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Vancouver

The Vancouver election was a tremen-
dous victory for the left. The Liberal-Tory-
Socred NPA coalition holds only one-seat
majorities on all three levels of civic govern-
ment. But it was the resurgence of COPE,
the left coalition which has been written off
time and again, that was the story of the
Vancouver election.

COPE elected nine of 14 candidates. Its
mayoralty candidate, Jim Green, took 45
percent of the vote, more than the 42 percent
gamered by Harry Rankin in 1986. Its 13
other candidates secured 43 percent of the
popular vote, raising the average vote by
6,000 to 54,158.

Just as important as the votes and the new
elected positions was the campaign that
brought hundreds of new activists forward
and forged alliances in many parts of the city
where COPE had little base previously.

The outcome has positioned COPE well
to be at the centre of a lasting and dynamic
urban movement for social change.

COPE’s advance was based primarily on
a series of political decisions that set the
framework for a successful campaign.

The first decision was to nominate Jim
Green to oppose Gordon ‘Campbell. The
mayoralty campaign set the pace for COPE
overall and was decisive to the gains on
council. But it took an uncompromising
stand from the COPE leadership to get the
Green campaign launched. It was the very
day of the COPE nominating meeting, after
COPE had made it clear that Green would
be nominated regardless, that the NDP indi-

cated they would also.endorse the mayoral
campaign.

The Green campaign bore out all the
expectations of the COPE organization.
Green’s credéntials in the movements were

a powerful attraction that brought hundreds
into the campaign. Coming out of the civic
movement, he was Campbell’s equal and
better in debate. And his political outlook
helped COPE advance bold new democratic
policies that galvanized the issues.

The politics of the Green campaign are
an example for the left of how to break out
of old boxes. Green combined the politics of
the social movements with a pragmatism
that attracted support far beyond those con-
stituencies alone.

At the same time, he took the moral hi gh
ground, always stressing democracy and so-
cial values, and connected himself with the
movements by raising issues boldly. Per-
ceptively, he saw the zoo expansion issue as
the expression of environmental politics in
the election and he made it more than a
“park” issue. Some were-initially uneasy of
the strong stand COPE took against the zoo
expansion, but it proved correct.

The framing of the issues was a key
element of the COPE success. Vancouver is
rife with conflict of interest between the
Campbell administration and giant mega
developers such as Li Ka Shing and Mara-
thon Realty. However, when the COPE ex-
ecutive examined the political scene in the
city closely it found that the NPA was most
isolated on neighbourhood issues.

The giant developments such as those on
the North Shore of False Creek are the direct
result of the globalization of capital, but the
social impact was being felt in the neigh-
bourhoods. Particularly on the west side of
the city, real estate speculation and redev-
elopment were alarming large sections of
people over the loss of affordable housing

and a pattern of development that was”

On behal? of
our members
and sta

we extend

Phone: 525-8811

Season’s Greetings

United Food and Commercial Workers
Local 2000, 379 12th Street
New Westminster, V3M 4H2

4 + Pacific Tribune, December 17, 1990

een
(SEASON'S GREETINGS «wae
a Doin’
from the executive and membership of the Mister?” -

Cement Mason’s Union, Local 919
4457 East Hastings St. Vancouver, B.C.

changing rapidly the character of the neigh-
bourhood.

COPE’s slogan “the neighbourhood
Green” spoke to the need for democratic
control over development at the neighbour-
hood level, instead of free reign for specula-
tive capital. While calling for elected, neigh-
bourhood planning boards with the power to
control development, Green and COPE also
attacked Campbell for “special treatment” to
Li and other giant developers.

The special treatment that Li Ka Shing
and Marathon enjoyed from Campbell was
also at the root of growing divisions within
the NPA camp that benefitted COPE.
Maverick NPA alderman Jonathan Baker
split with Campbell over the issue and ended
up taking 45,000 votes as an independent,
lowering the NPA slate vote significantly.

The divisions over Campbell’s special
treatment of giant international capital also
found reflection in a larger power struggle
inside the NPA. Federal Liberals like
Campbell, May Brown, Art Cowie, in effect
the former TEAM leadership, had secured
effective political control of the NPA. Long
time NPA stalwarts like George Wainborn,
a parks commissioner for 33 years, was

dumped from the NPA slate. As the cam-

paign proceeded, the NPA coalition con-
tinued to unravel with people like Baker,
former federal Tory candidate and NPA
director Gladys Chong, former NPA can-
didate Gim Huey, and federal Tory cam-
paign manager Peter Hebb all leaning
towards Jim Green.

The divisions on the right created an
opportunity to counter the old charge that the
radical left could not deal with business. In
fact, there was some support from sections
of business to COPE for its pledge that spe-
cial treatment would end and that there
would be “one line-up” for service at city
hall.

COPE was able to capture the ground that
the NPA was losing through its political
message and a strong field of candidates that
combined well known veterans of Van-
couver politics and new candidates strongly
associated with social movements. Can-
didates like Dermot Foley from the environ-
mental movement and Patricia Chauncey
from the anti-poverty movement were criti-
cal to renewing COPE’s appeal.

The election of all five COPE aldermanic
candidates answers some of the questions

i

GREEN

that were left after the difficult COPE nom-
inating meeting. At that meeting Bruce
Yorke and COPE president Sadie Kuehn
were neck and neck for the fifth aldermanic
spot. Those endorsing Yorke argued that
COPE and the civic movement would be
best served by putting forward the five most
electable candidates, thereby securing the
strongest political base for coalition building
in the future. Without doubt, COPE has
achieved that strong base, which bears out
the decision of the nominating meeting.

But those who argued that COPE’s rep-
resentativeness was an equally important
factor can also see their case in the election
results. The Chinese vote was a large bloc
vote for the NPA, and COPE’s lack of
Chinese and other minority candidates may
have given the NPA the edge it needed to
hang on to power.

The challenge before COPE now is to use
its strengthened political base to develop a
democratic, grass roots coalition into neigh-
bourhoods and social constituencies, some
of which were reached for the first time in
the 1990 campaign, and into communities
such as the Chinese community from which
COPE and the left remain isolated.

More than just reaching out, the chal-
lenge is also to imbue this movement with a
vision that embraces urban grass roots
democracy and social justice as the elements
of a strategy for social change.

A wish for a
better world
for all workers

& in 1991.

United Brotherhood
of Carpenters Local 452

Seasons Creetings
and peace for all
in 1991