By FRED WILSON A ward system in itself favors Neither the left or the right in municipal politics, Vancouver Mayor Jack Volrich admitted to a CBC commentator one morning, last week. In San Francisco, for: example, a more conservative Civic government was returned after “the introduction of a ward System. _“But knowing Vancouver in- timately, and knowing the par- ticular situation in a number of communities throughout the city,” the mayor added sternly, ‘There is no doubt that in this city a ward System would favor the left.” And that, of course, is what is behind the bitter debate in Van- Couver over the ward system plebiscite that will be voted on Novermber 15 in conjunction with the city’s civic election. It is true that there are a number > of liberals like May Brown and even some hard nosed right Wingers like taxman David Ingram and old NPA alderman Halford Wilson who also. support the ward System simply because it is a more democratic system that would give almost every community in Vancouver — rich and poor — better representation at city hall. All of the other major cities in ‘Canada have a ward system, it is a more manageable system without 117 candidates on a single ballot as Was the case in the 1976 election, and so on go the arguments for electoral reform. But those arguments, logical as they may be, don’t sway the power Native groups map strategies PRINCE GEORGE — About 150 delegates from Native organizations throughout B.C. will meet here October 27 to Oc- strategy of dealing with the pro- vincial and federal governments in winning aboriginal rights and settling Native land claims. Billed as ‘‘the first all tribal council and groups meeting’, the conference will include delegates from each of the about 50 tribal groups in B.C., and from the main Native organiza- tions, the United Native Na- tions, Native Brotherhood, ae for Native Rights, “ative Indian Homemakers, and the B.C. Native Women’s Socie- ty. In addition to the central issue _of land claims the conference will be addressing itself to the development of tribal councils throughout the province which would unite the various band councils, and other matters of Native development such as community education. Quadra Island plan rejected CAMPBELL RIVER — A ‘packed meeting of over 300 residents of Quadra Island, in Georgia Strait near Campbell River, October 18 overwhelm- ingly rejected a draft settlement plan for the Island that had been worked out without consultation of local residents. The plan was retrogressive, residents maintained, and was based on a no-growth and no im- provement philosophy. Residents demanded the plan be put to a referendum before Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, | /——PROVINCIAL NOTES tober 29 to work out a common © ro ‘discuss the future of the peace block that has controlled Van- couver city hall for the best part of the last 40 years. They see the ward system, as a _ near hysterical Warnett Kennedy told a_ public meeting in Grandview last week, as ‘“‘a divide and conquer tactic”’ by COPE and the left to seize. power in Vancouver. COPE’s Harry Rankin, who together with independents Darlene Marzari and Mike Har- court are the recognized left on city council, take some pleasure in responding that they finished in three of the four top spots on the aldermanic poll in 1976, ahead of Kennedy and the NPA’ers. A ward system is not necessary for their election, they justifiably point out, but the at large system is necessary for the continued election of an NPA or TEAM majority. That’s why the establishment forces are in such a flap over the issue, desparately trying to avoid public debate of the issue, but hurling invectives and worn out red scare propaganda every time the question is raised. Because the fact is that on November 15 there is a very good possibility that the system which has been the main prop of establishment rule in Vancouver since 1985 will be thrown out. The implications of that are tremendous. If the 1976 elections were replayed on the basis of a ward system, for example, COPE candidate Bruce Eriksen would be an easy winner in the Downtown Eastside where, next to Rankin, he an adoption, but Comox Strathcona Regional Board planner Tom Becker said it was out of the question, a response which drew jeers from _ the crowd, labelling the planner “bureaucrat, dictator.’’ The settlement plan has been temporarily stalled. Disarmament meeting set VICTORIA — The Victoria Coalition for Disarmament has convened a special conference to movement in Victoria and the campaign in support of the United Nations disarmament week. Delegates from the Victoria Peace Council, Voice of Women, Quaker Society, Pacific Life Community and the Unitarian Church will meet November 4 at the Friends Meeting House in Victoria. The Coalition is planning a special vigil and demonstration to coincide with remembrance day activities, November 11. CAIMAW raps Noranda firing HOUSTON — The Canadian Association of Industrial Mechanical and Allied Workers (CAIMAW) has angrily rejected terms attached to the rehiring of a worker fired by Noranda Mines for participating in the mass search for two lost boys in the Houston area last week. After union protests, the com- pany agreed: to rehire the worker, Glen Davis, but on a probationary period lasting 35 shifts. ‘‘It just shows how bloody inhuman they are. It’s against any moral standards,”’ CAIMAW spokesman Jess Suc- camore said. iret LLL a1 met peta ILL _ Ward vote will challenge rule of city establishment topped the polls. A COPE can- didate would also likely take Grandview Woodlands, if it were a ward and a close contest could be expected in Hastings Sunrise. No one could beat Harry Rankin in his community of Cedar Cottage and Harcourt and Marzari are also pretty sure winners. On the other hand, if NPA’ers George Puil and Warnett Kennedy ran again in their home base of Kerrisdale Shaughnessy, both would lose to fellow NPA’er Michael Francis who won that community convincingly. Similarly, only one of TEAM’s May Brown, Marguerite Ford or Bill Gibson could have won in Point Grey. That election can not be replayed under different rules, but if it could we would clearly have a different city council today. At 9 East Broadway, in the thrown together campaign headquarters of the Area Representation Electors Alliance (AREA), Donald Gutstein has statistical analyses of voting: patterns, voter turnouts and the results of the last ward plebiscite sticking out of file folders and plastered across the office walls. The inequity of the at large system for some communities is graphically shown in Bruce Eriksen’s vote, Gutstein pointed out on one of the large colored maps. Although Eriksen won the Downtown Eastside, his best poll there was only his 14th best poll in total votes. Actually, his best poll was around 33 Ave. and Fraser where he received about 300 votes. His second and third best polls were in Point Grey, next came a better off Kitsilano poll, one at about 22 Ave. and Renfrew, and then another Point Grey poll. “It’s purely a function of voter turnout,’’ Gutstein explained; Point Grey has more than double the 20 percent turnout of the Downtown Eastside. The at large system which ties together disparate communities like Point Grey and Downtown Eastside makes it necessary for Eriksen to win not only his own constituency, but middle class neighborhoods with little appreciation for the causes championed by Eriksen in the downtown eastside as well. “Most North American cities have a similar pattern of development,’’ Gutstein said, “In the centre there is the downtown core; surrounding itis a ring of low income and working class neigh- borhoods; outside of that are rings — of middle and upper class areas.”’ - Significantly, it is in the inner ring that COPE has its base: Hastings, ENGLISH GAY MAP OF PEORE wHo VOTED FoR WARD system ww ists YA 50%+ BURRARD INLET WB ¢<-507 The 1973 ward plebiscite showed strong support for the ward system on the east side of Vancouver. Grandview, Fairview, Kitsilano, — Downtown. Then there is what Gutstein calls ‘‘the NPA belt” through Shaughnessy, Kerrisdale and Little Mountain. TEAM’s best votes come from the outer perimeters of the city: Point Grey, Marpole, South Vancouver. COPE’s Bruce Yorke agrees: “The east west split in terms of COPE support is ficticious,”’ he says, ‘‘Actually our support comes north of 16 Avenue.” As COPE’s mayoralty candidate in 1976, Yorke’s 14 percent of the vote was perhaps the best reflection of the reform vote in Vancouver. But in the inner ring Yorke polled nearly double the percentage vote as in the city at large, winning 30 per- cent in a large Grandview poll, 37 percent in a Downtown poll and 42 percent in a Fairview poll. Obviously, for COPE and the reform forces there are two strategic objectives. One is to broaden its base of support into the southeast and southwest of the city, and the second is to con- solidate its base north of 16 Avenue and win a ward system which will guarantee representation from those areas of the city on city council. A strategy for winning the ward