Get Involved | 2018’s Election Outcome Will Be Decided by YOU

May 17, 2018Vancouver Votes 2018Raymond Tomlin

Get Involved! Support your candidate. YOU are the person who will determine our city's priorities. And, when the time comes, get out and VOTE!

As much as we love OneCity Vancouver candidate for City Council, Christine Boyle — but simply politically, you understand (which is the admonition you will hear thousands of people giving themselves, who have become just as smitten with Christine Boyle, as we assure you, you will become) — as we do her talented, chock full of integrity, energetic, full of ideas for a better and more livable city for all of us, colleagues who’ll be running for office and Council, in tandem, with OneCity Vancouver: the phenomenally bright, learned and engaging democrat, Ben Bolliger, his incredibly wonderful colleague, the move-you-to-tears when you hear him speak, Brandon Yan, and colleague, dad and saviour of our city, R.J Aquino …

Just a few of the very fine folks in OneCity Vancouver, who are working for you. Click on this link to join OneCity Vancouver, and this link to donate money to OneCity Vancouver.

Good lookin’ crew above, huh? They’re with Vancouver’s oldest and most established left-of-centre social justice political party, COPE — the Coalition of Progressive Electors. Want to see the revolution come sooner than later? Then these are your folks — good-hearted, well-meaning, mean to get things done now, and you better believe they will, who believe, as Emma Goldman did, “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.” Good thing these folks can dance up a storm. Join COPE today. Click here.

And as deep as our affection is for Anne Roberts, who is the must-elect COPE candidate for Council come this autumn, who will sweep into office, returning to Vancouver City Council for a much-deserved second term (there was a bit of an interregnum between terms, but she was fighting in the trenches on our behalf, a ground level, people-oriented social justice campaign of change), and as much as we would wish to see Adriane Carr near top-the-polls this year (which position will be reserved for, yep you guessed it … Christine Boyle), and for her very able, city-building for all of us, neighbourhood advocate colleague, the too lovely and kind for words, and — can we say phenomenally bright again? We can. Oh good — phenomenally bright Green colleague, autumn must-elect, Pete Fry …

Vancouver City Councillor Adriane Carr, and Pete Fry, Green Party of Vancouver 2018 candidates for City Council. Join Adriane and Pete in the Green Party, work with them to ensure they’re both elected to Council, and help our city to become the city you know it can be — defined by compassion, an environmentally-forward and slow-and-sustainable-growth, where affordable housing, better transit and much much more can be yours. All you have to do is join the Green Party of Vancouver — in order that you can be the one who will make a difference, make the difference. And, you know what else? When you join the Vancouver Green Party, and you find yourself spending time in the campaign office, particulary on Friday afternoons, you’ll discover one little known salutary aspect of being involved in a Green campaign for office — the food, the most scrumptious food you’ve ever eaten, biotic region food, natural and organic food, tasty-beyond-belief food, enjoyed in the company of some of our town’s most good-hearted and socially-conscious folks. Click here to join the Green Party of Vancouver, and enjoy the time of your life.

Ignore all the foofaraw that you’re hearing around the NPA, the Vancouver Non-Partisan Association. That’s just the politics of distraction. The three folks above — John Coupar for Mayor, with Sarah Kirby-Yung and Rob McDowell looking to each secure a seat on Vancouver City Council, as they must — three of the best people our town has ever produced, politicians of character (how rare is that?), whose nose-to-the-grindstone approach to public life, where they’re working 24 hours a day for you … I mean, what’s not to love about that? Honest, you should join the Vancouver Non-Partisan Association if you’re looking for a party that offers a steady hand on the till, non-intrusive governance that keeps you in mind, and a City Council dedicated to services and service for the citizens of Vancouver. Oh sure, they’re nominally right-of-centre, but puh-leeze, that’s hardly disqualifying wherever you are along the political spectrum. Want to join the NPA, and work on their civic election campaign, as you must, then click here.

And as much as we think the the sun rises and sets on Park Board Commissioner, Sarah Kirby-Yung — set to become British Columbia Premier one day … just you wait and see, but who has her eyes set on a seat on Vancouver City Council this autumn, a net good and a great thing for the citizens of Vancouver, the depth and breadth of her democratic advocacy beyond compare in this civic election year — our affection for her Park Board colleague, John Coupar, who all but willed us to get better during our battle with cancer — and as deep and abiding as is our affection for their soon-to-be-announced colleague’s candidacy for Vancouver City Council, the one, the only, you’ve got to vote for him, Rob McDowell …

For the new candidates elected to Vancouver City Council on Saturday, October 20th, they are going to find that there is a huge learning curve. Realistically, it will take Christine Boyle, Ben Bolliger, Sarah Kirby-Yung, Catherine Evans, Rob McDowell, and even Anne Roberts a good year-and-a-half to find their way around City Hall, figure out how things are done, read up on past decisions of Council, and the impact of those decisions on newly proposed pieces of legislation at the Council table. Honestly, as we say below, don’t you want some institutional memory, a couple of people, like Raymond Louie, Heather Deal, and the Greens’ Adriane Carr in the chambers of Council, to help facilitate what looks to be an unprecedented affordable housing construction programme for the people of Vancouver? C’mon now, if you’re a rational person — and you know, you are — you absolutely want that to be the case. That’s why you want to make darn sure Raymond Louie, Heather Deal, joined by Park Board Commissioner Catherine Evans, will be re-elected come this October 20th. Join Vision Vancouver? You betcha. Just click right here.

