 On election endorsements, implied endorsements, and how other mayors view Kennedy Stewart | | |  | | |
How much should other politicians like the Mayor of Vancouver?
It’s not the most important question one should consider when casting their ballot. But there were two events this week that brought the issue to the forefront.
One was Vancouver-Point Grey MLA David Eby endorsing current mayor Kennedy Stewart for re-election — interesting, of course, because Eby seems likely to become premier very soon.
It’s true that Eby’s endorsement would make things a tad awkward if Stewart loses a week from now, and he’s forced to have conversations with Ken Sim or Colleen Hardwick.
But a premier doesn’t need a mayor to like them, because Victoria holds 90 per cent of the leverage in a relationship with Vancouver thanks to how our government works.
And this is worth mentioning because over the last four years, John Horgan had a, shall we say, distant relationship with Vancouver City Hall.
While he and Stewart were mostly aligned on ideology, the province looked with some frustration at both the mayor’s lobbying strategy and the dysfunction of council.
Eby’s endorsement shows the potential for a warmer relationship between Victoria and Vancouver, which for Stewart, could help him move much quicker on some of his housing and UBC SkyTrain goals.
Assuming, of course, Stewart wins.
And that’s a big if at the moment, exemplified by Coquitlam’s Richard Stewart and the District of North Vancouver’s Mike Little — both heavy favourites to win next week — holding an event this week with Stewart’s main rival, Ken Sim. Neither Stewart or Little would talk about the optics of the event, which was mostly repeating the desire to build rapid transit to the North Shore (something already on the TransLink wishlist).
And similarly, it could make things a tad awkward at the next Metro Vancouver meeting if Kennedy Stewart wins and he’s making small talk with Richard Stewart.
But it underlined a different place where the Vancouver mayor’s relationships have been less than warm: around the Mayors’ Council table.
Like the provincial government, it’s not that other mayors dislike Stewart, but very few of them can be considered a fan of him. Many find him too transactional and too focused on Vancouver issues at the expense of the region as a whole.
Which might explain why two of them were happy to smile next to Sim.
One might argue this is all idle gossip based on interpersonal relationships. But interpersonal relationships have a great deal to do with how our interlocking series of local, regional and provincial governments work together in Metro Vancouver.
And this week showed those dynamics could change very suddenly. | | |  | | | 1. Decision 2022 | | | In the absence of wards, many candidates find it effective to organize themselves as part of a party platform, similar to how provincial and federal campaigns focus on leadership as opposed to individual MLAs.
To help you navigate the choices, CBC News has created platform trackers for both Vancouver and Surrey, along with profiles of the major parties in each city. Find them all at cbc.ca/bcvotes. | | |  | | | 2. How many candidates? | | | It’s an election question that won’t go away, at least in the Lower Mainland: is it time to switch to a ward system?
With more than 70 council candidates in Vancouver and over 50 in Surrey, the ballot sheets in B.C. are the longest in Canada. Other major cities have switched to a ward system, where people can vote for representatives for specific geographic areas of the city.
Read more | | |  | | | 3. Other election news | | | The Vancouver Police Union broke with decades of staying out of municipal campaigns and gave a full-throated endorsement of Sim and his ABC party, attracting some concerns. We profiled mayoral races in Langley, New Westminster and Victoria .... and after originally rejecting an inclusive housing project a year ago, Surrey council approved it just before the election. Funny how that works.
Read more | | |  | | | 4. Prince Rupert | | | It’s not often every person running for mayor and council agrees on a single issue, but that’s the case in Prince Rupert, where there's a petition asking the province to lift a cap on the amount of taxes the port can pay. Everyone seems to agree the cap is putting an increasing strain on the city, which is struggling to keep up with infrastructure demands, but will the province respond?
Read more | | |  | | | 5. Prince George | | | The Prince George Citizen newspaper has taken direct aim at a city decision to stop publishing public notices in the local paper. The editor argues it's a blow to transparency, writing that the “city’s communications department would rather crack fart jokes on Facebook” than engage with local reporters, but the city’s communications department — which has won a national communications award for its irreverent online personality — argues the change will both reach more people and save them upward of $100,000 annually.
Read more | | | 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. | | | |
