TEAM backs Vancouver Greens in municipal election
The electoral prospects of the Green Party of Vancouver look lush.
Polling competitively with the two biggest players in a recent poll, the Greens are getting a boost from another party that once declared that it intended to root out the ruling Vision Vancouver from City Hall.
The Electors Action Movement of the Lower Mainland Association has decided not to field candidates in the fall election. “There’s just too many competing parties for the same votes,” TEAM organizer Bill McCreery told the Straight in a phone interview.
Instead, TEAM will back the Greens for council.
“Greens are running neck and neck without a mayoral candidate,” McCreery said. “That speaks well, I think, for some definite possibilities for a third way. And I think, you know, people have been wanting to do that, and what we’re suggesting is that there is a third way, and that they can vote for candidates that represent voters as opposed to special-interest groups.”
He added that Adriane Carr “has done a good job in council”. The Green slate also includes Pete Fry and Cleta Brown. Since three Green councillors can’t make a majority on the 10-member council, TEAM is looking to support candidates from the Cedar Party.
“They have similar values to our own in the sense that they don’t condone special interests and influence, and we feel that that’s important,” McCreery said of Cedar.
Cedar has five candidates for council, including Nicholas Chernen, brother of the party’s declared mayoral candidate, Glen Chernen. However, supporting the latter for mayor is a different matter, as far as TEAM is concerned.
“Glen would be a good council candidate,” McCreery said. “I don’t think he’s quite ready for mayor yet.”
For now, TEAM is encouraging lawyer Bob Kasting to run for mayor, according to McCreery. Kasting represented Kitsilano resident Megan Carvell Davis in a legal action that forced the city to scrap an unpopular plan to carve out a bike path in Hadden Park.
Comments
14 Comments
Boris Moris
Aug 27, 2014 at 12:46pm
Such a huge shock. NOT
For all intents and purposes the Greens are a right wing party. TEAM's McCreery is an old NPA back room guy who presumably has been tasked with splitting Vancouver's large center left vote. His efforts in forming NSV for the last election didn't pan out so now with TEAM and the Greens effectively acting as NPA fart catchers, he's praying for a different result than in 2011.
Xander Davis
Aug 27, 2014 at 2:53pm
The three neophyte "Green" Party candidates above are all the spawn of tired-and-emotional right-wing politicos of Yesteryear.
Carr is in it for power, as she couldn't battle Elizabeth May of federal greenies. Carr, as with her name, hasn't done much eco-greening in the past 4 years at all.
Philip Connie
Aug 27, 2014 at 5:16pm
Mischa Oak, School Trustee nominee for the Vancouver Greens, used to be president of the Vancouver Centre NDP riding association.... that doesn't seem very right wing to me. Boris, are you spinning webs again?
Boris Moris
Aug 27, 2014 at 7:25pm
So (in your world) an ex NDP member is a Green school trustee candidate and you think that negates the cosy relationship Carr has had with the NPA?
Interesting.
I suppose the presense of that wannabe school trustee also makes up for all the federal and provincial vote splitting the Greens have caused, allowing for the worst right wing governments in Canada's history to gut environmental oversight. All for the sake of electing one MP and one MLA in 20 years.
Interesting. Green Party supporters are either really really dumb or they are in it to make sure right wing parties stay in power. Now an NPA organizer (McCreery) is endorsing Green candidates on behalf of his latest center left vote splitting prank party and all you've got to counter my attack, Connie, is to trot out your party's ex NDP desperado.
Weak
concerned
Aug 28, 2014 at 11:27am
Boris you're a boring Vision Vancouver spinner. Sad.
Boris Moris
Aug 28, 2014 at 2:28pm
So that's all you can manage, 'concerned'? A personal attack on the messenger? Not surprising really. The NPA and their proxies have so little going for them and their spin doctor/mayoral candidate is hoping voters forget about all the turd polishing he did for Harper and Gordon Campbell. Talk about a tough sell.
SouthVancouver
Aug 29, 2014 at 5:10am
It seems that Green's surge in support has gained it the attention of the Vision attack machine. It is astonishing that the party that has been bending over backwards to maximize profits for of corporate developer overlords dares claim that another party is "right wing."
Boris Moris
Aug 31, 2014 at 9:04am
I see the campaign strategists for the NPA and their proxies have deployed their secret weapon: manipulating the voting on comments after the page views drop off. Now that's some desperate shit.
Bill McCreery
Sep 2, 2014 at 1:23pm
Your obvious Vision Troll comments are even more so when you falsely claim I was a backroom NPAer. I was in fact a Council candidate in 2011. I ran with them in 2011 because 1) they gave me a good. Chance of being elected, 2) they nominated me. Why didn't you mention that I was a TEAM Park Commissioner in the 70s and am currently Vice Chair of the new TEAM?
Boris Moris
Sep 2, 2014 at 3:17pm
Perhaps McCreery should have mentioned he also helped set up NSV back in 2011 while he was an NPA candidate. I'm left wondering how many more vote splitting parties he's going to start in order to dilute center left voting. It certainly is no wonder people get fed up with that kind of dirty politics and don't bother voting.
I'm curious, McCreery, is that a mass of flakyness on your shoulders or did you wear a suede jacket in the rain?
I'm not quite sure which is more pathetic and clueless.