!! How Many Times Do We Have to Say It?

May 3, 2018BC Politics, Vancouver, Vancouver Votes 2018Raymond Tomlin

Time for some basic math on the Mayoral nomination 2018 Vancouver civic nomination front. Hey you, fine folks with OneCity Vancouver (the folks we are head-over-heels in love with this election cycle), Alison and Anna, Cara and David and Christine. Hey you, Derrick and Riaz and Maddy and Laura and Wendy (and, you too, Jean) on TeamJean — the hardest-working, best organized, most enthusiastic and focused vanguard of folks we’ve witnessed since, gosh, at least the 1970s.
And, hey you, Connie and Rider, Gary and Carol (and, you too, Justine) on the COPE train to freedom and social justice. Hey you, social justice warriors on the Vision Vancouver team, that’d be you Catherine Evans, Heather Deal & Finance Chair on Vancouver City Council, Raymond Louie. And, hey, you Pete Fry and Jacquie Miller (enjoy your freedom while the enjoying is good, cuz law school at UVIC in the fall — well, it’s gonna keep you busy!), and you, too, Mike Wiebe and Stuart Mackinnon and Janet Fraser and Estrellita Gonzalez, with the Greens — and that includes you, too, Adriane Carr Mayoral aspirant, two-term Vancouver City Councillor, your visage so lovingly captured in the warmly re-assuring photograph published yesterday in the Charlie-Smith-edited Georgia Straight.
Adriane Carr, beloved Vancouver City Councillor, expresses her interest in seeking the Mayor’s chair; her party endorses her at their recent AGM. Around the same time, former Visionista and all-around good person, Shauna Sylvester “soft launches” a campaign to become Vancouver’s next Mayor. Meanwhile, COPE thinks — whoops, first, to correct the record, we’re going to quote COPE candidate for City Council, Anne Roberts …

“Raymond, I’m not particularly worried about inaccuracies in your column last week about Patrick Condon, but I would like to set the record straight, especially when it to the comes to the involvement of others, and hear I am thinking about the reference you made concerning current COPE co-chair Connie Hubbs, that she had not met, nor was she aware of Patrick Condon prior to my raising his name with her as, perhaps, a potential “unity candidate” for Mayor, or maybe running under the COPE banner, or possibly as an independent who COPE could support.

In words of one syllable: that’s wrong.

Here are the true facts of the matter: Some months ago I e-mailed Patrick in a spontaneous moment of inspiration, after having read what I found to be an inspiring piece of journalism, a column that he’d written for The Tyee. In an e-mail I posted to him, I re-introduced myself to Patrick, who I had first met when sitting as a COPE member on City Council, when COPE held power at Vancouver City Hall, from 2002 – 2005.

In my e-mail to Patrick, I asked him if he had ever considered running for office.

Patrick replied that he indeed had been thinking of exactly that.

It turned out that he’d been talking to the Greens for the past year about running with them for a position on Vancouver City Council. I’m not sure whether Patrick is still interested in that (ed. note. Patrick may or may not be. But the Green Party folks VanRamblings has spoken with would be over-the-moon with a Patrick Condon candidacy for Vancouver City Council). In the e-mail that I posted to him, I suggested that if he could see himself running as some kind of “unity” candidate for the Mayor’s Chair, I thought it possible, perhaps even probable, that in addition to the Greens, COPE, OneCity & TeamJean might be open to a Mayoral run by him in the 2018 Vancouver municipal election.

I told Patrick that I would try to arrange some sort of meeting to discuss possibilities.

Given that Patrick was just about to set off on his sabbatical, we had just a day or two to invite interested parties. We ended up with COPE and TeamJean meeting at my house. You guessed it: Connie Hubbs — you know, COPE’s co-chair — was at that meeting, many months ago, where we all had an enlightening conversation about the city needing to take a much stronger stand on the provision of affordable — and social — housing, focusing on transportation policies for the City of Vancouver that would not only prove to be cost-effective but environmentally responsible and neighbourhood-sustaining.

We also talked about a key plank in Jean Swanson’s bid for a seat on City Council during her by-election run last year, the Mansion Tax that is already in effect — as it has been for some while — in Seattle, and various other critical issues of importance to the Vancouver electorate.