plebiscite, however, runs right into the same pr° lems that reform candidates face in at large civic elections. The voter turnout in the middle and upper class areas of the city which already have representation on city council will likely be far higher than in the working class - areas, which generally will favor the ward system. It is here where the east- west split has validity. In 1973, when the last plebiscite on the ward system went down to defeat, there was a remarkably low 20 percent voter turnout with 60 percent favoring retention of the at large system. But on the east side of the city, most polls were 46 percent or more in favor of the ward system and many were more: than 50 percent in favor. ' Gutstein is optimistic about this year’s ward vote. ‘‘The east side will cetainly be more than 50 percent in favor,’”’ he said, ‘“‘And for the west side, there are factors operating this year that were not there in 1973.’’ Those factors are the support of three mayoralty candidates, the support of three leading aldermanic candidates, the support of the media and a full scale campaign by AREA. ‘That combination should make the difference,”’ he said with some assurance. For AREA, founded in 1977 by Rankin, Harcourt and Marzari, this year’s plebiscite, with a question it formulated, came as a surprise. The aldermen have now dropped out of AREA, as have all candidates, to allow’ the organization a non-partisan ap- proach in its hectic campaign to carry the plebiscite. With the financial and material support of the Vancouver Labor Council, AREA will distribute about 125,000 copies of a special leaflet urging a pro-ward vote. The leaflet will cover almost the entire city, but the emphasis will be on the west side. “The west side wasn’t sure which way to vote in 1973,”’ says Gutstein, “‘But we think we can convince enough people there to vote for wards to win it.” COPE has a different strategy. ‘We have to get the east side vote out,” Yorke insists, ‘‘That’s where - our strength is. That’s who has the most to gain.” Most observers agree that it will take about a 60 percent majority to declare the plebiscite a victory. Although difficult to measure at this point in the campaign, that 60 percent, or even 50 percent, is far from certain. If you live in. Vancouver and have some time in the next three weeks, commit it to the victory of the ward plebiscite. It is the single greatest thing that you can do to shift the balance of forces at city hall in your favor. ALDERMEN /yaep size [és for wise ~ ALLIANCE Lg f ua a (oT 8] Red hil g/f/$/ bbs bbl Kg he &/ ¥ ay [&. e/g eo pe /59 [0 ‘3/99 ELECTORAL / /9 Mes GIRE/ 8 /2/8 /z fe? [Se] 2/ xg SYSTEM SURVEY les, S/d (fee /Ot/ > g/e MEF es Fs &/8/& MONTREAL |. 1 [1-471 55 |e eh2| @ leas [000% | no | Tm [ummm up [sanel wo TORONTO © Nese? 22 {04,929 [56271 [et.b4 | 633,318 | NO | 59. {508000 |9OWN| NA [Game WINNIPEG oe. 9: | AP9 29 {24,025 [t,t [19351 | 50087 | No | 79 j¢o0000| up [same] No NoryH YORK @ % [1 [4 [4 [18 |om339 5.00 lances | 960,298) No | Bo |320000/powi [rowel] No CALGARY e 4 | 1 | 4 te [ated fea.6% [37500 [49917 | No | 100 [250000 jpow | WA | No EDNONTON ee. ZA Sent Ses BER 12 |[32,851 {106,375 |118,000| 461,301 | NO | GT [700.000 jcume OME! NO VANCOUVER. : e@ 10 | 10 | NA [N/a | N/A {410,100 | NA | NA 1523000 | NA | NA | NA SCARBOROUGH 6 2 | 1 | 12 | 4 | tl | 41,000 |24600|32,400 | 387,149 | NO | 75 (220000| Up AME! NO HAMILTON ©. 8 | 2 | tw | 4 | 20 |56,405|32,549 |98,988)312,003 | No | 7% {105,70 )cawe GAME] NO OTTAWA e* nota [ul att 1 [5205 |Ieto |2000/ 304,462} No | 91 - |1l00.000| N/A foame| NO EJOBICOKE © 5 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 14 |80,000 [40,000 |40,000 | 297,102 | No | BO |230000 [sre SAME! NO QUEREC CITY | @ T |tor4*| 16 to lau | 1549 lte4eb l177,082 | ves [100 00000] n/m bane} No REGINA 6 lo | 1 | 0 10 |20,900 | 12,000/15;2001149.593 | NO | 90 {100.000 up | N/O | NO SASKATOON e 10 | 1 | 10 10 |19,!43 |10,678 |14430 |133,70 | NO |} 100 {104.412 | up FAME! NO CT. CATHERINES | @ Gea? A242 12 | 000 14,000 [zz.c00 |423,351 | NO | 42 | 65,000) up [WA | NO _WALIFAK e 10 | 1 | 10 10 |20,170 | 8,0a0) 11,440|117,882| NO | 100 } 7782 NA | NO Of Canada’s major cities, Vancouver is the only one that retains an at large electoral system. It also has the fewest aldermen per capita, but one of the highest costs for running an election. Among Canadian cities voting for a ward system in the past 12 years are Edmonton, Kitchener, Regina, Saskatoon and Windsor. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—October 27, 1978—Page 3