And, did we tell you how important it is to cast your ballot this autumn, for these folks: they’ve accomplished far, far, far more than they’re given credit for, Vision Vancouver 2018 candidates for Vancouver City Council, Mr. Federation of Canadian Municipalities honcho Raymond Louie (we have the same first name, what’s not to love about that?) — who may not be going for the top job this year, but we sure-as-hell need his voice of passion and compassion, wit and intelligence, and critical institutional memory that he has gained in 16 years as a member of Vancouver City Council; and his equally able, arts advocate extraordinaire colleague, the talented woman-of-the-people feminist and environmentalist, Heather Deal (did you see her on the video, in the Monday column, chairing the City Finance & Services meeting? Wow, wow, wow! … we believe Ms. Deal’s picture accompanies the definition of the word democracy in your dictionary); and let us not forget, saving the best for last, current Park Board Commissioner, the humble and kind and oh-so-talented voice of reason (coupled with an incredible work ethic, and a heart as big as all outdoors), Catherine Evans, whose term in office at the Vancouver Park Board is the realization of a dream for those of us who love Vancouver’s Parks & Recreation system, and whose election to Council will provide us with an advocate extraordinare …

Has VanRamblings told you how much we honour, respect, admire and just plain love the folks who are working on #TeamJean, on #TheCityWeNeed campaign, the single most organized, heartened and heartening group of activists to become involved on the municipal scene in Vancouver in nearly 50 years? Join with the folks working with and on #TeamJean if you really, really, really want to make a difference, by clicking here.

You know how VanRamblings like to save the best for last when we’re writing about folks we love? You do? Thought you did. Thank you to the indefatigable Anne Roberts for reminding us — we tell ya, this four hours of sleep each day, up until 6am or 7am writing thing we seem have going — and how could we forget, because they are first in our heart, running a campaign we truly believe in, good and caring folks like activist, Carnegie Community Action Project worker along with Jean Swanson (our town’s most powerful speaker, although she’s quiet and you’ve got to listen closely), and unbelievably great mom and her father’s daughter extraordinaire, Wendy Pederson (follow her on Facebook now!), Riaz Behra, Maddy Madderson III, Maria Wallstam, writer and organizer extraordinaire, Derrick O’Keefe, Nathan Crompton, Laura Stannard (who we hugged last Saturday at the St. James Community Square fundraiser — it was our friend Christopher Richardson who purchased our $100 ticket, cuz … y’know … we’re a pauper, cuz coverage of the civic political scene and this lack of sleep thing we seem to have going was getting to be just a little too much) and … tell you what, VanRamblings will interview and write about each of these fine folks (who, if you look up the word humility in the dictionary you’ll find their photo) and the names of #TeamJean / The City We Need folks whose names we have missed above. VanRamblings’ socks are impressed off with the dedication, the determination and the heart — and an organizational ability and élan that would have made the Obama team blush in 2012, these folks are that good. Well, you know about them now, if you didn’t before, and in this sometimes crazy world of ours, you can set about to make a difference working with The City We Need folks.

Incredibly good people, democrats to their core, public officials who will dedicate their lives to making this a more livable city for you, your family, your friends and colleagues, and everyone in every neighbourhood in our city, Vancouver — but only, and listen up and listen tight … have we got your attention? … only if you get involved, and we don’t mean just voting, we mean: donating monies to the candidates and civic parties of your choice, who best reflect your values, because those candidate and civic party brochures you’re going to see so much of this next five months don’t come for free, they require your hard-earned, put to a good cause dollars.
Democracy. That’s what we call it in these parts.

We live in a democracy, and not a totalitarian state, or in the United States below, where a racist, homophobic, ill-tempered man-child is destroying the very essence of what his country has stood for the past 242 years, because of good folks like you — because in each and every election, hundreds and thousands of volunteers get involved in the campaigns of the candidates they support; answering phones in the candidate campaign or party office, making fundraising calls, holding coffee klatches for their neighbours, going door-knocking on behalf of their candidates til they can’t climb another stairway or walk another step, who dig deep and give whatever monies they have to forward the cause of the candidates and party they support, because money is needed, and money helps to win the campaign.
Quite simply, it is not good enough for you to sit at home on your duff (or for your friends and neighbours to sit at home on their duff). There is simply too much on the line in the 2018 Vancouver municipal election, as there is in every civic election that will be held across British Columbia on Saturday, October 22nd.
What’s that we hear? You have no interest in politics. That’s like saying …

“Sure I’m a chain-smoker. Hell, I smoke 3 packs a day, as I have for years. And drinking? Never gone through day without drinking at least a mickey of gin — and more, if I can afford it. What’s that you say? Exercise? That’s for chumps & suckers. Walking? What a waste of time. Me, I like to start off each day the same way, fry up some eggs soaked in oil with a frying pan full of bacon, sausage, ham and steak, with greasy hash browns piled high on the plate, and four slices of white bread toast slathered in honey, cinnamon, butter and jam. Of course, that’s just to get me going to start my day. Dinner? Lemme tell ya …”

