03) COPE KICKS OFF 2011 CIVIC CAMPAIGN
PV Vancouver Bureau
A turnout of almost 1,000 Coalition of Progressive Electors members and supporters (by far the largest nomination meeting in this year's Vancouver municipal campaign) met on Sept. 18 to pick nine candidates to field in the Nov. 19 civic election.
"We're not only proud of our new slate of amazing candidates," said COPE External Chair Marcus Youssef after the event, "but we're also proud to be the only Vancouver party to see contested nominations."
COPE members voted in Ellen Woodsworth, Tim Louis, and R.J. Aquino as their council candidates, and Brent Granby and Donalda Greenwell‑Baker for Parks Board. For school trustee, the members picked incumbents Jane Bouey (Vice-Chair of the Vancouver School Board), Allan Wong, and Al Blakey, and first-time candidate Gwen Giesbrecht.
The surprise of the afternoon was the defeat of veteran city councillor David Cadman, who finished fourth in the race for three nominations. Cadman, a prominent leader of the global movement for urban environmental sustainability, often missed council meetings due to his international travel, a factor which may have cost him some support from COPE members.
COPE also announced co‑managers Kate Van Meer Mass and Nathan Allen for the upcoming campaign. "Kate and Nathan are seasoned organizers and have already hit the ground running," said Youssef. "We have a great slate of candidates, a great campaign team, and a great message. We want to build a Vancouver for Everyone and we've committed to work with all progressives to do just that because that's what the residents of Vancouver want us to do. We won't let them down."
By the terms of their electoral cooperation agreement, COPE and Vision Vancouver will support each other's candidates on a joint slate. The unity campaign has the strong backing of the Vancouver and District Labour Council.
Vision Vancouver's slate of candidates includes Mayor Gregor Robertson, incumbent city councillors Andrea Reimer, Raymond Louie, Geoff Meggs, Tim Stevenson, Heather Deal and Kerry Jang, as well as newcomer Tony Tang.
For park board, Vision has nominated incumbents Constance Barnes, Sarah Blyth, and Aaron Jasper, plus Trevor Loke and Niki Sharma. Vision's school trustee candidates are School Board Chair Patti Bacchus, incumbents Ken Clement and Mike Lombardi, and newcomers Rob Wynen and Cherie Payne.
In another twist to the campaign, about 20 members of Vancouver's dwindling Civic Green Party met recently to nominate three candidates. The Greens have formed an alliance with the right-wing NPA, which left spots open for them at city council, park board and school board. Several prominent Green Party activists have quit in dismay to join COPE, which they see as more compatible with a progressive environmental outlook.
Ironically, the NPA campaign is boasting an influx of donations from big business, including the forestry and mining sectors, where corporate interests have devastated much of the west coast landscape. The chief NPA fundraiser is Peter Armstrong, head of the Rocky Mountaineer rail service which locked out its on-board attendants back in June. During the summer, the Vision and COPE city councillors sent a letter to the company condemning the use of strikebreakers in the labour dispute.
(The above article is from the October 1-15, 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.)