Vancouver Civic Election 2022

[GenWhy?]

Hmm I guess that means the NPA, ABC, and Progress have essentially the same platforms.

[whatnext]

Interesting poll out from Forum Research. A fairly large margin of error though.

Forum Research poll suggests Kennedy Stewart's reelection chances may be in jeopardy
The TEAM for a Livable Vancouver–financed survey shows a tight race with Ken Sim in the lead
by Charlie Smith on August 22nd, 2022

With less than two months before voting day in Vancouver, the mayoral race appears to be still up for grabs.

A new poll by Forum Research has put ABC Vancouver's Ken Sim in the lead with 18.7 percent support.

In second place is the incumbent, Forward Together's Kennedy Stewart, at 15.6 percent. He defeated Sim by fewer than 1,000 votes in the 2018 mayoral election....

....According to Forum Research, 34.1 percent "didn't know" which mayoral candidate they support.

The results came from the company polling 358 voters across Vancouver in late July by interactive voice-response random calling. It's deemed to be accurate within a margin of 5.2 percent, according to a TEAM for a Livable Vancouver news release.

The poll shows Hardwick as the top first and second choice with 29.3 percent, followed by Sim at 29 percent. Stewart is only the first and second choice of 20.3 percent of respondents, whereas Marissen lagged behind at 14.9 percent as the first and second choice.

Fifty-six percent of respondents expressed opposition to the Broadway Plan, which council recently passed....

https://www.straight.com/news/forum-rese...ts-reelection-chances-may-be-in-jeopardy

[GenWhy?]

The results came from the company polling 358 voters across Vancouver in late July by interactive voice-response random calling"

[Migrant_Coconut]

That explains it - only Boomers would answer the phone to take a survey in 2022.

[chowhou]

Let's be good faith here, if Forum Research has any credibility, they'll be normalizing against demographics (and especially normalizing against voter demographics).

On top of that, baby boomers are almost certainly the single strongest voting bloc in any jurisdiction in North America.

Don't rest on your laurels, and don't forget to vote in October.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Always do... doesn't stop turnout from being 45% or less. It's like being a Canucks fan but somehow worse.

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Always do... doesn't stop turnout from being 45% or less. It's like being a Canucks fan but somehow worse.

45% turnout means that your vote has the power of a little bit more than two residents of Vancouver.

[Feathered Friend]

Fred Harding running for Mayor of Vancouver with NPA
‘Beijing businessman’ ran with Vancouver 1st in 2018.
By Bob Mackin | August 22, 2022, 2:18pm

The NPA has imported its new mayoral candidate from China.

Behind closed doors, the party board approved self-described Beijing businessman Fred Harding to take the place of Park Board Commissioner John Coupar, who resigned as the candidate on Aug. 4.

Sources said Harding is scheduled to meet fellow candidates at the party’s Kerrisdale campaign headquarters tonight and a news conference is planned for later this week.

Harding has not responded to messages seeking an interview. He recently returned to Vancouver and appeared in a Monday-posted photograph with NPA Park Board candidate Ray Goldenchild on Goldenchild’s Facebook account.

https://biv.com/article/2022/08/fred-harding-running-mayor-vancouver-npa

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Feathered Friend

https://biv.com/article/2022/08/fred-harding-running-mayor-vancouver-npa

Umm, no thanks:

...During the 2018 campaign, Mandarin-speaking Harding received celebrity treatment from Chinese-language media on both sides of the Pacific, because of his singer wife Zhang Mi and his resemblance to Barack Obama.

Harding was also among several politicians in the Lower Mainland caught up in an alleged vote-buying controversy started by a Richmond-based group affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front foreign influence campaign.

On the WeChat social media app, the Canada Wenzhou Friendship Society recommended members in Vancouver vote for Harding or rival candidate Wai Young. The society offered a $20 payment to subsidize transportation to the polls, which appeared to contravene the Election Act. RCMP, however, did not recommend charges....

....While Harding had just 131 followers on his Twitter account, his wife boasts 2.1 million fans on the Weibo Chinese social media site, which is similar to Facebook but censored by the Chinese government....

...Mi has frequently used her Weibo account to support the People’s Republic of China government, celebrating the recent 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover from the U.K. to China and the 2021 centennial of the Chinese Communist Party.