As eating well, exercising, not smoking and taking good care of yourself is important to your health and well-being, getting involved in the maelstrom we call Vancouver politics is equally, if not more, important.
The environment, green initiatives, advocacy for expansion of transit, the construction of housing co-ops, the approval of co-housing, social housing, and truly affordable rental housing is critical to our city’s future, and critical to the livability of the city where you — where we all — reside.
Make a difference. You are the difference. Work together for change. Help build the city we need.
And you know what?
If you don’t get off your duff, if you don’t join the political party which best represents your values, if you fail to set aside at least 100 hours this summer, and another 100 hours come September and October, if you don’t dig deep, go into your savings or even a bit into your line of credit or put some money on your VISA or Mastercard, you are not going to get the city you want, the Vancouver we need, a city of equity, fairness and social justice, a city for every person, in all of Vancouver’s 23 neighbourhoods.
Again: you are not going to get the city you need, we need, your family, your neighbours, your friends and colleagues need, if you don’t work for it. Because, the success of our city, the health of our city depends on YOU.
That’s right — no sitting at home on your duff whining, “Oh, they’re all a bunch of neoliberals. Why would I want to dedicate 5 minutes of my time, when I’ve got John Pilger, Chris Hedges and Noam Chomsky to read.” No sitting on your duff at home saying, “Those damn politicians, they’re all alike. They’re just trying to line their pockets. And they’re all a bunch of communist thieves, too. I don’t want anything to do with any of them.”
Active transportation. A thriving parks and recreation system. The commencement of the construction of thousands of new homes for people, member-run housing co-ops, or co-housing, and social housing. An expanded transit system to meet the needs of our fellow citizens. A livable city where our environment remains a priority, as does the recognition of and reconciliation with our indigenous peoples. A livable city for you to live, to enjoy, to love, a city for everyone.

Christine Boyle. OneCity Vancouver. You MUST save a vote for Christine this October.

Tell you what, though. If you are not out on the hustings with the candidate you’ve chosen to support in the crucial civic election year of 2018, if you’re not donating monies and time and energy, if you’re not out meeting with your friends and neighbours and colleagues this next five months, extolling the virtues of candidates like — okay, okay, we can’t help ourselves, and you won’t, either, once you get to know her — Christine Boyle, and doing everything human and in your power, to do your part to realize the city that you want, come Saturday, October 20th, you’re going to be darned disappointed, whether you know it or not, that you didn’t do your part to help our city become the city of your dreams, and a near paradise on Earth.

Vancouver Votes 2018 | The Hector Bremner Saga Continues

May 16, 2018BC Politics, Politics, Vancouver, Vancouver Votes 2018Raymond Tomlin

On Monday, VanRamblings published the reasons why Vancouver City Councillor Hector Bremner’s mayoral candidacy was rejected by the party he sits with on Council, the Vancouver Non-Partisan Association. Since publication, further information has come to VanRamblings attention, in respect of Mr. Bremner’s now truncated candidacy for Mayor, and how his bid for the NPA mayoral nomination came about in the first place.
Given the involvement of longtime B.C. Liberal party fixer Mark Marissen, readers will probably find it rather elementary to put two and two together, to determine that the Andrew Wilkinson-led provincial Liberal party had everything and more to do with novice Vancouver City Councillor Hector Bremner’s decision to seek the Non-Partisan Association mayoral nod.

Part 1: How Hector Bremner Came to Be a Mayoral Nominee for the NPA
On May 9, 2017, the B.C. Liberal party fell out of power, after 16 years in control of the British Columbia legislature. Following the resignation of former Premier Christy Clark as leader of her party, on February 3rd of this year, Vancouver-Quilchena MLA Andrew Wilkinson won the leadership of the renewed B.C. Liberal party.
Once at the helm of the now opposition provincial political party, newly-installed Liberal party leader Wilkinson hired Harvard-educated Vancouver lawyer, Paul Barbeau, as his “special assistant“. Mr. Barbeau, a longtime respected activist in the federal Conservative party, is a founding partner of the prestigious Vancouver law firm of Barbeau, Evans & Goldstein.
Mr. Barbeau’s job for the B.C. Liberal leader: join (or is that, infiltrate?) the Vancouver Non-Partisan Association, with designs on taking over the Vancouver civic party in time for the 2018 Vancouver municipal election.
Andrew Wilkinson told Mr. Barbeau that the B.C. Liberals required a political power base in Vancouver, and an opportunity to test-run the party’s electoral readiness machine, with the upcoming Vancouver civic election providing the best possible circumstance to achieve both ends. Hector Bremner — a B.C. Liberal acolyte — would be their stalking horse.
Consulting with Marissen & Mike Wilson — a veteran B.C. Liberal operative, and Mr. Bremner’s campaign manager in last year’s successful Vancouver municipal by-election — Barbeau brought Marissen and Wilson on board to run a winning Hector Bremner mayoral bid for the NPA nomination.

On February 19th of this year, Hector Bremner published a Facebook post, writing that he would be running for the mayoral nomination of the Vancouver Non-Partisan Association, writing, “I’m excited today, with the support of my wife Virginia and two kids Carlo and Gianluca, to confirm that I am seeking the NPA nomination for Mayor of our great city Vancouver.”
With successful and experienced campaign managers Marissen and Wilson at the helm of Hector Bremner’s mayoral nomination bid, all seemed to be falling into place nicely for the B.C. Liberal party leader’s plan to take over Vancouver civic politics, and establish an electoral power base for his party.
To seal the deal, Mr. Barbeau — now a member of the Non-Partisan Association — offered his services to the NPA Board, stating that he would be “willing” to sit on the party’s Green Light Committee, if the Board so wished … which they did. At this point, everyone was happy!
But not for long, as it would turn out.
As Globe and Mail civic affairs columnist Frances Bula has written, NPA election readiness has become a real soap opera. But we’re not there yet.
Paul Barbeau, then, would sit on the Green Light Committee vetting Mr. Bremner’s candidacy to become the NPA’s mayoral nominee.
Part 2: How Hector Bremner Lost the NPA Mayoral Nomination

