COPE members ratify electoral deal with Vision Vancouver

The left-wing Coalition of Progressive Electors has agreed to limit the number of candidates it will run in the November 2011 Vancouver election.

Today (June 26), party members ratified an electoral agreement with Vision Vancouver.

It allows COPE to run three candidates for council, four for school board, and two for park board.

There are 10 positions on council, nine seats on school board, and seven members of the park board.

COPE will not run a candidate for mayor against Vision Vancouver incumbent Gregor Robertson.

"COPE members today voted to lock out the NPA for another three years," COPE external cochair Marcus Youssef said in a party news release. "That’s critical in making sure Vancouver keeps moving forward and continues to work hard on progressive civic issues."

COPE will hold a nomination meeting on September 18 to select candidates.

As part of the deal, Vision Vancouver has agreed to run seven candidates for council, five for school board, and four for park board.

The Vancouver Civic Greens have been offered one position for park board. If they turn down the deal, Vision Vancouver will run five candidates for park board.

Comments

10 Comments

Lucas Schuller

Jun 26, 2011 at 7:40pm

If federal parties could work together like this we would never have a Harper government.

Lawson1945

Jun 26, 2011 at 9:32pm

Hiss Boo Hiss Boo

james green

Jun 27, 2011 at 5:09am

Cope is redundant in this city. Three more years of this incompentent mayor is enough and I partially blame COPE for going along with the poor fiscal, social and political programs of this mayor and Vision dominated council.
If I could run without holding my nose I would do so as there needs to be some opposition at the council table.

Tim Bus

Jun 27, 2011 at 6:08am

Does that mean no Tim 'Che' Louis?

Andrew

Jun 27, 2011 at 6:50am

It's time to ban contributions from developers to all political parties on the municipal level in BC. As COPE is the only major party that voluntarily doesn't accept developer contributions, it does leave them at a huge financial disadvantage. Until such a ban is in place, Vision and NPA should also voluntarily follow suit and refuse funding from developers. Otherwise the agenda at City Hall, the rezoning process and city planning is done to the tune of developers running unfettered over communities all over Vancouver.

pippatch

Jun 27, 2011 at 9:14am

Sounds like they have determined who will win the election before it is even done. Every party, person, group should be able to run wherever they want, with out any say from other groups.

UWSofty

Jun 27, 2011 at 3:11pm

Anything that has Lawson1945's panties in a knot is probably good for this city.

Thomas Diaz

Jun 27, 2011 at 6:20pm

This is great news, according to polls most Vancouverites are looking for this kind of cooperation...all the people who freaking out over this simply don't understand the way at large elections work and how much vote splitting can happen. The choices are either unite and fight or watch the NPA stroll back into 12th and Cambie...

Earth to Dreamland Liberals

Jun 28, 2011 at 7:01am

Dear Lucas Shuller and Thomas Diaz -- wake up, politics is about nothing else than conflict. People get screwed no matter what political decision is made. Unfortunately, since about 1980 99% of the screwing is done by the wealthiest 1% of the population while the rest of us are the screwees. It's time to turn the tables. The rhetoric of 'compromise', 'not quite as bad as' 'Ignatieff not Harper' is delusional, they all serve the same interests.

If there were a political organization that served the interests of the vast majority of people they would have take away the privileges, money and advantages of the tiny minority that runs our society. That is conflict.

Lucas Schuller

Jun 28, 2011 at 11:07pm

Dear Earth to Dreamland Liberals,

I hope you're not blaming those of us born in the 80's for the coming of these bad times. I swear, almost 30 years later we still don't have enough influence to do much about it.

I too look forward to the revolution that will right all the wrongs you've outlined, but on the off-chance that it doesn't happen soon, many of us are trying really hard to play the hand we've been dealt as best we can. Even if it means using dirty words like compromise - the origin of which, incidentally, is a shared promise. I like to think of it as a shared promise to do better by eachother than we have in the past.