In a September 2021 post, Mi promoted her cover of “The Communist Party, My Dear Mother.” In a translated version of the message, she wrote: “A hundred years of ups and downs, a magnificent year of the century. Especially in 2020, when the COVID-19 epidemic is rampant, only with the leadership of the Party can we be safe and sound.”..

https://biv.com/article/2022/08/fred-harding-running-mayor-vancouver-npa

[chowhou]

Didn't know Zhang Mi was running for mayor. Hope no one votes for her!

Fred Harding is a fifth rate candidate but I'd still prefer him over Hardwick.

[Migrant_Coconut]

The same Fred Harding who said last election that he'd (somehow) cancel SOGI programs and bring in an NBA and an MLB team/stadium at the same time?

(checks)

Yup, same one. NPA's a goner.

On a side note, doesn't the alt-right dislike the PRC ten times as much as everyone else?

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by chowhou

Didn't know Zhang Mi was running for mayor. Hope no one votes for her!

Fred Harding is a fifth rate candidate but I'd still prefer him over Hardwick.

So you’re okay with a mayor having a spouse who’s an unabashed fan of the rule of China’s Communist Party (including its iron fist on HK) and lists himself as a “Beijing businessman”?

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by whatnext

So you’re okay with a mayor having a spouse who’s an unabashed fan of the rule of China’s Communist Party (including its iron fist on HK) and lists himself as a “Beijing businessman”?

Never look up Gregor Robertson's love life.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by chowhou

Never look up Gregor Robertson's love life.

But at least Wanting Qu want a CPC mouthpiece.

Also, thanks for the reminder that the reanimated corpse of Vision Vancouver is actually fielding a slate of candidates this year. At least one good thing will come of it, Stuart Mackinnon leaving the Parks Board Greens for a sure defeat as a VV council candidate.

[Sheba]

Fred Harding unveiled as NPA’s replacement mayoral candidate

With just over a month and a half to go, the Non-Partisan Association (NPA) has unveiled its replacement candidate for mayor in Vancouver’s municipal election.

At an announcement Tuesday outside the Roxy Cabaret on Granville Street, the party announced it had selected former West Vancouver police officer Fred Harding.

...

Harding will replace former mayoral candidate and Park Board Commissioner John Coupar, who withdrew abruptly in early August.

He will face off against Stewart, A Better City’s Ken Sim, Progress Vancouver’s Mark Marrisen and TEAM for a Livable Vancouver’s Colleen Hardwick.

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by Sheba

Fred Harding unveiled as NPA’s replacement mayoral candidate

Did someone in the Global News editor's room realise they forgot to run this story?

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by chowhou

Did someone in the Global News editor's room realise they forgot to run this story?

The NPAs announcement was today. Bob Mackin ran a spoiler leaking the 'news' in BIV eight days ago, and in between there were (inaccurate) suggestions that he wasn't going to be the candidate after all. For one thing he has to live in Vancouver, which wasn't exactly clear.

Today's press conference was commented on by Frances Bula on twitter "It appears from today's NPA news conference that the messages going into the election campaign will be
1. Crime. The city is falling apart. We'll do something
2. Housing. Need to build loads, people are coming here by the 1,000s. (So differentiating selves quite a bit from TEAM)."

Justin McElroy of CBC reported "Harding did not have specifics on what the NPA would do to reduce crime if elected but said he would bring people together and "make this an environment where people feel safe," with a more detailed platform to come in the following weeks."

[whatnext]

What a waste of time, he’ll be a negative for what’s left of the NPA. They should have learned from the Greens you can still elect a few councillors without a mayoral candidate (though not control council).

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by whatnext

What a waste of time, he’ll be a negative for what’s left of the NPA. They should have learned from the Greens you can still elect a few councillors without a mayoral candidate (though not control council).

But they have Peter Wall cash to burn. And Wall's alternative online presence.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Changing City

But they have Peter Wall cash to burn. And Wall's alternative online presence.

There is certainly and argument for barring developers and their principals from making municipal contributions given the benefit they could receive from municipal decisions. I doubt it would pass a Charter challenge though. From the Pearson thread:

....It dates back to 2013 when the B.C. Liberal government began a billion-dollar sell-off of public land. Between 2005 and 2015, Onni had donated $581,430 to the party, and it bought the 25-acre site at Cambie and 57th, which some considered the “diamond” in the government’s treasure trove of property.

Over the past four years, the company’s owner — the de Cotiis family — have also been Mayor Kennedy Stewart’s top donors, collectively contributing just under $24,500....

https://vancouversun.com/news/daphne-bra...-residents-as-pawns-in-dispute-with-city