A Tale of Much Sadness and Woe for Everyone Involved. Or, the Destruction of the NPA.
In fact, sources have told VanRamblings, on the three-person NPA Green Light Committee, Mr. Barbeau emerged as the only committee member to heartily endorse Mr. Bremner’s candidacy, with the other two members of the committee expressing reservations, which they would take to members of the NPA Board of Directors, recommending rejection of Mr. Bremner’s nomination application, based on those reservations — as outlined in VanRamblings’ Monday column, and in a column written by Vancouver Sun civic affairs reporter, Dan Fumano, in which he writes …

The Non-Partisan Association shot down their own sitting caucus member’s bid for its mayoral nomination because of, among other things, concerns that his day job left him in an “inherently conflicted” position.

That allegation was among the “serious concerns” outlined in a two-page letter sent Sunday evening from NPA president Gregory Baker to NPA Coun. Hector Bremner, according to a person who had reviewed the document.

Sunday’s letter came at the end of a tumultuous week for the city’s oldest political party, after the NPA board voted last Monday to reject Bremner’s attempt to seek the party’s mayoral nomination, prompting a series of departures from the party, including prospective candidates and two board members, as Postmedia News reported last Friday. By Monday, another director had departed, bringing the total to three.

On Monday morning Baker released a statement saying he had sent a “confidential letter” to Bremner the previous evening, “outlining in detail the reasons why the NPA board did not approve his mayoral application.”

“Although the NPA does not plan to publicly release this information, Mr. Bremner is within his rights to release the information, as well as the contents of the letter, as he sees fit,” Baker said in the statement.

The letter hasn’t been released publicly, but a person who had a copy of it read excerpts to The Vancouver Sun over the phone Monday and described parts of it, including the list of the NPA’s concerns about Bremner’s application.

The letter outlines the NPA’s “serious concerns” about Bremner’s application, beginning with Bremner’s request (ed. note., as was reported by VanRamblings on Monday) that his lawyer could accompany him to the Green Light Committee meeting to discuss his prospects of being on the ballot for the NPA’s nomination meeting May 29.

The letter cites three conflict-of-interest complaints involving Bremner’s work with the Pace Group, a media-relations and lobbying firm. Baker confirmed Monday that the three complaints referenced in the letter were those filed by two locals named Raza Mirza and Justin Fung. Mirza and Fung, both of whom spoke last month to Postmedia about their complaints, said they had recently signed up for NPA memberships. Both expressed concerns about Bremner’s suitability for the city’s top job.

As a reminder to readers, Messrs. Mirza and Fung are co-founders of HALT Vancouver — Housing Action for Local Taxpayers — and avowed supporters of Bremner nemesis, Glen Chernen, whose mayoral nomination was approved by the NPA Board, Monday, May 7th.
VanRamblings has to ask: are there any winners in this mishegoss?
B.C. Liberal Party leader, Andrew Wilkinson? No. Paul Barbeau? No.
Hector Bremner? No. NPA President Gregory Baker? No. The Board of Directors, and members, of the Vancouver Non-Partisan Association. Definitely not. Mark Marissen, Mike Wilson, Glen Chernen and his acolytes, Raza Mirza and Justin Fung? Only time will tell — but it ain’t lookin’ good.

Five-Term Burnaby Mayor In For Some Rough Times Ahead

May 15, 2018BC Politics, Politics, Vancouver Votes 2018Raymond Tomlin

Dysfunction in civic politics is not solely the realm of the maelstrom that has come to define civic politics in Vancouver, on both the right and the left.
As is the case in municipalities across the province, Burnaby civic parties will soon choose which candidates they will run for office in this upcoming October’s municipal election. The choice for Mayor in Burnaby, the municipality right next door to Vancouver, should have been any easy one — but it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be, if what sources close to the reigning Burnaby Citizens Association tell VanRamblings, comes to pass.

Results of the 2014 Burnaby Municipal Election

As may be seen in the 2014 Burnaby municipal election graphic above, the Burnaby Citizens Association — the civic party backed by the provincial NDP, and the New Westminster & District Labour Council (NDLC) — swept to victory at the polls, defeating the upstart Burnaby First Coalition (BFC), a ragtag collection of centre-right candidates bent on defeating Mayor Derek Corrigan, and his raging band of socialists. Much to the chagrin of the BFC, though, the candidates running with the Burnaby Citizens Association (BCA) once again stormed the gates of Burnaby City Hall, as they had done in each and every Burnaby municipal election in the previous 20 years.
In 2014, then, a rough and ready Derek Corrigan was elected to an unprecedented fifth consecutive term as the once-and-forever bibulous for power Mayor of river-and-sea-rise Burnaby, where Burnaby citizens could show open affection, kiss and hold hands, where “banning behaviours that hinted at sex or sexuality, even including a chaste bridal kiss or walking hand in hand would hurt public decorum and lead to further violence,” or so said Burnaby mayoral aspirant, Sylvia Gung — would not come to pass. As may be seen in the graphic above, Mayor Corrigan eked out a tiny victory, defeating the good Ms. Gung, 28,133 votes to her satisfying 372 votes.
And the angels wept.

