Vancouver With the civic election less than six months away, there are still tens of thou- sands of tenants, particularly in the north- east part of the city, who have not been registered to vote. In all previous civic elections, residents have relied on a door-to-door voter enumeration as a major means of getting on the voters list. No so in 1988. In March of this year the Non-Partisan Association majority on council scrapped the enumeration system of registering eligible voters. The result has been disastrous, espe - cially for tenants. The city mailed regis- tration forms to people on the old list, and have therefore failed to reach many thousands of tenants who have moved, or who were not on the 1986 list. Recent figures from the city clerk’s office reveal huge disparities in voter reg- - istration across the city. In Strathcona and the downtown eastside neighbour- Bruce hoods, for example, more than 70 per cent of tenants who were on the now- defunct 1986 voters list are not included in the 1988 registry. In Grandview Woodlands, more than 60 per cent of tenants who were on the previous list are not registered now. David Lane of the Tenants Rights Coalition found that comparing current egistration with the 1986 voters list shows only part of the complete picture. A more accurate comparison, he notes, is to measure the numbers of registered voters on the new list against the number of total eligible voters in the city (whether or not they were on the 1986 list). This reveals that more than 70 per cent of eligible tenants in the city have not yet been registered, and this could be as high as 80 per cent in.some areas. These shocking facts reveal the politi- cal priorities of the NPA. In abandoning the door-to-door enumeration they have shown that they are not concerned about Eriksen Enumeration needed a huge majority of eligible tenants being disenfranchised. The present system, approved by the NPA, favours areas where there are a majority of long-term homeowners who, having received city registration forms, have registered at a much higher rate than lower income neighbourhoods where tenants move more frequently. Of course, the NPA is quite aware that these areas that have been registering rel- atively well are also the communities where they receive the most solid sup- port. Conversely, the lowest registration occurs in areas traditionally supporting the Committee of Progressive Electors. To reverse the glaring disparities in voter registration we need to do what city hall has failed to do — initiate a massive door-to-door community campaign to ensure that every eligible voter, particu- larly in those areas where registration has been poor, is given the Opportunity to exercise his or her right to be on the voters’ list in time for the November civic election. There is still time to pull off a real grassroots initiative to establish full democratic rights for all eligible voters. Discussions to fulfill this objective are now under way. Stay tuned. * ES * City council will be considering a report in late June on policies and devel- opment for the former Expo lands. It is crucial that city policies and the eventual zoning reflect the need for at least 50 per cent of all housing be for families, and that at least one third of all housing be social housing. Community groups and individuals wishing to address city council on these and other key demands, such as preser- vation of precious views and a reasona- ble height restriction on new buildings, should write to the city clerk’s office “equesting to speak to council. Tools-for-Peace seeks one vote for warehouse The coalition aiding Nicaragua in rebuilding its society faces another hurdle from Vancouver city council this year in maintaining a space to store goods collected yearly from across Canada. A vote in council May 17 failed to achieve the required eight votes granting the Van- couver Coalition to Aid Nicaragua the necessary funds to continuing renting the city-owned warehouse at below market rents. Vinny Mohr, outgoing B.C. co-ordinator for the coalition’s Tools for Peace project, said the group is trying to get one more vote in favour of a new request when it comes up for debate at the June 14 council meeting. ““We’ve had lots of people writing letters and visiting aldermen. But we can always use more support,” Mohr said. Under the previous council run by the former Civic Independents and the Com- mittee of Progressive Electors, Tools for Peace rented a large warehouse near the south foot of Main Street for $1 per year. 2 + Pacific Tribune, June 8, 1988 The new right-wing council initially moved to end the arrangement. But under public pressure it later struck a deal where- _ by Tools for Peace paid $10,000 for one year, while a council grant filled the gap between that figure and the estimated rental value of $24,150. But the project lost approximately half the space it previously held when the city subdivided the warehouse and rented a por- tion out to a private business. At the May 17 council meeting, COPE Ald. Libby Davies moved that the arran- gement continue and that the grant be increased to reflect increased market value for the warehouse space. The motion, amended to end the arran- gement after 1988, failed to get the required eight votes. The rental aid is considered a financial grant. Tools for Peace is now trying a new pro- position, offering to pay the city $15,000 per year for the warehouse space. City council votes for ‘jobs over subs’ a3 ae MUNICIPALWORK.... federation of cities and TRIBUNE PHOTO — SEAN