On Wednesday, September 28, 2022, the University Women’s Club of Vancouver hosted a Women Transforming Cities gathering of women representing all 10 parties offering candidates for office in the 2022 Vancouver municipal election.
As has long been the case — given that the UWC has held this event every civic election for decades — the Women Transforming Cities event proved lively, moving and informative, with great and provocative grassroots organizing going on right before the audience’s appreciative eyes and ears — thanks in the main to COPE Vancouver candidates for Council, the entirely tremendous Nancy Trigueros and Tanya Webking, and the Green Party of Vancouver’sStephanie Smith.
VanRamblings wants to live in the workers’ paradise for all that Ms. Trigueros, Ms. Webking and Ms. Smith espouse, conceive of, insist on, and will realize for all of us.
As always, TEAM … for a Livable Vancouver’s Mayoral candidate, Colleen Hardwick, was heartbreakingly brilliant. Watch & listen to the video — you’ll see for yourself.
… bringing her wealth of knowledge having earned degrees in biology and law, culminating in a Masters of Laws from the London School of Economics, and her work in the non-profit and charitable sector, as President of the Board of Directors of MOSAIC; Vice-President on the Board of LEAF — the Women’s Legal, Education and Action Fund, Canada’s leading women’s legal champion at the Supreme Court of Canada protecting women’s constitutional rights; and as a Board Director with the Vancouver YWCA, the BC Kidney Foundation and a Director with the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Did we mention that Ms. Brown is also Secretary of the Good Noise Vancouver Gospel Choir Society?
Whoops, forgot to mention that Cleta Brown was an investigator and general counsel for the Ombudsman Office of BC, and worked as a Crown Prosecutor in the Provincial Courts, and was an alternate Chairperson on the Review Board of BC.
Does the word accomplished resonate with you? Does the phrase must-elect to Vancouver City Council, mark your ballot for Cleta Brown also resonate with you?
VanRamblings must say that we — not to mention, the entire audience present for the UWC forum — had their socks knocked off upon hearing each and every one of the women speakers present for the Women Transforming Cities event.
You know who our favourite speaker of the evening was?
Arezo Zarrabian. You’ll see why when you watch and listen to her introducing herself to those gathered this past Wednesday evening at Hycroft Manor. What do you think the chances are that Ms. Zarrabian will emerge on VanRamblings’ Council endorsement ballot, to be published on Wednesday, October 12th?
You can read more this upcoming Wednesday about Ms. Zarrabian, and another one of VanRamblings’ very favourite candidates in the 2022 Vancouver municipal election — the Green Party of Vancouver’sStephanie Smith — both of whom are bright beyond all measure, possessed of uncommon wit and compassion, mean well for our city, and understand you and the concerns of your life, and are absolute MUST-ELECTS to Vancouver City Council, on Saturday, October 15th.
Another standout at the Women Transforming Cities event was Ms. Smith’s Green Party of Vancouver colleague and fellow candidate for Vancouver City Council, Dr. Devyani Singh, whose energy and passion is nothing less than infectious. May we say, as well, that those in attendance at the Last Candidate Standing event held on Saturday, absolutely fell in love with Dr. Devyani Singh, as well they might have!
VanRamblings must say, as well, that we were pretty knocked out by Vision Vancouver’s Honieh Barzegari and Lesli Boldt. VanRamblings has been following Ms. Boldt’s career for years — safe to say that you can colour us mightily impressed. What a thrill it’s been for us to meet her on the campaign trail — please forgive us for saying so, but kind of a dream fulfilled for us.
And wouldn’t it be lovely and appropriate and overdue to elect two accomplished Middle Eastern women to Vancouver City Council, in the form of Iranian compatriots, the outstanding Honieh Barzegari and Arezo Zarrabian? Necessary, we’d say.
You know who else knocks us out? Incumbent Vancouver City Councillors Lisa Dominato and Rebecca Bligh, who on occasion we are afforded the great pleasure and privilege of speaking with. On a Council where, sometimes, egos have run rampant — much to the chagrin of voters, from what we’ve heard — Ms. Dominato and Ms. Bligh have always kept their feet planted firmly on the ground, while giving new and salutary meaning to the word humility. Yes, yes, it’s true — Rebecca Bligh and Lisa Dominato consider themselves servants of the people, servants of the public interest. Imagine that. Miracles do happen in Vancouver civic politics.