Wistful Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan contemplates a sixth-term run for office

As far back as October 2016, Derek Corrigan was ruminating on the decision as to whether he might wish to run for a sixth term of office as Burnaby’s Mayor, with rumours swirling about the mayor’s political future when his wife, then NDP MLA Kathy Corrigan, decided she would retire from provincial politics at the end of her term in 2017 …
“At this stage I would be leaning toward running again,” he told the Burnaby NOW when asked about his future. “I’m really going to have to have a hard look at it as I get closer to the election date. You sign up for a four-year term and you want to be able to give it everything it needs,” he said, noting he would be 71 years old at the end of another term.
Most folks on the left in Burnaby read Derek Corrigan’s statement above as he might not run again, that he’d be 71 years of age at the end of another term, that he was considering his options — with glee. Hallelujah!
Welcome news for many Burnaby citizens, not just on the right of the political spectrum, but on the social justice left, the news received with feelings of near euphoria, mixed with deep sighs of relief, by members of the Burnaby NDP constituency associations, the New Westminster & District Labour Council, and the long put-upon residents of Metrotown South and their hardy representatives, the Alliance Against Displacement.
Said a source closely-tied to New Westminster & District Labour Council …

“Four thousand Burnaby residents have been, or soon will be, evicted from their low-rise rental apartment buildings south of Metrotown. Displacing 4000 people — what kind of progressive party does that? And what arrangements has Burnaby Council made to address that displacement? None. Because, as you know, because it’s Burnaby, low-income residents are just not welcome.”

In 2018, progressive elements in Burnaby’s NDP constituency associations, activist Burnaby social justice groups, the Alliance Against Displacement as lead by Ivan Drury, and the New Westminster & District Labour Council — the latter, a longtime supporter and funder of the Burnaby Citizens Association, which had often taken Board positions on the BCA, helping to set and direct policy, fund-raise and set up the electoral machinery in each Burnaby civic election — in this electoral year are saying enough is enough.
In a comment dripping with sarcasm, a member of the Burnaby Citizens Association Board of Directors, in a telephone conversation with VanRamblings, averred …

“You know, there’s no homelessness in Burnaby. No homeless anywhere. Derek Corrigan says it’s true, so it must be true, don’t you think?”

In a legendary 2013 interview, Corrigan told Burnaby NOW reporter Chris Bryan that he didn’t want homeless shelters in Burnaby …

“The people in shelters (of which Vancouver has dozens and most cities in the Metro Vancouver region have at least one, Bryan writes) are by and large beyond hope,” Corrigan said. “They’re either addicted, seriously mentally ill, or habitual criminals. Some live in rooms crammed with junk floor-to-ceiling, and many rooms are infested with bugs. Many are the type of folks who, if they found you dying on the sidewalk would pull out your gold fillings. Are these the kind of people Burnaby residents want living in their neighbourhood”, he asked.

“The people (in shelters) are the impossible to house, so addicted that all they worry about is the opportunity to feed their addiction, whether it’s alcohol, drugs or anything else.”

Phew! Corrigan’s words may have appeal for the less socially-conscious members of the federal Conservative Party, and various right-wing elements in our society — but for a party largely financed by the New Westminster & District Labour Council, in 2018 Corrigan’s regressive attitude to the more vulnerable citizens who reside in our region, is not only off-putting, it is viewed as mean, heartless and completely and utterly unacceptable by a broad swath of labour and social justice activists.

As a consequence of the continued intransigence of Mayor Derek Corrigan to move forward on the affordable housing file in Burnaby, and his continuing refusal to even consider allowing homeless shelters as transition facilities to house those in need, has resulted in a decision by the New Westminster & District Labour Council not to support Derek Corrigan for a sixth-term of office as Burnaby Mayor …

“The NWDLC has chosen a progressive candidate, a young labour activist, who will become the Burnaby Citizens Association’s mayoral candidate in 2018. We know that longtime members of Council wanted to vye for the Mayor’s job, with our endorsement. We feel, given the support many on Council have offered the Mayor, that it is time for a new broom to sweep in, someone who will bring about substantive change at the municipal level in Burnaby, someone with whom our provincial NDP can work with.

Derek Corrigan will not get access to the $600,000 the Burnaby Citizens Association has raised; the NWDLC members of the BCA Board will see to that. All of this will unfold towards the end of the month. Negotiations are ongoing with the Mayor to convince him to step down. If he doesn’t accede to the wishes of the NWDLC, and the many social justice groups in Burnaby, should he decide to run, Corrigan will find that he’ll be running a shoestring operation bereft of the support of labour, and the new and more progressive BCA candidates who will run for office, and we are confident will be elected on Saturday, October 22nd.”

And here you thought that in the sleepy, mall-laden bedroom communities of the Metro Vancouver region all was well, and the world was unfolding as it is meant to, where peace & harmony would reign forever & ever & ever.
As it still might — just not with Derek Corrigan as the mayor of Burnaby.

For VanRamblings’ complete coverage of #VancouverVotes2018, and related activity across Metro Vancouver, click on this link. VanRamblings continues to publish civic election coverage Monday thru Thursday and will do so through the end of June, at which point our civic election coverage may be reduced to thrice weekly, with full near daily coverage of the upcoming civic election to resume again in September, through until election day, Saturday, October 20th — complemented by coverage of the upcoming and glorious, 37th annual Vancouver International Film Festival.
All of which leaves our Friday VanRamblings to ‘arts coverage’ — this week focusing on the upcoming programme at the must-attend Vancity Theatre — with Saturdays given over to Stories of a Life — which, if you want to know who’s behind this blog, will provide you with insight and narrative — and on Sundays … who knows? See ya back here tomorrow, and always!

