If the NPA and Kirk LaPointe get slaughtered in tomorrow's election, here are six reasons why

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      This morning, I wrote an article outlining 10 reasons why Vision Vancouver should be feeling some trepidation about tomorrow's election.

      Below, I'll follow up with six reasons why the NPA may not be in a good position to replace the governing party.

      6. NPA mayoral candidate Kirk LaPointe has not convinced voters that he would focus much attention on affordable housing and homelessness.

      5. The NPA has attracted remarkably few third-party endorsements. Former NPA politicians like Gordon Price and Peter Ladner have not been banging the drum for the party. The former president, Michael Davis, endorsed Vision Vancouver, arguing that this NPA is too right wing. None of LaPointe's former colleagues in the media have gone to the ramparts to say what a great guy he is. LaPointe was largely anonymous to the public before entering the race. People still don't know him very well beyond his short voice clips in TV and radio advertisements. He has not been a presence around City Hall over the past six years. He doesn't even live within the city's boundaries.

      4. Densification under Vision Vancouver has increased the number of voters in areas that have traditionally been Vision Vancouver's back yard, such as Grandview-Woodland. There's been far less densification in southwest Vancouver, where the NPA is the most popular party. The number of votes from NPA strongholds has remained static in recent elections whereas turnout has sharply risen in Vision Vancouver's areas. If the NPA had been paying attention to this trend, it would support a ward system so it could get more councillors elected. As things stand, the NPA could easily be trounced again.

      3. The NPA is perceived by many voters to be a front group for the city's business establishment, many of whom support pipeline proposals and the B.C. Liberal government in Victoria. The B.C. Liberals were slaughtered in Vancouver in the last provincial election. Increasingly, this is becoming an NDP city. If directors of the Fraser Institute are backing your party, it's not going to win a lot of support.

      2. The anti–Vision Vancouver vote is fragmented all over the political landscape. It will go to the Cedar Party, the NPA, the Greens, COPE, and Vancouver First.

      1. The NPA has done a fairly woeful job over the past three years of gathering support across the spectrum. Cobbling together a slate a few months before the election probably isn't sufficient to attract huge numbers of votes from the LGBT, South Asian, Chinese, and Filipino communities. This could prove decisive on election day.

      Comments

      13 Comments

      AKG

      Nov 14, 2014 at 12:00pm

      Can we please drop the "doesn't live in the city boundaries" talking point, Charlie? The Endowment Lands being an enclave entirely cut off from everything else by the City of Vancouver is really a tenuous thing to attack somebody on, and lord knows LaPointe has plenty of other baggage that doesn't sound as petty.

      ursa minor

      Nov 14, 2014 at 12:29pm

      Don't drop that talking point - if you don't live in the city or own a business here, you're not paying taxes here. If you're not paying taxes here, you have no business in deciding what happens to the tax dollars of the people who do live and work here.

      Representation without Taxation is just as bad as Taxation without Representation.

      Mark A

      Nov 14, 2014 at 12:40pm

      The only reason that Kirk's former media colleagues have not been out front with their support is the simple fact that people like yourself will say that the media is in his pocket and they are doing him a favour. It would be painted as biased reporting by the lies of you Charlie.
      Instead the media is in lock step with VV - maybe hoping for a nice job at city hall in the media relations department.
      The Straight, Vancouver Sun and Vancouver Observer are probably the most biased in the reporting of this election. - Poor show indeed !

      Voter 8673

      Nov 14, 2014 at 1:06pm

      The fact La Pointe isn't getting endorsements from the province's media and political elite (including former politicians) is a "pointe" in his favour. I'm tired of well placed people telling me to vote Vision "because it's good for me".

      Arthur Vandelay

      Nov 14, 2014 at 1:08pm

      I think the NPA's biggest failure is not making an issue of property taxes being too high and that the NPA should be able to lower them. Even if he gave a non-committal flimsy justification of tightening the belt at city hall being a reason that he will be able to lower taxes, the thought of a one's wallet being fatter is perhaps the most powerful motivator for the average non-engaged voter.

      Bruce

      Nov 14, 2014 at 2:03pm

      So we've got reasons why Vision could fail, and why the NPA could fail. I wonder if any COPE candidates will get elected? I bet there's more than 10 reasons why... Input, anyone?

      petr aardvark

      Nov 14, 2014 at 3:01pm

      well, since businesses pay several times the amount of residential taxes, let's see a similar increase for foreign owners - who are simply using Vancouver real estate to park their money. My Richmond bus. unit at 1500 sq ft is around $6500 in property taxes (probably 2 1/2 times more than our house in Vancouver). A while they're at it add some for empty residences.

      A recent New Yorker article discussed this while noting with some surprise that the highest real estate rates in North America are in Vancouver.

      Btw, Switzerland does not allow foreign ownership.

      RUK

      Nov 14, 2014 at 3:10pm

      Bruce, COPE could elect someone, sure. Why? Because they are left wingers (would never vote for NPA or Cedar) and think that Vision is only pretending to be centre-left and actually has a too-chummy relationship with gentrifying forces that will displace the poor and raise their own rents.

      I think this is a substantial base of support for a left vote, but then again, what is COPE? They seem like anti-capitalist ideologues to me. And that's cool, if that's your thing, why not? Power to the peeple! But if you want to support unionists, you're not going to vote against construction gigs. There's also been the various reports of strangeness involving Ali Yerevani and Fire This Time being Tim Louis' voting bloc - if you're too hardcore for the young COPEsters who blockaded a restaurant for some reason, you're pretty darn hardcore. Too hardcore for me. But I'm just an anonymous internet voice...

      I just hope people do their research, find the people that they can stomach as power figures, and get out and vote!

      Jonathan Baker

      Nov 14, 2014 at 3:30pm

      Voters don't need an MIT degree to understand that if all those who want VISION out split their votes among each other, VISION will stay in. If most vote only for the party likely to get, in total, the most votes that party will win. That is why VISION wants COPE to "come home" and the NPA wants all of the rest to stay with them. It is a fact that the NPA and VISION have the most money. Unless you think that the cost of a campaign is unrelated to its outcome, the NPA is likely to be the main challenger to VISION and the voters will probably ignore the advice of the small parties to treat their votes like manure to be spread over the field. If the NPA wins it will be because the voters rejected the self proclaimed balanced the vote experts.

      Richard

      Nov 14, 2014 at 3:34pm

      If they lose, the big reason will be that young people vote in big numbers.

      Those under 55 and especially those under 35 support Robertson way over LaPointe.

      We need solutions, not attacks and angry nostalgia.