Can you beat Peter Ladner?

David Cadman
Coalition of Progressive Electors councillor

“I think a united COPE–Vision [Vancouver] slate could beat Peter. I think I could do that. I think others who are seeking the Vision nomination could do that. But I don’t think either Vision or COPE on their own can win. It’s going to have to be a united effort. Without that, there won’t be a united campaign that we all know was what won for us in 2002. That’s going to be the key.”

Allan De Genova
Vision Vancouver park commissioner

“Absolutely. The difference between myself and them is I want this job; I don’t need this job. We study everything for way too long. How do I feel about competing against Peter? Not a problem at all. I’m not a procrastinator. The difference between the two of us is my style and my energy in working for this community. My style is very much I’m-get-on-the-job kind of guy.”

Raymond Louie
Vision Vancouver councillor

“I’m much more representative of the entire city of Vancouver. I have supporters in business, in the labour movement, in the ethnic communities, and my support is all over the city. The people are tired of the way the NPA does business. Peter has been part and parcel of that. He has shown no leadership in breaking away when given the opportunity. He supported Sam Sullivan at every turn.”

Gregor Robertson
Vancouver-Fairview NDP MLA

“Peter and I are very different. His supporters are limited to the NPA base, and he will have trouble reaching out to the Chinese, Punjabi, and Filipino communities. His record on issues like affordable housing and green initiatives is sketchy. If you look closely, he may ride a bike, but he went against a bike lane on Burrard Bridge. There are real questions to his commitment to issues that appeal to most Vancouverites.”

The Non-Partisan Association wasn’t exactly looking for a crushing victory over the opposition this fall when it selected Coun. Peter Ladner over incumbent Mayor Sam Sullivan as its mayoral candidate.

According to NPA park commissioner Ian Robertson, all that Ladner supporters like him wanted was a decent shot at turning back challenges to the party’s supremacy over Vancouver’s civic affairs.

“Whatever the outcome is next Sunday [June 15], with Vision Vancouver nominating their candidate, with Ladner as our candidate it gives us a fighting chance in the election,” Robertson told the Georgia Straight a day after the NPA’s bitterly fought nomination contest on June 8.

Up to the final debate on nomination day, Ladner kept hammering away with his claim that Vision Vancouver and the Coalition of Progressive Electors are favoured 2–1 over the NPA to win the election unless he gets picked to lead the party.

Talking to the Straight moments after his victory was declared, Ladner asserted that the party has gained “a new chance and a new face and a new way to win”.

“The NPA is in better shape now than it was 24 hours ago,” said Robertson, one of two members of the NPA caucus who backed Ladner and who is running for another term. “He has a much broader ability to draw from other parts of the political spectrum than Sam does.”

Robertson stressed that the NPA under Sullivan has “strayed too far to the right”.

The need for the centre-right party to repackage its new leader isn’t lost on former councillor and current COPE cochair Ellen Woodsworth.

“They’ll position him more to the centre,” Woodsworth told the Straight. “Peter Ladner will be marketed as somebody who is new.”

Woodsworth noted that it wouldn’t be surprising if Ladner is going to be sold to voters as someone who’s environmentally friendly and supportive of the arts rather than a loyal NPA caucus member who supported Sullivan most of the way. “It means that the progressive forces will have to be stronger and expose Peter Ladner for who he is,” she said.

Vision Vancouver was more prepared to fight a battle against Sullivan because it would have been easier to portray him as a failed leader of the city, according Jim Green, the Vision Vancouver mayoral candidate who lost to Sullivan in the 2005 election.

“It would be safe to say that most Vision people were hoping that Sam would win [the NPA nomination],” Green told the Straight. “If Vision does its work well, they should be able to get people to see that there’s no difference between Sullivan and Ladner.”

Green said that as far as he can recall, there were only three occasions when Ladner voted differently from Sullivan during their six years together on council. These were Ladner’s votes in favour of the redevelopment of the former Woodward’s department-store site, his initial vote agreeing to the allocation of bike lanes on the Burrard Street Bridge, and the NPA councillor’s support for a Vision Vancouver motion to return to residents savings made by the city during last year’s civic strike.

In his acceptance speech upon winning the nomination, Ladner stated that he will have “absolutely no hesitation” in supporting the legacy Sullivan will leave behind.

Former NPA councillor Gordon Price had stayed neutral in the Sullivan-Ladner dustup, although he was one of those who had encouraged Ladner to enter civic politics. Price admitted to the Straight that, like many, he’s confounded by Sullivan’s failure to bag the nomination despite the apparent advantage the incumbent mayor had. “I don’t understand why there was animosity from people who you would have thought to support Sullivan,” he said.

In a brief chat with the Straight after the nomination results were read, Sullivan said that he feels honoured to have had a “small role” in affecting the future of the city.

“I hope that people will recognize that I always tried to do the right thing, and not always the popular thing,” Sullivan said.

Vancouver’s civic battles

> 2005: NPA’s Sam Sullivan defeats Vision Vancouver’s Jim Green (61,543–57,796). NPA wins five seats on council, five seats on the park board, and six seats on the school board. Voter turnout is 32 percent.

> 2002: COPE’s Larry Campbell beats NPA’s Jennifer Clark (80,772–41,936). COPE gets eight seats on council, five seats on the park board, and seven seats on the school board. Voter turnout is 50 percent.

> 1999: NPA’s Philip Owen defeats COPE’s David Cadman (51,085–33,506). NPA takes eight seats on council, six seats on the park board, and six seats on the school board. Voter turnout is 37 percent.

> 1996: NPA’s Philip Owen defeats COPE’s Carmela Allevato (50,969–26,143). The NPA sweeps all 10 seats on council, seven seats on the park board, and nine seats on the school board. Voter turnout was 32 percent.

Source: City of Vancouver