And last, but by no means least, one of our favourite people in the world — and accomplished beyond all measure — Morgane Oger, a former Vice President of the BC NDP, Ms. Oger fights tirelessly for human rights, and is recognized across Canada as a champion of LGBTQ rights and representation. Morgane Oger is a powerful voice for safer communities and transformative government.
Accompanying Ms. Oger to the Women Transforming Cities event was her Progress Vancouver colleague and fellow candidate for Vancouver City Council, Asha Hayer, a third-generation Vancouverite and a sixth-generation Indo-Canadian woman, who knows Vancouver is founded on the strength of its diversity. Listen to what Ms. Hayer has to say about why she got into the run for civic office in 2022.
All and all, a very good night was had in our city at the not-to-be missed campaign event of the election season, the University Women’s Club of Vancouver hosted Women Transforming Cities event, with women candidates representing all 10 civic parties offering candidates in the Vancouver civic election.
Yesterday morning, Vancouver civic election Mayoralty candidate Colleen Hardwick, and members of her TEAM … for a Livable Vancouver slate of Council candidates introduced their viable and innovativeaffordable housing plan.
Within 18 months of being elected to office, a majority TEAM … for a Livable Vancouver Council would bring forward a binding referendum to ask the citizens of Vancouver to allow TEAM to borrow $500 million dollars — amortized over a 35-year borrowing plan — to build 2,000 co-operative housing units in neighbourhoods across the city, providing homes for up to 5,000 Vancouver residents (many of those who would reside in Co-op housing would be families with children — as a rule of thumb when constructing new housing a 2.5 multiplier is employed).
Co-operative Housing Built By Bosa Development as a Community Amenity Contribution
Ms. Hardwick also suggests that should the federal and provincial governments come on board to support and match the expenditure of monies proposed by TEAM … for a Livable Vancouver, as most assuredly would be the case, we’d be looking at 6000 new units of Co-op homes, housing up to 15,000 Vancouver citizens, before the end of the next municipal term of government — that means affordable housing for you, your children and your grandchildren, low income seniors, wage earners, and more, who are currently underhoused, or are considering leaving the city because there’s simply no affordable housing to be found.
As you will hear in the video of the press conference located at the top of today’s post, Mayoralty candidate Hardwick expresses the housing mix of future Co-op owners (co-op housing is owned collectively, under Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation guidelines) as one-third, one-third, one-third.
Here’s what the one-third, one-third, one-third mix of residents in a housing co-op means: one third of members who live in a housing Co-op receive a deep subsidy — this group usually involves seniors on a meagre pension income, those persons in single parent households, and persons with disabilities. The second one-third grouping consists of wage earners, and persons in the creative industry, who earn an income of under $60,000 annually. Subsidy is provided to Co-operatives across Canada through a Federal Housing Co-operative Subsidy Fund.
The final third in the housing co-operative resident mix are those earning between $60,000 and $80,000 a year. These persons pay a low-end of median market rental rate — an explanation of which is available in VanRamblings’ Sept. 6, 2022 post. The CMHC-determined median market rental rate is generally half of the market rate.
As VanRamblings has resided in a housing co-operative for forty-plus years, allow us to explain how Co-ops work, and what TEAM … for a Livable Vancouver intends.
Co-operative housing was developed by the Pierre Elliott Trudeau-led federal Liberal government in the 1970s as a means of providing affordable housing for wage earners, members of the creative community, seniors and persons with disabilities, as well as for persons earning under $80,000 a year — the latter group paying a low-end-of-market housing charge rate, subsidizing those with lower incomes. 2500 housing co-ops were developed across Canada over a 10-year span, providing affordable housing to 135,000 Canadians, in every region of our nation.
Here’s how housing co-ops work. Each member of a co-op is owner of her or his home — sometimes it’s a townhouse, other times it’s row housing, or an apartment / condominium style housing typology. A member makes a refundable share purchase on being accepted into the Co-op — generally, the share purchase amounts to one month’s housing charge. For those who struggle to pay the share purchase, often the Co-op will add a portion of the share purchase to a household’s monthly housing charge — alternatively, the CCEC Credit Union offers a no interest share purchase loan to prospective Co-op members.
Housing co-operatives require member participation in the operation of the Co-op.
