Vancouver is getting a ward system!
What?
Yep, that’s what I’m hearing!
Where are you hearing that?
It’s all over social media!
Right….
Much political ado was made last week at city hall over Vision Vancouver Coun. Andrea Reimer’s push to have councillors become liaisons to 22 neighbourhoods.
A lot of the ado came courtesy of NPA Coun. George Affleck, who revved up the masses – or, at least his Facebook friends – in a post that accused Reimer and her ruling Vision crew of sneakily creating their own ward system.
“If you are not aware, all B.C. municipal government representatives are elected ‘at large,’” Affleck wrote. “That means they are to represent their communities as a whole.”
Affleck said Reimer’s motion ignored the results of a 2004 plebiscite that saw 54 per cent of Vancouver voters reject a ward system in favour of retaining the current at-large voting system.
Now, Affleck continued, the move to appoint councillors as neighbourhood liaisons not only “takes Vision’s anti-democratic style of governance to a new level,” it also gives the mayor the power to choose which councillor will represent a neighbourhood.
“This,” Affleck said, “is a sure fire way to ensure one political party or another will be able to make inroads into some of the neighbourhoods that have swing voters election to election and build on those neighbourhoods that are already a solid base of traditional supporters of one party or another.”
So Affleck’s position is clear.
Now let’s get to that ward-loving Reimer, who moved the motion. And while we’re conducting a political autopsy on Vision’s motivation for such a move, let’s begin with a fact: Reimer has never supported wards.
That’s right. She made that clear right off the top when she introduced her motion at the Jan. 20 council meeting.
“I was a very loud and vocal member of the no wards campaign the last time we had a referendum on this,” she said. “I’m not a supporter of wards, and have not been, although I appreciate others might be.”
Here’s another fact: Council voted in June 2013 to accept the recommendations of the Engaged City Task Force; one of the recommendations was to establish neighbourhood councillor liaisons.
Reimer’s motivation, she said, is to make it easier for people to navigate city hall – not the usual suspects but the newbies who have no idea which councillor might be more in tune with their issue or issues. Mayor Gregor Robertson phrased it as “improving customer service.”
Reimer’s model for this system is the school board and park board, where trustees and commissioners work as liaisons to specific schools and community centres. An objective, non-partisan observer would see this as a no-brainer, she said.
“But I’m fully prepared to go through the hazing required, if it gets us another step along [the way],” she said before Affleck, his NPA colleagues Melissa De Genova and Elizabeth Ball and Green Party Coun. Adriane Carr began the hazing.
De Genova: “I’m not sure why we’re not listening to the people. They want an at-large system, they have it now. I feel satisfied with it. I represent all of Vancouver.”
Ball: “The reason we have an at-large system is because the trade unions and the boards of trade came together to try to avoid neighbourhoods being divided through politics. I don’t want to just be worrying about one neighbourhood. I like to worry about the whole city. But it’s not what I like, that’s my job.”
Carr: “I want to be very clear, I serve every neighbourhood and every citizen and every resident and every business in this city. That’s my job. And I am open to all of those people contacting me – I always have, and I want to remain so.”
Reimer opened the discussion with saying she didn’t bring the motion forward during the 2014 election because she feared it would be politicized. More than a year after the vote, time was not apparently on her side.
So what do you think Vancouver – good idea, bad idea or just a bunch of political mumbo jumbo?
Go ahead, fill up our letters page.
At least tweet about it, or post something on Facebook.
I know you want to.
@Howellings
