Green Party of Vancouver to run four candidates for council in 2014 election

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      In the 2011 civic election, Adriane Carr made history by becoming Vancouver's first Green city councillor. Now, her party hopes to quadruple its seats on council. 

      At its February 6 annual general meeting, the Green Party of Vancouver decided to field up to four council candidates in the upcoming November 15 election.

      Carr and lawyer Cleta Brown have declared they are seeking nominations, according to a party news release issued today (February 12).

      “We have felt strongly for quite some time that Councils dominated by a single political party are not conducive to genuine democracy,” Green party chair Jacquie Miller said in the release. “The reality is there’s more adversarial politics and less collaboration and consultation at the Council table.

      “There’s less collaboration with the public, too - hence the many clashes Vision Vancouver has had with local residents over community plans, development proposals and community centre control. The Green Party of Vancouver believes that better, more democratic decisions come from parties and councillors working collaboratively with the public and with one another instead of one party exerting dominance and pushing through its own agenda."

      The Greens say they have yet to determine how many candidates they will run for park board and school board.

      Carr was the party's sole candidate in the 2011 election.

      In the 2008 election, the Greens successfully ran Stuart Mackinnon for park board as part of an electoral alliance with Vision and COPE.

      Comments

      20 Comments

      Shepsil

      Feb 12, 2014 at 12:11pm

      Vision Vancouver is the greenest city council of any major Cdn. city and yet the Greens feel they need to split the progressive vote which will only help the conservative NPA in their attempts to ungreen Vancouver.

      HellSlayerAndy

      Feb 12, 2014 at 12:15pm

      “We have felt strongly for quite some time that Councils dominated by a single political party are not conducive to genuine democracy,” Green party chair Jacquie Miller said in the release.

      So why run only four candidates to elect 2? Why not a full slate and the potential of getting 4 elected? Are civic politics still being colluded behind the scenes by the a small interchangeable group dedicated to keeping civic CBAs generous and the Developer Party (har har) out of power?

      A full slate indicates diversity and interest in your party; running 4 merely indicates a willingness to do the minimum in order to keep your tax exemption status as a party and continue to raise money for elections you never contest.

      collarbone o'hare

      Feb 12, 2014 at 1:20pm

      Ah, ha....Adriane (the Egg Plant) Carr - Green at tip only, thinks she can create a power base. It's her prerogative, but why doesn't she just run for the leadership of the NPA. She supports them 99% of the time. Nothing wrong with that, if that's the way she feels. But it sure ain't Green.
      Just sayin'

      Stuart Parker

      Feb 12, 2014 at 1:42pm

      Hurray! I knew my former party would find a way to make sure anti-Vision vote-splitting increased! It's a team effort in this town. I am absolutely confident that the NPA, Cedar Party, Vancouver First, Team 2.0, NSV, COPE and the Unnamed Chudnovsky-Aquino vehicle can find a way to divide the votes of the 65% of Vancouverites who oppose Vision in such a way that our governing party can lose votes AND gain seats this fall.

      An Inside Observer

      Feb 12, 2014 at 2:11pm

      Stuart

      You speak of which you not know what may be coming

      In politics 1 week is a lifetime, 2 weeks an eon, a month is an eternity,

      Just wait, things can change in a hurry

      There is lots laying in the weeds for Vision.
      Remember what goes around comes around.

      Forget the malarkey pumped out by Vision and their trolls, all is not well in the land of "look here all shiny nothing to see there.... move along"
      Karma can be such a b,.tch at times

      Rick in Richmond

      Feb 12, 2014 at 2:48pm

      Some of the commentators here are politically naive.

      Running a partial slate can be an extremely smart move, and maximize the impact of a (relatively) small group of electors. How?

      Plumping. Something the Greens have obviously, and cannily, considered.

      Plumping means to cast only a restricted number of ballots available to you. If you have 11 votes (for 11 Council seats), and you only cast four of them, you have -- in effect -- withdrawn votes from the other 7. If you cast only 4 votes for only Greens, you have thereby 'plumped' your slate, and denied votes to others.

      Democratically, it means you vote ONLY for the people you want.

      Arithmetically, plumping gives added weight to your vote. It is how small parties make inroads into the territory of big parties. It is smart politics, and the Greens know it.

      Chris Green

      Feb 12, 2014 at 4:09pm

      Adrienne Carr just shot herself in the foot. The only way she made it into the top 10 last time was by being the only Green candidate, thus receiving 100% of the 10th votes from supporters of all the other parties who wanted one Green councilor. By giving those voters four choices (especially if there's a Green candidate whose name starts with A or B), she's ensured that her term in office will be coming to an end.

      Of course, this may be part of a master plan to be available to campaign 24/7 for the Vancouver Centre seat in Parliament in 2015.

      James Blatchford

      Feb 12, 2014 at 5:31pm

      The Greens: making it safe to split the progressive vote again.

      Sincerely,

      May 14, 2013.

      Stuart Parker

      Feb 12, 2014 at 5:36pm

      Inside observer, I assume you are referring to the NSV-COPE-Green deal that Tim Louis is negotiating. The Greens have thrown Tim into that briar patch exactly as Chris has described.

      Bela Bugliosi

      Feb 12, 2014 at 9:03pm

      The Greens are nothing more than a spoiler party with the goal of getting the NPA back in power. The ONLY thing green about the Green Party is the envy they have for those who are already paid by the tax payer. If the NPA were to control city hall again, 2 or 3 Greens would be sure to get cushy patronage plums. What a bunch of losers. They're so desperate for a sinecure they'll sell out cheap.