An Executive Committee — a President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer — are elected at the Annual General Meeting of the Co-operative. The Executive is the Co-operative’s legally responsible body, under British Columbia’s Society Act, that ensures the good operation of the Co-operative. The Executive is responsible for the economic rectitude of the Co-operative, and must arrange for the conduct of an annual audit of the Co-operative’s fiscal operation. Every member — often, that includes children — must participate in the life of the Co-operative, and sit on one of three Co-op Committees: the Finance, Membership or Maintenance Committee.
Generally, there are work parties twice a year, collective Co-op cleaning activities, usually held in the autumn, and again in the early spring. The work required of members is rarely onerous — rather it’s a grassroots means for members to participate in the affairs of the Co-op that contributes to the livability of the Co-operative.
Phase 2 housing co-ops: co-operative housing built along the south shore of False Creek in the 70s/80s
Quite honestly, TEAM … for a Livable Vancouver’s affordable housing plan is the only viable affordable housing plan VanRamblings has seen published as policy in any of the 10 civic party’s policy handbooks, whose affordable housing policies are little more than a chimera, an ephemera trotted out as a faux election promise only.
Tomorrow, VanRamblings will be writing about the Vancouver International Film Festival, which kicks off its glorious, much-anticipated 41st annual edition today.
As we won’t be back writing about the election until Monday, October 3rd, for perusal over the upcoming weekend, we’ll leave you with …
Video of the Business in Vancouver Mayoral Forum held at The Terminal City Club on Tuesday evening, September 27th, with all five Mayoral candidates on hand, the event moderated by Kirk LaPointe.
Edward Charles Kennedy Stewart. Vancouver’s next Mayor. The same Mayor as there always was.
See that photo of the guy above? That’s Kennedy Stewart, feckless Mayor of Vancouver since 2018. Why’s he smiling if he’s so feckless, you ask? Because, dear and constant reader, Kennedy Stewart is about to get re-elected to a second term as Vancouver’s once-and-forever Mayor. “How can that be?” you ask. Read on …
The provincial NDP, despite all, have decided that Kennedy Stewart is their guy.
A week or so ago, a letter went out to constituency associations telling NDP members that it’s Kennedy Stewart, or no one.
“We know that you’re not a big fan of Mayor Kennedy Stewart. We’ve not been, either. But here’s the thing: unless you cast your ballot for Kennedy, we’ll all be looking at a Council where the Mayor will be a right-of-centre, B.C. Liberal supporting opponent to everything the NDP stand for — equity, human rights, building a diverse British Columbia that is dedicated to inclusion, while building a diverse economy dedicated to job growth, and fulfilling our commitment to build 117,000 units of affordable housing.
None of that will come to pass if you elect right-wingers like …
Mark Marissen — His campaign’s senior advisor, that’d be his ex-wife, former B.C. Liberal Premier, Christy Clark. Mark is deep in the pocket of developers, dedicated to his own self-interest, and not yours. Electing Marissen as Vancouver’s next Mayor would be like Christy Clark redux. We don’t want that. You don’t want that;
Ken Sim, who is that much deeper in the pocket of developers than any of the other candidates seeking to become Vancouver’s next Mayor, who’s a front man for Lululemon multi-billionaire Chip Wilson, and some guy named Peter Armstrong, who locked his Rocky Mountaineer workers out for a year. Not only would Ken Sim turn Vancouver into a city for the ultra-rich, in the process, he’d fire union workers while attempting to destroy the union movement;
Fred Harding, who doesn’t even live in Vancouver. He calls China home. He’d be a commuter Mayor from halfway across the globe were he to become Vancouver’s next Mayor. Let’s face it, Harding is just visiting Vancouver during the current Vancouver civic election, stoking fear in the same manner as a PIerre Poilievre or Donald Trump — we think that’s despicable, something you don’t want;
And last, but certainly not least, Colleen Hardwick, who would turn Vancouver back 50 years and seek to create a paradise for the rich, while attempting to build a Vancouver that never was …
All four of these right-wing Vancouver Mayoral aspirants would do their level best to undo all that our government has achieved during the course of these past five years in government. Your only choice for Mayor in 2022: Mayor Kennedy Stewart.”
Other news of note concerning the Mayor’s Forward Together campaign for office. The provincial NDP has put the full weight of the party behind the candidacy of Tesicca Truong who, in the 2020 provincial election, came within a hair’s breadth of defeating B.C. Liberal incumbent, Michael Lee.
