07) COPE MEMBERS BACK ANTI-NPA ELECTORAL COOPERATION

PV Vancouver Bureau

     Some three hundred members of Vancouver's Coalition of Progressive Electors turned out for a special meeting on June 26, voting to maintain COPE's long-standing strategy of working to isolate the right-wing Non-Partisan Alliance (NPA) in this fall's civic election. By a two-thirds majority, COPE members backed an agreement on electoral cooperation with the centrist Vision Vancouver party.

     The agreement gives COPE three nominations for city council, up from two in the 2008 campaign, potentially opening the door to a stronger role on that body, where Vision will nominate seven plus Mayor Gregor Robertson.

     At School Board, which currently has four Vision and three COPE trustees, the parties will nominate five and four respectively. Vision will nominate five Park Board candidates, with two for COPE.

     The lively June 26 debate showed that while COPE remains strongly committed to defeating the most reactionary force in Vancouver politics, the next three years would be interesting for a re-elected Vision/COPE majority. While the two parties both have close ties to the labour movement and a shared commitment to creating a "greener Vancouver" and tackling homelessness, differences over some important issues are likely to remain.

     Presenting the COPE executive's unanimous recommendation to support the agreement, David Chudnovsky made it clear that elected officials will continue to vote in line with COPE policy on matters where the two parties differ. These include taxation, where COPE remains opposed to the ongoing shift away from business towards homeowners, and a range of development proposals, which have been supported by Vision but frequently challenged by COPE's two councillors.

     The situation is more positive on School Board, where the Vision and COPE trustees have worked closely for the past term to protect classrooms from Liberal underfunding of education. The two parties share School Board committee positions on an equal basis, and their vocal opposition to Liberal policies has made Vancouver a leader in the struggle to protect public schools across the province.

     The COPE executive made its recommendation on the basis of a strategy to keep the labour and people's movements united during the campaign, in the face of a major challenge by the NPA. In recent months, it has been increasingly obvious that the NPA hopes to generate a "Rob Ford"-style right-wing backlash against the Vision-COPE alliance. An NPA victory would return Vancouver to the days when public opinion meant little at City Hall. Perhaps most alarming, NPA majorities on council and school board would mean a drastic turn for the worse in labour relations.

     This scenario spurred a good turnout of labour activists on June 26, days after the Vancouver and District Labour Council voted unanimously to support the Vision-COPE agreement. The labour movement was the driving force behind the formation of COPE in 1968, and union members have played a key role in the organization for over 40 years. As many pointed out, it would be self-defeating for labour to back COPE and Vision if the two parties campaigned against each other, allowing the NPA to ride to victory on Nov. 19.

     Some long-time COPE members voted against the agreement, mainly because of differences with Vision on development issues. But the June 26 meeting also saw members of other organizations buy COPE memberships in hopes of defeating the proposal. These included some civic Greens and other anti-labour activists who argue that there is "no difference" between the NPA and Vision, or even that the NPA is preferable. There were also members of the "Fire This Time" cult which has long engaged in splitting activities in the anti-war movement and other areas. These forces were openly encouraged by right-wing bloggers linked to the NPA, desperately hoping to split COPE and to block the electoral agreement.

     The next major step in the campaign will be the COPE nomination meeting set for Sept. 18. Although incumbent city councillors Ellen Woodsworth and David Cadman are expected to win, a tough fight is likely around the third nomination. Community activist R.J. Aquino appears to have strong support of COPE's members and elected officials, but former councillor Tim Louis is also in the running. Louis has been a highly divisive figure since his blunders cost COPE dearly during the 2005 civic campaign, and he is closely linked to Fire This Time. At the June 26 meeting, Louis explicitly stated that he would not vote for Vision candidates, a direct indication that he refuses to carry out the electoral strategy backed by a large majority of COPE members. A nomination for Louis would leave COPE with council candidates operating on diametrically-opposed tracks during the campaign, likely a recipe for disaster at the polls.

(The above article is from the August 1-31, 2011, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)