GRIFFIN Snare, Sy pee towns calls for infrastructure upg ing; Ottawa wants to spend it on submarines. Adding a powerful voice toa municipali- ties-based campaign, Vancouver city coun- cil May 31 voted ‘almost unanimously to send a message to the federal government Opposing its planned purchase of nuclear- powered attack submarines. In doing so the government of Canada’s third-largest city counterposed the desper- ate need of Canadian cities and towns for infrastructure upgrading to what it consi- dered a wasteful military expenditure. Only one alderman voted against the Vancouver position which joins the city with other British Columbia municipalities who have responded to the call by the Ottawa-based Operation Dismantle for support for an anti-submarine resolution. Burnaby and Squamish have also voted to oppose the defence ministry’s proposed purchase of 10-12 submarines from either France or Great Britain. Operation Dismantle’s proposed motion reads in part, “Whereas the cost of acquir- ing nuclear submarines competes directly with federal government funding for munic- ipalities and other programs, resolved that the city of Vancouver calls upon Canada’s federal government to cancel the nuclear submarine acquisition program and exam- ine more cost-effective and safe methods of assuring Canadian and international secur- ity.” Vancouver council essentially adopted the motion with an amendment, and one from Ald. Carole Taylor that the prime ‘minister, Parliament and the defence minis- ter be informed of council’s decision. In moving the Operation Dismantle motion, Ald. Libby Davies said she had no doubt that a poll of Canadian opinion would find most people opt for municipal upgrading over military submarines. “These submarines do not provide for our security. When you live in a city with housing and jobs and schools, that’s where our sense of security comes from,” she said. Ald. Jonathan Baker noted a new climate in international relations, pointing out U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s televised re- marks in Moscow that he no longer believes the Soviet Union to be the “evil empire.” Ottawa’s submarines seem contradictory to the new climate of peace, Baker said. “Either it’s a purchase of toys by the military or it’s a form of weapons welfare. I Just don’t think it can be justified in terms of today’s events.” The motion is fine, but it needs additional information, Ald. George Puil said. Saying he “personally doesn’t believe that these submarines are proposed for our defence,” Puil pointed out that the amount of money involved in the sub purchase parallels that proposed for municipal infra- structure upgrading. The Federation of Canadian Municipali- ties, representing city and town councils across Canada, proposed some two years ago that the federal and provincial govern- ments share with municipalities the cost ofa massive infrastructure program. Canada’s cities are now of an age when many sewers, water mains and similar utili- ties are crumbling and desperately need renewal, the FCM has stated. The infrastructure proposal, which would involve large-scale creation of long-term jobs, is supported by all provincial government’s — even British Columbia s. But the program hit a snag last year when It was rejected outright by the Conservative federal government. Puil, who sits on the FCM’s infrastruc- ture committee, asked that council add fig- ures on job creation and other beneficial spinoffs to their anti-submarine motion. That way, the federal government would be informed of a clear alternative to the mil- itary expenditure, Puil said. : Council agreed and passed the motions” as amended, with only Ald. Ralph Cara- vetta opposed. : Operation Dismantle last month launched a country-wide campaign against the sub- marine purchase, utilizing a telephone press conference linking the mayors of St. John’s, Thunder Bay and Victoria. The mayors, along with Liberal MP Warren Allmand and NDP MP Pauline Jewett, pledged support for the disarma- ment group’s “Sink the Subs” campaign. The disarmament group.calls the subma- rine plan — which would see the nuclear- powered vessels deployed in the Arctic — “dangerously provocative” because it ties Canada into the United States’ forward maritime strategy. That strategy envisages - wartime military operations under the polar ice cap, with the aim of destroying or neu- tralizing military bases in the Soviet Arctic. Operation Dismantle spokesman Ish Theilheimer said the government is debat- ing the submarine purchase outside public scrutiny, hoping to have the program underway before a general election. Dismantle chief executive office Pam Fitzgerald said Burnaby and Squamish are among the municipalities who have res- ponded favourably to the peace group’s initiative in the first few weeks of the cam- paign. She said Mayor Peter Wong of Sud- bury and Art Eggleton of Toronto are among those who publicly oppose the expenditure. sa pease Vancouver city council also has a report from its standing committee on peace urg- ing support for Squamish municipal coun- cil’s effort to achieve a nuclear-weapons free BG: The report, signed by peace committee chairman Dr. Charles Paris, recommends Vancouver co-sponsor the resolution slated for debate at the next Union of B.C. Munic- ipalities convention. The motion, noting that more than 60 per cent of British Columbians in 54 municipal- ities have declared themselves nuclear- weapons free, urges the provincial govern- ment to make the same declaration effective for the entire province.