The BC New Democratic Party feels that Tesicca Truong represents the future of the BC NDP, and has set about to ensure a win for Ms. Truong — an immigrant, a refugee and a climate change activist — at the polls on Saturday, October 15th.
Of course, in promoting Ms. Truong’s candidacy, along with that of the Mayor, BC NDP stalwarts Alvin Singh and Dulcy Anderson are being left out in the cold.
Politics, as you may have gathered, is a dirty business, where no one really wins.
Soon-to-be defeated in her re-election bid, wrongheaded, unprincipled City Councillor, Christine Boyle.
In the meantime, in-between time, ain’t we got fun!
Not so much for Councillor Christine Boyle, who’s lost the support of the BC NDP.
Atiya Jaffar (left) and Anjali Appadurai. Jaffar volunteered to pay membership fees for prospective BC NDP leadership election voters while on an Instagram live event hosted by NDP leadership candidate Appadurai. The NDP leadership candidate and supporter Jaffar are under internal investigation for alleged vote buying. Ms. Jaffar is also active in the OneCity Vancouver civic party. | Photo: Instagram
Although Ms. Boyle has, for some while, been the fair-haired golden child of incoming B.C. Premier David Eby, seems that the NDP party brass are far from thrilled with OneCity Vancouver Councillor and candidate for re-election Christine Boyle’s association with Atiya Jaffar, the woman behind Premier-aspirant Anjali Appuradai’s campaign to unseat Mr. Eby and lead the BC New Democratic Party to oblivion, this same U.S.-based activist a major fundraiser for The Cult of Christine Boyle … er … we mean, OneCity Vancouver Councillor Christine Boyle.
Neither are British Columbia New Democratic Party brass particularly thrilled that Ms. Boyle has not disavowed her association with “volunteers” on her campaign for re-election, those volunteers allegedly planning a campaign of terror …
“Maybe we give (Rohana Rezel) a taste of his own medicine and openly wonder why he’s associating on Twitter with possible pedophiles?” asks Tim Ell, who’s been door knocking with OneCity’s incumbent Vancouver City Councillor Christine Boyle during the campaign.
In a ThinkPol article published on Tuesday, Mr. Rezel wrote that he had obtained chat logs that show OneCity Vancouver volunteers plotting to destroy their opponents by fabricating damaging rumours — including rumours about pedophilia. Their targets involve affordable housing advocates, academics, journalists, and lawyers. Mr. Rezel writes that, “What they intend to do to us is jaw dropping.”
Yet Christine Boyle refuses to disavow her association with, as VanRamblings reported on September 13th, “volunteers” on her campaign for re-election, rife with alt-right white supremacists with a “history of racism, misogyny and violence.”
Christine Boyle’s new status? Persona non grata with the B.C. New Democrats.
The man you see above is Christopher Richardson, the best man we know.
A former Vancouver School Board Chairperson, Mr. Richardson was seeking re-election to Vancouver’s Board of Education, under the ABC (A Better City?) banner, until he got unceremoniously dumped as a candidate for Vancouver School Board.
“Late Friday afternoon ABC Vancouver was made aware that a charitable organization that Christopher Richardson was a board member of had its charitable status revoked by the Canada Revenue Agency on Sept. 10,” the statement by Kareen Allam read.
“On Saturday, ABC conducted several queries. At the conclusion, ABC sent an email at 8 p.m. Saturday evening to the chief election officer that ABC’s endorsement of Christopher Richardson be removed, knowing that the deadline to do so may have passed.”
The statement did not reveal the name of the charity or why its status had been revoked. However, on Sunday evening ABC spokesperson Kareen Allam said that Richardson was let go after ABC was contacted by local writer Vivian Krause advising them that a charity Richardson was affiliated with had its charitable status revoked.
A human note should be made at this juncture: Two minutes before Christopher Richardson received the call from ABC Vancouver campaign manager Kareen Allam advising him he was being “let go” from the campaign and his candidacy for School Board revoked, Mr. Richardson had taken a call from the care home where his mother-in-law was resident, advising him that his wife’s mother had passed.
With Ms. Richardson in tears and inconsolable, Mr. Richardson reluctantly took Mr. Allam’s call, which call when it ended was followed by hours of reporters camped outside his door, while he attempted to console his beloved and bereft wife, at the same time somehow finding the strength to participate in a number of incredibly difficult — and dare we say, unfeeling — interviews with the press, where he was put on the defensive, during which interviews he felt doggedly under attack.