I assure you, Raymond, contrary to what you posted on VanRamblings early in your coverage of the current civic election cycle, that much prior to the meeting the group of us had a few months back with Patrick Condon, Connie Hubbs had read a significant body of work that had been written by Patrick over the years, in addition to a surfeit of academic, mainstream press, journal and other articles where he had been interviewed, contributing his thoughts on sustainable city building.

Before Connie — in her capacity as COPE co-chair — talked to the media, she had been in e-mail communication with Patrick on multiple occasions, and had on numerous occasions been a part of live Skype video conversations COPE and TeamJean were having with Patrick while he was on his sabbatical, and distant from Vancouver. Connie was anything but ill-informed. Hope this sets the record straight.

…well (continuing from above), the 50-year-strong Coalition of Progressive Electors — and, apparently, Team Jean — think (as Anne relates), “Hey, a Patrick Condon for Mayor “unity” candidacy for Mayor. Worth exploring.”

Okay, here’s where the math comes in.
Shauna Sylvester tells VanRamblings and anyone in the mainstream media who will listen, that if Adriane Carr decides to launch a bid for the Mayor’s job, she’ll close up shop on her announced, and still yet hardly energetic mayoral bid. Meanwhile, Patrick Condon has said from the outset, “If Adriane Carr decides to run for Mayor, I’ll be supporting her.”
Math time. Three possible progressive candidates for Mayor. Two prepared to withdraw: leaves one progressive candidate for Mayor: Adriane Carr.
Yippee! Hallelujah! What’s that, you say? OneCity Vancouver ain’t playin’ ball with an Adriane for Mayor candidacy. Vision, well heck, although they haven’t weighed in on an Adriane for Mayor candidacy, you can bet that both parties — all set to meet with the good, worker-and-family defending Vancouver & District Labour Council this weekend — well, OneCity and Vision will be on board with an Adriane for Mayor candidacy if that’s what the good folks — such as VDLC President, Stephen von Sychowski, who we interviewed yesterday — get around to cottonin’ onto the notion that, “Hey. Maybe, just maybe, Adriane Carr for Vancouver Mayor, running as a “unity Mayor” under the Green banner that is so important to her, maybe that’s not such a bad thing, after all. In fact, maybe that’s a good thing.”
In the meantime, Ms. Carr — if we might address you directly — we read Carlito Pablo’s interview with you in The Straight yesterday (hey, you two, Adriane and Carlito we’re talking to you, you gotta phone us at home, or on our cell, if you find yourself just plain confused about something that’s been written on VanRamblings that is concerning to you, so we can set about to “make things right”, to lessen any confusion you may be experiencing).
Okay, Adriane. Listen up and listen tight. Here’s what you told Carlito yesterday …

“If it turns out that I don’t get the support, and I end up running for Council, I love what I do at Council, and I think that I play a very key role in pushing ideas that other parties don’t at the council table”

“So either way, my hope is that I would be serving the city of Vancouver and the citizens of Vancouver. That really is my bottom line. Whether it’s as Mayor or as Councillor is going to be determined by a) the citizens themselves in terms of their support, and b) the other parties.”

VanRamblings reads a bit of fatalism in your comments to Carlito, Adriane. Seems to us that you may be thinking, Mayor? Maybe, maybe not.
VanRamblings would suggest to you, our most esteemed Councillor Carr, that it is too early, as you suggest above, to make a decision either way. Wait to see what happens at the VDLC meetings this weekend.

And, oh yeah, some advice from us: read only the good things written about you on VanRamblings — ignore the rest (really, honest, ignore the rest … clearly, the more dispiriting things that are written about you on VanRamblings are the work of a dangerous and deranged mind).
Councillor Carr, your candidacy for Mayor is not over before it’s begun. Puh-leeze (forgive us for being impolite). Even if it appears to you that it’s “over” or even that it may be over — it’s not. VanRamblings talks with everyone — believe us when we write, an Adriane Carr for Vancouver Mayor mayoral bid is far, far, far, far, far, far from over. Honest. Cross our heart & hope not to die anytime soon — been there, done that, it’s no fun.
You’re just getting started, Ms. Carr — wait for folks to rally around you, and they will, and all will be well with the world, all will come together as it is meant to, and you, Patrick Condon and Pete Fry (sorry, Mike), and Christine Boyle and two of Brandon Yan, Ben Bolliger or RJ Aquino, Catherine Evans and one of Raymond Louie or Heather Deal, the spectacularly wonderful and principled Anne Roberts and an as-yet-undecided second COPE / Team Jean candidate will ascend to Vancouver City Hall on the glorious and captivating evening of Saturday, October 20th, when a new and progressive and affordable-housing-supplying, and worker-interest-defending Mayor and Council — working with our incredibly wonderful John Horgan provincial government, and “Hey, you can make a deal with him” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — will transform Vancouver into a new Valhalla, a social justice warrior’s paradise by the sea.

