NPA candidate George Affleck expresses surprise over being elected to Vancouver city council

by Carlito Pablo on November 20th, 2011 at 11:12 AM

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His name was the first on the long list of candidates for council whose surnames spanned the alphabet from A to Y.

A neophyte in the political ring, his entry into the race as a candidate for the Non-Partisan Association may have had some voters asking early in the campaign: George Affleck who?

Affleck, a public-relations executive, is certainly going to have more asking about him and what he’s going to do for the next three years.

Affleck and former councillor Elizabeth Ball were the only two NPA candidates who survived yet again another near rout at the hands of the Vision Vancouver machine.

On election night, the former journalist told the Straight at the Fairmont Vancouver Hotel that the results brought “mixed emotions” for him.

“I’m obviously sad about Suzanne,” Affleck said of Suzanne Anton, the defeated NPA candidate for mayor. “I respect her. I so much enjoyed working with her.”

He admitted being somewhat surprised that he made it.

“No, I don’t know what I was expecting,” Affleck said about his thoughts before election day. "Everyday that I wake up, it would be a different number in my head—you know 16, 23, 7, 6, 4, I don’t know. I was guessing. We heard out in the street—when were walking around—people were disappointed and unhappy. So we thought that would resonate more with the voters.”

Looking ahead, Affleck said that his “focus now is Vancouver, to really help a great city”.

That, he said, is important to him, as well as being “a part of the team”.

“I hope Mayor Robertson wants to include me as part of that team,” Affleck said about reelected Vision Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson.

Comments

10 Comments

James G

Nov 20, 2011 at 1:35pm

It's not really surprising. No offense to the freshman Councilor, he may turn out well but everyone we saw at the polls carried a list of some sorts. The odds favour anyone with a surname in the A, B, C category. If Adriene Carr had been Adriene Truck, it would have been a different result. If Ellen Woodsworth had married someone surnamed Aaron and taken her surname, she would have been elected. The need for at-large to go and wards to come is writ large all over this City in dayglo letters ten metres high.

DavidH

Nov 20, 2011 at 1:54pm

The usual. The only "team" that a politician cares about is the party that sponsored him. Look for Affleck to be just another "anti" whose idea of a contribution is to push his party's political agenda.

Nobody bought Anton's "common sense" rhetoric, because it was an obvious lie. Affleck won't be any more honest.

cosmicsync

Nov 20, 2011 at 5:40pm

No offense, James G, but I don't think voters consulting lists in any way benefits people with names that start with letters that appear early in the alphabet. I think people with lists would ignore placement altogether and find the names of the people <em>on their list</em>.

You have a point, that the at large system results in a huge number of candidates and could give an edge to those with names that appear higher on the ballot. But the lists you referred to, and I also noted many people using them, minimizes that problem.

Making sure voters understand they don't have to pick a person for every position, that they can vote for as many or few as they like up to the maximum number of spots available, would also improve the quality of results, without resorting to a ward system.

I don't think Adriane Carr was elected because she was high on the ballot. That may have been the case for Mr. Affleck, but Ms. Carr and Ms. Woodsworth both have far too much name recognition for their placement on the ballot to have been a major factor.

Of course, it's impossible to know one way or the other.

Ben

Nov 20, 2011 at 5:58pm

If NSV didn't run people for council, and thus split the far left (i.e. take votes away from COPE), Woodsworth would have gotten in instead of Affleck.

James G

Nov 20, 2011 at 6:48pm

My earlier comments appear to have gone. Did I offend? Sorry if so. Maybe it was system overload?

The point I was trying to make was the absurdity in trying even to recall the very NAME of whom you presumably think will represent you. The carrying of a list is even a necessity for a political junkie such as myself.

Maybe with a ward, voters would think not just about affiliation but ability and background. I abandoned the slate vote for the very first time and liked it.

The consequences though are that my favorite Councilor is defeated and someone who cannot represent me takes her place. Ball is not so bad, Affleck unknown but they are elected in the stead of other NPA candidates just as or more appealing simply due to ABCs.

ABCXYZ

Nov 20, 2011 at 8:00pm

RE-DO...
And change the names of candidates to Waffleck and Awoodsworth and see what the difference is.

canadianveggie

Nov 20, 2011 at 10:19pm

I was very close to voting for Affleck, and it had nothing to do with his last name. It was his responses to the VACC survey and his experience with the car co-op.

Bodacious

Nov 20, 2011 at 11:32pm

If its that big a deal, the city should just list them in reverse alphabetical order next time to test that theory.

hms

Nov 21, 2011 at 12:16am

I agree with Ben - the NSV prevented Ellen Woodsworth from getting on Council. Shame on them. They agreed with the COPE platform, but rather than working with COPE, they went off and formed their own party. They gained nothing - didn't stop Vision (which they wanted to do) yet deprived COPE of an excellent politician on Council. Splitting the progressive vote never works. I hope NSV learns something before the next election