The behind-the-scenes story is this: Christopher Richardson, who is a Chartered Professional Accountant, Charitable Gift Planning Consultant & Philanthropy Advisor, has worked since 2005 with Blake Bromley, a Vancouver-based lawyer, considered to be one of the world’s foremost experts in charity law, and a recognized pioneer of charitable law and gifting in Canada, who works with donors, charities, foundations and governments on legal, financial and strategic issues.
As you might well expect, Mr. Bromley does not work exclusively with Mr. Richardson. From time to time, Mr. Bromley has taken on work for Joel Solomon, a philanthropist, real estate magnate and founder of Vision Vancouver — the civic party which held power in Vancouver between 2008 and 2018 — and who is also a co-founder of Hollyhock on Cortes Island, about which Shannon Rupp, a reporter for The Georgia Straight, has written …
“I assume this artificial feeling of love and acceptance is what people are paying for, but I have to admit I find these get-togethers oppressive. Perhaps the most annoying aspect of Hollyhock is its culture of conformity – Goddess forbid anyone should question anything. After five days here, I’ve found Hollyhock is really two places: the site itself is delightful, but the half-baked spiritual and psychological concepts it peddles make me uneasy.”
Vivian Krause, conspiracy theorist, given to arch-villain, under-researched, unsupported narratives.
For years, Vivian Krause, a controversial researcher and writer critical of Canada’s environmental charities and, we think it is fair to say, a rabid critic of Joel Solomon, who Ms. Krause has spent a good portion of her life “exposing” as a charlatan, a fraud and a ne’er-do-well, and for whom she has long had a hate on. Anyone even remotely associated with Mr. Solomon is persona non grata in her book, a despicable evil creature deserving of the worst she might visit upon him.
And so she does.
Ms. Krause’s undeserving and unwitting “target” in the 2022 Vancouver civic election: Christopher Richardson, because of his loose affiliation with Joel Solomon, through his work with Vancouver charitable foundations lawyer Blake Bromley. For the past decade and more, Vivian Krause has dragged out every and any untoward, unsupported and unsubstantiated allegation of wrong-doing concerning Mr. Richardson, in some ways making his life on Earth, at times, a living hell.
For weeks in the current election campaign, Ms. Krause has attempted to peddle her scurrilous allegations about Mr. Richardson — who in the cutthroat world of civic politics is a beloved figure — to every campaign in the 2022 election, which entreaties by Ms. Krause by each and every one of the Vancouver civic parties — much to their credit — save one, was rejected. Seems that Ms. Krause has a relationship of longstanding with one of the ABC candidates for election, and it is this candidate who stuck the knife in Mr. Richardson’s School Board candidacy.
Some weeks ago Blake Bromley and Mr. Richardson submitted a renewal of the application for charitable foundation status for one of the foundations Mr. Bromley and Mr. Richardson represent, the every five year re-application in accordance with Canada Revenue Agency guidelines, as required under law. Apparently, the documentation submitted by Mr. Bromley and Mr. Richardson was incomplete — one or more boxes was left unchecked — leading the CRA to reject the application, and revoke the charitable status of the foundation re-applying for certification.
Upon being advised of the revocation, Mr. Bromley immediately launched an appeal, which appeal is under review, the corrected and fully completed application now in the hands of the Canada Revenue Agency. Mr. Richardson advises VanRamblings that he believes the re-application will be successful, after which he has been assured by Mr. Allam, once all outstanding matters have been resolved, he may once again resume his ABC candidacy for Vancouver School Board.
Oh, there’s more, so much more. But not today. We’re already over length.
Chances are that as you are reading this, VanRamblings is attending the much-looked-forward-to announcement of the TEAM for a Livable Vancouver housing policy — finally, with UBC urban geographer, VanRamblings’ most beloved Patrick Condon one of the presenters — where we’ve been assured that our dreams about an affordable housing policy, which we have written about ad nauseum and to distraction during the course of the current civic election campaign — will be realized.
Colour us thrilled and over-the-moon. I believe that there’s a lunch with Mr. Condon & Ms. Hardwick, in the Olympic Village, in each of our respective futures.
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!
Arezo Zarrabian, Non-Partisan Association (NPA) a must-elect candidate for Vancouver City Council