Men Who Live In Glass Houses, Shouldn’t Throw Stones

May 14, 2018BC Politics, Politics, Vancouver, Vancouver Votes 2018Raymond Tomlin

Hector Bremner, set to go it alone in his bid to become Vancouver’s next Mayor

EXCLUSIVE
As we wrote last week, Monday evening May 7th, Vancouver City Councillor Hector Bremner was informed by Gregory Baker, the President of the Board of Directors of his party, the Vancouver Non-Partisan Association, that his mayoral nomination application had been rejected. No reason was given.
After extensive dialogue with members of, and sources close to, the nominally right-of-centre Non-Partisan Association, and a frank Friday afternoon discussion with Mr. Bremner’s indignant campaign manager — longtime respected political campaigner, Mark Marissen — as well as numerous other individuals with insight into the reasons why a rejection of Mr. Bremner’s application was always in the cards, that Mr. Bremner’s bid to become his party’s mayoral standard-bearer was finished even before it began, today on VanRamblings we will reveal a few of the reasons why the Vancouver Non-Partisan Association rejected Mr. Bremner’s mayoral nominee application, tempered with commentary from Mark Marissen, and explanatory political context provided by VanRamblings.
1. Pay for Play
Or, Mr. Bremner’s alleged cozy relationship with a Vancouver developer
This past week, lawyer Michael Avenatti — legal counsel for adult film star, Stormy Daniels — released a document he referred to as a Summary Brief, alleging that Michael Cohen, President Trump’s lawyer, created a shell company called Essential Consultants to receive payments from a firm linked to a Russian oligarch, Viktor Vekselberg, and corporations with business before the Trump administration, e.g. AT&T, involved in a merger with Time-Warner, a merger President Trump had heretofore opposed. Mr. Cohen was paid $800,000 by AT&T for “access” to the President.
In total, Mr. Cohen has received monies in the millions, if not tens of millions, of dollars, from Mr. Vekselberg — a confidant of Russian leader, Vladimir Putin — and others, monies it has been alleged were used to pay off 130 different “complainants” set to bring suit against Mr. Trump.
Pay for Play? Mr. Cohen launders money received from Russian oligarchs, and multi-national corporations in the crosshairs of the Trump administration, and just like magic Mr. Trump’s “problems” go away, as do the problems of the multi-national corporations Trump fixer Michael Cohen has promised favours to, in exchange for payment of millions of dollars.
Pay for Play? Nice and tidy — until you get caught.

Mr. Bremner. Sources within and close to the Vancouver Non-Partisan Association administration have told VanRamblings they believe Mr. Bremner, and members of his election team, have “cut a deal” with a prominent Vancouver developer, that in exchange for funding the novice NPA City Councillor’s bid to become Vancouver’s next Mayor, Mr. Bremner has promised “special favours” to the developer, should he win election.
In times of old Pay for Play was called, “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours,” a central feature of political administrations, municipal, provincial / state, or federal. Mayor Gregor Robertson and his Vision Vancouver party have often been accused of a cozy, perhaps quid pro quo, relationship with Westbank developer Ian Gillespie, and real estate marketer, Bob Rennie.

Christine Boyle, OneCity Vancouver candidate, running for Vancouver City Council

In contemporary society, and particularly in the politics of personal destruction realm, there is a propensity to demonize political adversaries, and developers in particular — a central feature of political life in our city, we’re sad to say — but not for pure-hearted politicos like Christine Boyle, a OneCity Vancouver candidate for Vancouver City Council — who will top-the-polls on election night, Saturday, October 20th — running a committed social justice, affordable housing, activist, get-things-done-for-us platform.

Politics is just like life.
Every now and then you’re going to run across someone you really like, someone you admire, someone with whom you gain an immediate rapport. When VanRamblings sat as a member of Vancouver’s Board of Variance, there were any number of developers, architects and designers for whom the members of the Boards of Variance on which we sat, gained some deep affection. Did that affection ever translate into “a deal” for the avuncular, good-natured appellant appearing before the Board. Never!
VanRamblings would suggest the same thing is true with Mayor Robertson, and the members of his Vision Vancouver team. Sure, there’s a closeness between Mayor Robertson and Ian Gillespie — in 2011, when VanRamblings’ friend Mike Klassen ran for City Council with the NPA, when Michael and another NPA candidate entered the waterfront Fairmont Vancouver hotel owned and operated by Mr. Gillespie, both were unceremoniously ejected, in a rough process at that — but does Mr. Gillespie’s support of his friend Gregor Robertson translate into a rubber stamp for whatever development Mr. Gillespie brings before Council?
VanRamblings would suggest that the answer to the question above is an emphatic no! All you have to do is take a look at the Westbank development near 70th and Granville, where Mr. Gillespie got next to nothing from Gregor Robertson’s majority Vision Vancouver City Council, who mandated a significant reduction in density, much-reduced heights for the condominium towers Mr. Gillespie proposed, and a break-the-bank Community Amenity Contribution.
Far too easy and far too cynical to accuse our political masters — and the very strong and principled women who sit on Vancouver City Council — of corruption, or collusion with developers, many of whom are true visionaries and despite their wealth maintain an altruistic love for our city. Perhaps Mr. Bremner’s involvement with “his” prominent Vancouver-based developer supporter is innocent. Seems that the Board of Directors of the Vancouver Non-Partisan Association don’t think so — all of which means, yet another nail in the coffin of Mr. Bremner’s truncated NPA candidacy for Mayor.
2. Wet Behind the Ears
Or, Mr. Bremner is a novice politico, with little or no grasp of city files
Sources within the NPA administration have expressed concern that Mr. Bremner not only lacks gravitas at City Council, he seems to have little or no understanding of the files that come before him at Vancouver City Council, and seems unwilling (or unable) to learn. NPA sources have told VanRamblings “it’s not good enough that Hector skates by on charm and good looks — there has to be some there there and, quite frankly, we find him wanting, not seasoned enough by far.”
Lack of experience, a poor grasp of the files that come before Council, and a ‘style over substance’ Bremner candidacy had party officials concerned.
3. An ‘Incident’ at Council
Or, Mr. Bremner referred to a woman presenter to Council as a girl
At a May 2nd City Finance & Services meeting chaired by Councillor Heather Deal, co-founder of Good Night Out Vancouver, Stacey Forrester, made a presentation to Council, requesting funding from the city.
As may be heard at approximately the 59 minute, 13 second mark on the video of City Council’s standing CF&S committee meeting, Ms. Forrester introduces herself to Council, stating, “I am also a nurse by trade, having spent many years working in public health, and harm reduction, here in Vancouver,” referring to Good Night Vancouver as a “a pilot programme that has a street team roaming the Granville Entertainment District to help foster a safer environment for club and bar-goers during the area’s busiest hours, the first initiative of its kind in Canada.”
Ms. Forrester completes her address to Council at the 01:05:33 mark of the video of the CF&S meeting, after which Councillor Bremner begins his questioning of Ms. Forrester, stating …