Stephen von Sychowski, President of the Vancouver & District Labour Council

Yesterday afternoon, VanRamblings was afforded the opportunity to speak with a very bright, articulate and supremely socially-skilled President of the Vancouver & District Labour Council, elected to the position in February following the retirement of the equally wonderful, socially-skilled & incredibly well-organized, Joey Hartman — who recently told VanRamblings that, from the outset of her election to the position at the VDLC, she had let everyone know that she would stay for seven years, and not a moment longer. Stephen von Sychowski succeeds Joey — and man, oh man (and woman, of course), we who live in Vancouver are fortunate to have two such strong-minded people on our side, fighting for us each and every day.
VanRamblings came away from our brief conversation with Mr. von Sychowski thinking that, if there is anyone on the planet who might ‘broker a deal’ with the five, disparate — yet uniformly progressive — Vancouver civic parties, it is recently-elected VDLC President, Stephen von Sychowski.
You know how some people are gifted with emotional intelligence, have within them an innate understanding of both the human psyche and the human heart, are that rare breed of human being who are born leaders, inspiring and possessed of a fidelity of spirit and goodness that the moment you feel and see it, a calmness washes over you, a feeling of safety and self-assuredness invests your spirit? Meet Stephen von Sychowski. Wow!
Prior to speaking with Stephen (pronounced Stef-awn), we were a little querulous about the potential for success of this weekend’s upcoming May 6th / 7th ‘broker a deal’ meeting at the VDLC offices. Not any more.
In Stephen’s own words …

“The objective of the Labour Council — continuing with the work in which we’ve engaged these past months with the five progressive parties who will field candidates in the upcoming Vancouver civic election — will be to encourage co-operation between the five groups, or at minimum an accommodation between the progressive forces in this city, around the coming election, to ensure that we don’t have a repeat of the by-election last fall where, despite the vast majority of Vancouver citizens voting for progressive candidates the NPA was elected because of the fact that those majority votes were split fives ways.

Clearly, to progressive voters in Vancouver that’s an unacceptable scenario, and one that is detrimental to their interests. Losing progressive government in Vancouver as a result of the inability of folks to work together is simply not a circumstance that our members — and we feel quite certain, representatives from COPE, Team Jean, OneCity, Vision Vancouver and the Greens cannot and will not allow to occur again.

This weekend, the Vancouver & District Labour Council will engage in a more formal discussion with representatives from the five progressive civic parties, than has been the case to date.

Mediated representatives from the Labour Council will work with the five civic parties, as we hope to achieve — if not this Sunday, then in the coming days — an agreement respecting how many candidates would run in order to minimize vote-splitting.

The citizens of Vancouver deserve a civic government that is on their side, an elected Mayor and majority City Council who will work with the federal and provincial governments to ensure a supply of affordable, member-owned housing co-operatives built on city and Crown land, and who will work to ensure that transit for children under the age of 12 is free, will work with the provincial government to eliminate poverty and wont in our city, will work to ensure that city workers are treated fairly, and that a negotiated collective agreement will set the standard for municipal employee collective agreements across the region, and our province.

For VanRamblings’ complete coverage of #VancouverVotes2018, click on this link. VanRamblings continues to publish civic election coverage Monday thru Thursday and will do so through the end of August, at which point our civic election coverage will transform daily into Vancouver municipal election coverage, through until Election Day October 20th, leaving our Friday VanRamblings to ‘arts coverage’ (tomorrow, with coverage of the DOXA Documentary Film Festival — although you’ll want to read yesterday’s column on the DOXA débuting, Harry Rankin: Legacy of a Radical, which kicks off our socialist / feminist / activist / COPE-member friend, Selina Crammond’s first-ever Vancouver-based doc festival where she’s the head honcho Programme Director — yippee, Ms. Crammond!), with Saturdays given over to —&#32commencing this weekend — Stories of a Life (we’ve all got ’em), and on Sundays … who knows?