 | Saturday, May 28, 2022
Reading this online? Sign up to get this delivered to your inbox every Friday. | | Why the conversation over vote-splitting in Vancouver’s election is only growing louder | | |  | | | Is it a fait accompli that Kennedy Stewart will be re-elected mayor of Vancouver due to vote-splitting among his four main challengers?
The math and argument are fairly straightforward: John Coupar, Colleen Hardwick, Mark Marissen and Ken Sim have all been campaigning to replace Stewart. But parties generally seen as “progressive” have opted not to run a mayoral candidate, and in opinion polls, Stewart has consistently kept around 30 to 40 per cent support.
Because of that, some worry that unless one of the four becomes the clear challenger to Stewart, he’ll cruise to victory.
“They do not wish to accept they are to the political right of the progressive person they must beat who has no progressive rival in a progressive city,” wrote Business In Vancouver publisher and 2014 NPA mayoral candidate Kirk Lapointe this week.
“Each challenger has an authentic purpose of public service. But if they’re serious about it, the four need to get in a room and sort it out.”
I asked the four candidates what they thought of that argument. All four gave no indication co-operation or stepping down was on the table. “Everybody comes from very different backgrounds, and we all bring something different to the table … I think voters like to have more options,” said Marissen.
“I’ve been elected three times by residents in Vancouver … and as we get rolling in the campaign, it’ll be clear that the NPA is the only choice to defeat Kennedy Stewart,” said Coupar.
“If I believed that any of the other candidates had the background, knowledge or experience to lead the change that is really needed for the City of Vancouver to recover its balance and respect residents, I would support them, but they do not,” said Hardwick.
“I think the narrative is wrong. When you look at our city, I don't think there's a left vs. right when it comes to having safe streets or vibrant neighbourhoods or getting a permit in a timely manner,” said Sim.
Perhaps not, and Hardwick and Marissen also argued against a right/left dichotomy.
But Stewart is set to receive the tacit support of the Greens and OneCity. If you’re a voter who cares about climate change or reconciliation or is turned off by a “tough on crime” message, none of the other four challengers offer much of a message at the moment.
The election is still more than four months away. But the summer will be defined by each of Stewart’s challengers trying to portray themselves as the dominant choice for people frustrated by the direction of the city.
And if none of them are successful?
One is reluctant to offer predictions — except that discussion about vote-splitting will only get louder. | | | Province rejects Vancouver's wish for nomination reform | | | | | | | | | | |  | | | The other looming question in Vancouver’s election is just how many candidates will there end up being.
In 2018, it was a record high 71 and was apparently “the longest ballot that had been prepared in Canada,” according to the company that made it for Vancouver.
Unlike any other major city in Canada, every candidate is on each voter’s ballot, a result of not having a ward (or neighbourhood) system for choosing councillors.
In a survey commissioned by the city after the election, 20 per cent of non-voters said the large number of candidates was a reason they didn’t cast a ballot, with 43 per cent of voters overall saying they didn’t feel informed about the election.
“The sheer number of candidates created a challenge for voters to learn about each individual candidate and their platform and to navigate the long ballot at the time of voting,” said city clerk Rosemary Hagiwara in her report to council in 2020.
In response, the city voted to raise the threshold on the number of signatures required for someone to run for office — from the current 25 needed for either mayor or council — to 100 signatures for council and 200 for mayor.
One small problem though: such a change also requires a change to the Vancouver Charter, which can only be done by the provincial government.
And, per a city spokesperson, “we learned that there will be no changes to the Vancouver Charter to increase the number of nominators for the 2022 Vancouver Election.”
We asked the province why they didn’t accept Vancouver’s request, given it was made more than a year ago, but they didn’t respond.
In other words: expect another long ballot. | | |  | | | 1. Vancouver | | | With the NPA announcing their candidates this week, we're still waiting on TEAM Vancouver (the Hardwick party), Progress Vancouver (the Marissen party), Forward Together Vancouver (the Stewart party) and Vote Socialist (the, uh, socialist party) to choose their candidates. Meanwhile, debate over the Broadway Plan continued in council this week, with one element of it focusing on whether needed amenities like parks and schools will follow increased density if the proposal passes.
Read more in the Vancouver Sun | | |  | | | 2. Surrey | In this week's edition of "As Doug McCallum Turns," the woman at the centre of the incident that led to his mischief charge identified herself, while a councillor filed a complaint with the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner. It's led to another call for a provincial ombudsperson for serious municipal conflicts, which the province seems somewhat open to.
Read more | | | |  | | | 3. Victoria | For some time, the City of Victoria has been debating whether to permit widespread rezoning that would allow single-family homes to be changed into houseplexes and corner townhomes with minimal regulation. But after council voted to send the issue back to staff for more study, it seems unlikely to be dealt with before this October's elections. Read more in the CHEK News | | | | | |  | | | 4. Pitt Meadows | Mayor Bill Dingwall becomes the third Metro Vancouver mayor to announce he won't be seeking re-election (following mayors in Langley Township and New Westminster), having brought peace to an acrimonious council before his victory. Coun. Nicole MacDonald announced her own run for mayor soon after, getting Dingwall's endorsement.
Read more in the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News | | | |  | | | 5. Daajing Giids | That will be the new name of Queen Charlotte Village, assuming the province approves it, after the village council unanimously voted for the name change last week. It follows two years of consultations, and the islands themselves being renamed from Queen Charlotte to Haida Gwaii in 2010. And if you're curious, it's pronounced "daw-jean geeds" and means dancing hat. Read more | | | | | |  | | | 6. Gas garden tools | It's a topic that comes up from time to time in many communities, but it was councillors in Oak Bay that most recently voted to phase out the residential use of all gas-powered gardening tools over the next three years. The motion is set to take effect in 2023, meaning residents have until the end of 2025 to replace old tools with newer technology, such as electric alternatives.
Read more | | | |  | | | 7. TransLink | The transit authority is back up to 70 per cent ridership now and confirmed an ambitious spending plan for the next three years that includes more electric buses and washrooms. Still unresolved though? How TransLink is going to make up funds from the combination of reduced ridership, and less people using gas-powered cars that contribute to the portion of the gas tax that goes to them. Read more in CTV News | | | | | | Share this newsletter | | or subscribe if this was
forwarded to you. | | | | That's it for this week! In the meantime, check out the latest headlines at cbc.ca/bc and follow our municipal affairs reporter Justin McElroy on Twitter. And if you have any questions you might want answered in a future mailbag, drop Justin a line at metromatters@cbc.ca. | | | |