“Thanks for the work that you’re doing. Councillor De Genova has stepped out, but her and I got a ride-along a couple of months ago in downtown, and we were there sort of overnight, and there we were, like, at two in the morning, and it was getting kinda late, and there was a girl, she’s about your age, and she was pretty drunk.

And the officers that we were with respond to the call, the establishment has kicked her out, she’s outside, she’s standing in the pouring rain, no jacket, she’s drunk, can’t find her ID, she doesn’t have her coat cheque, they won’t give her her jacket, it’s just turned into a whole mess.

And what I was surprised by, was struck by, really it came down to the VPD – who literally went out into the street – their flashlight flashed a cab, a cab came over, we put her in a cab. We sent her home.”

Do you see where the problem is — a problem identified by NPA members of Council — in Councillor Bremner’s rambling address to Stacey Forrester? A problem that caused enough concern to another Councillor sitting across from Mr. Bremner, that a tweet went out into the ether expressing astonishment and disgust that Councillor Bremner had just referred to a nurse presenting to Council as a “girl” — not a woman, but a girl.
Although the tweet has since been taken down, concern has been expressed to VanRamblings about Mr. Bremner’s conduct at Council, and the untoward nature of his referring to a woman with agency, as a girl.
One would imagine that there are some men out there, and perhaps some women, who would suggest that Councillor Bremner’s faux pas — unadmitted and not apologized for — is much ado about nothing. But that is decidedly not so for the women with whom we have spoken, who brought the video of the May 2nd City Finance & Services meeting to VanRamblings’ attention. The NPA Board of Directors are aware of the expressed concern.
4. A Legal Foofaraw
Or, Mr. Bremner insists a lawyer attend his Green Light Committee meeting
Applicants for a Vancouver Non-Partisan Association nomination must complete the filling out of a 51-page document. The Green Party of Vancouver employs a similar — but only 24-page — vetting document.
At the Friday afternoon meeting VanRamblings had with Mark Marissen, Mr. Bremner’s campaign manager, Mr. Marissen said …

“We had concern going in (to the Green Light Committee meeting). As you may be aware, at the last NPA AGM, Glen Chernen (ed. note, an approved NPA candidate for Mayor) placed a number of his people on the Board. Given the number of articles published recently where Glen Chernen has alleged a conflict of interest with Hector’s candidacy, and given the ties that HALT has to Glen, we all thought it best that Hector have a lawyer present for the meeting with the Green Light Committee.”

Sources close to the NPA Board told VanRamblings that the Board was “apoplectic” that Mr. Bremner wanted a lawyer present, that such a request is unprecedented in the party’s history (as it would be for the other Vancouver civic political parties, we have been told by representatives).
The Board of Directors fired off a letter to the Bremner team, a letter drafted by legal counsel for the Board, stating that “in the interests of procedural fairness” Mr. Bremner would not be allowed to have a lawyer present for the vetting process conducted by the party’s Green Light Committee. At this point, neither Mr. Bremner’s team, nor members of the NPA Board of Directors — or party members — were relieved or happy.
5. We Don’t Want Any of Them Damn, Di ….
Or, where Mr. Bremner’s concern about racism in the party derived
A couple of weeks back, Hector Bremner’s campaign manager, Mark Marissen, was called to a luncheon meeting with a well-heeled NPA supporter, long a fixture in the party’s infrastructure. According to Mr. Marissen, the person with whom he met expressed a concern about the “500 sign-ups by members of the Muslim faith” who were supporting Mr. Bremner’s bid for the NPA mayoral nomination. Marissen was aghast at the comments of this individual, he told VanRamblings at our Friday meeting.
In fact, sources close to the NPA expressed a similar concern to VanRamblings, not relating to any issue relating to race, but rather …

“We know that Hector has signed up 2000 new members,” an NPA insider told VanRamblings. “Our party’s concern isn’t with the ethnicity or racial makeup of the members Hector signed up — whether it be the 500 members of the Muslim faith, an equal or even greater number of members of Vancouver’s Asian population, or members of the evangelical community who have signed up in droves to support Hector — our concern is that, going forward, few of these new sign-ups are likely to play a role in the party, are unlikely to go door-knocking, man the phones, or play a role in the coming civic election campaign.

