09) COPE NOMINATIONS: SEPT. 18

"How We See It" commentary

     With Vancouver's civic election coming up in just two months, the Coalition of Progressive Electors will hold its nomination meeting on Sunday, Sept. 18, at John Oliver Secondary School. Registration opens at 1 pm, and the meeting starts at 2 pm.

     As always, there will be a lively contest for the COPE nominations. Under the terms of an electoral cooperation agreement strongly backed by its members last June, COPE will nominate three candidates for City Council, four for School Board, and two for Park Board. Vision Vancouver, the centrist party which holds a majority on Council, has already nominated Mayor Gregor Robertson and seven candidates for council, five for School Board, and five for Park Board.

     In our view, the crucial struggle in Vancouver civic politics this fall is to defeat the forces backed by the Harper Tories and the provincial Liberals who want to take over City Hall, as Rob Ford and his group did in Toronto. A victory for the right-wing NPA in these circumstances would open the door to a similar vicious assault against public services at the municipal level, and in particular against the unions which represent municipal workers. The progressive response to this threat must be to strengthen the unity of centre and left forces at the civic level, in order to win the re‑election of Vision‑COPE majorities at City Council, School Board and Park Board. This is the position of the labour movement, including the Vancouver and District Labour Council.

     With this in mind, we urge COPE members to support the nomination of candidates who are strongly committed to the COPE‑Vision electoral cooperation agreement, and to building COPE as the progressive political arm of working people in Vancouver.

     For City Council, these candidates include incumbents David Cadman and Ellen Woodsworth, and Rafael Aquino, a young activist from the city's Filipino community who has been involved in COPE for several years (visit his website at rjaquino.ca for more information).

     At the School Board level, incumbents Allen Blakey, Jane Bouey and Alan Wong have worked closely with Vision trustees to build a strong fightback against the B.C. Liberal attacks on public education. They deserve full support, along with Gwen Giesbrecht, a former chair of the city's District Parent Advisory Council and an outspoken campaigner for better schools.

     There are three candidates seeking COPE's two Park Board spots, and all have excellent credentials as defenders of working people and the environment. They include West End tenant leader Brent Granby, playwright/cultural worker Marcus Youssef, and CUPE activist Donalda Greenwell‑Baker. Each has worked hard to build COPE for many years. COPE members will have to use their best individual judgement to pick two of these candidates at the nomination meeting.

(The above article is from the September 16-31, 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.)