Many of Hector’s sign-ups not only have English as a Second language, they speak no English at all. The party feels that Hector isn’t trying to grow the party, but simply stuff the ballot box to secure the NPA nomination for Mayor. To the members of the Board, that’s a concern.”

Also of concern, NPA sources have told us, relates to a feared move of the party to the right, were Mr. Bremner to secure the NPA mayoral nomination, at a time and in an election cycle when the party is again trying to position itself, as it did in 2014, as the wider appeal New Progressive Association.”

Note should be made that none of the concerns expressed above were discussed with Mr. Bremner during his meeting with the NPA Green Light Committee, nor did any NPA Board members approach Mr. Bremner, at any time, to express such concerns to him directly.

Mark Marissen, political campaigner, energetic guy, affable, good-natured and ...

The affable and handsome political campaigner, Mark Marissen

Mr. Marissen rejects all the concerns expressed by NPA party members …

“Look, I didn’t initially come into this looking to work on Hector’s campaign. My candidate, and I thought he’d make a great Mayor, was Fred di Blasio, a high profile member of British Columbia’s indigenous community, a graduate of Queen’s College at Cambridge University, a Telus Vice President, and before that an AT&T VP. Fred’s happily married to Lana Parrilla, one’s of the stars of ABC’s Once Upon A Time TV series. Fred’s a good guy, and I thought he’d make a terrific Mayoral candidate — but after giving the idea much thought, he told me, ‘Not at this time, Mark’. And that was that, I thought, until …

“One day I heard Hector speaking at Council. I was impressed. I know Mike Wilson, who did a bang up job on Hector’s by-election win last year, and it got me thinking … since I’m in campaign mode, I thought to myself when listening to Hector, “Here’s a guy that could go all the way, and become Vancouver’s next Mayor’. So I signed onto Hector’s campaign, and I’m glad I did. Hector is a terrific candidate.”

Marissen’s primary concern relates to the unfairness of the process laid out by the Non-Partisan Association, many of whose members he has great affection for, he told me …

“Ray, you know as well as I, that the candidate who signs up the most members, and gets those members to the nomination meeting to cast their ballot, wins. Politics, in that way, is simple. When it comes right down to it, it’s a numbers game. And that’s the way it should have been. We signed up the most members, we would have gotten them out to the nomination meeting, and on May 29th, Hector would be the NPA’s Mayoral candidate. But it didn’t exactly work out that way, did it?”

At which point, Mark got up from his chair outside the Starbucks on Granville, shook my hand, a big smile washing over his face, predicting, “Hector’s going to be Mayor come October. Just you wait and see.” And then Mark disappeared into the crowd, and VanRamblings was left agog.
Over the course of the afternoon, another item came to the fore.

UPDATE | Hector Bremner posted the above on Facebook at 10am Monday, May 14th.
The NPA posted a confidential letter to Mr. Bremner this morning explaining the reasons WHY his nomination has been rejected by the party, allowing him to reveal the contents.

For Mark Marissen, there’s more than a taste, and a bitter taste at that, a feeling of déjà vu in the current contretemps his candidate is experiencing with “the old boys club” who run the affairs of the NPA, and a lingering resentment at the treatment his then wife, Christy Clark, was subject to when she put her name forward for the 2005 NPA Mayoral nomination.

VanRamblings is sympathetic to both sides in the current dispute between Mr. Bremner’s team, and the NPA Board of Directors — there are good people on both sides. Maybe, as Mark Marissen suggested, “the fix was in,” that John Coupar signed up 1250 members; Ken Sim, 1000; and Glen Chernen, reportedly, 750 members. Perhaps, in 2018, the NPA is looking to nominate a steadier hand as their Mayoral nominee.
Whatever the case, both sides to the dispute know that — at least in terms of political philosophy — there’s more that unites them than separates them. VanRamblings was looking for a “fair fight” come autumn, with the nominally right-of-centre Vancouver Non-Partisan Association on one side, and the coalition of Vancouver’s progressive parties — OneCity Vancouver, COPE, the Greens, Vision Vancouver and TeamJean — on the other side, both offering quite radically different platforms, but similar values of commitment to public life, leaving the decision as to the victors to the voting public, come Saturday, October 20th.
Alas. That’s not going to happen. Not that VanRamblings isn’t pleased that the ‘progressive parties” — now seemingly committed to the notion of a progressive coalition where all the parties in the coalition would agree on at least some tenets of a unified platform — look to emerge, together, as victors this coming autumn. No, we’re near ecstatic with what victory for Vancouver’s progressive coalition will mean for all Vancouver residents, and the provision of truly affordable social, housing co-op and co-housing; and a movement to expanded, and where necessary — as it must be for children aged 5 to 18, and Vancouver residents who live on an income below $40,000 a year — free transit, or at a much-reduced rate.
Final note. VanRamblings will provide both parties to the current right-of-centre dispute, the opportunity to have published here they’re reply to today’s column, or information either or both parties feel the voting public should or must know about the current dispute, heading into this autumn’s Vancouver civic election. And, oh yeah don’t forget: we’re here Monday to Thursday reporting out on Vancouver Votes 2018. See ya tomorrow!