Vancouver Mayor For Hire - Inquire Within ( Part 1 )

With incumbent American President Barack Obama providing the American populace with a new hope in the political process. Vancouver heads to the polls on November 15th to choose our next Mayor. Alight with renewed faith and political fervor.

O.k. maybe "political fervor" is going a bit far, but things have changed a little...

Sam Sullivan, bless his heart... did what he could do with Vancouver's Homeless crisis. Absolutely nothing. That is not an opinion, it is in fact - a fact. A tourist from Delaware could figure this out without any prompting from Mr. Robertson, Betty K or a monkey with a bullhorn. The homeless crisis is getting worse and the 2010 Olympics are not going to help. The Olympics we can't stop, but... with the help of our new mayor, we can end homelessness.

In our continuing effort to stay abreast of what it is that city hall thinks it does... We will be bringing you a veritable "Who's Who" of the Mayoral runoff.

Starting with the mayoral debate that happened just recently at St. Andrew's- Wesley United Church. The Two most popular candidates and the two most visible.

In this corner...weighing approximately 150 pounds, wearing the red trunks. Peter Ladner from the Non-Partisan Association.... (Hold your applause to the end of this blog please)

and

In this corner... weighing approximately 190 pounds, wearing the blue trunks... Gregor Robertson from Vision Vancouver.... (Again, please hold all applause to the end of this blog)

Sorry...slight digression...

They were both, first asked to give their opening speech. Robertson won the coin toss, so he went first and ran twenty yards! I mean... I am not usually a fan of opening speeches, because they generally are rehearsed and not very clear.
Robertson's was, however, pretty straight to the point. Amongst the usual preamble he did outline his key focal points "If he was mayor".

1) Ensure that there are enough shelter beds.
2) Keep affordable rental buildings safe and open.
3) Improve outreach services to the homeless.
4) Establish a mental health advocate.
5) Expand local job plans to help street youth.
6) Protect low income rental units, fight for renters' rights and focus on new rental housing.
7) Be a strong voice in Victoria to lobby for these interests on a provincial level.

Next up Peter Ladner - same party as the outgoing mayor.

First he told everyone how "moved" he was that people showed up and were passionate about the issues. Hmmmm... I'm surprised that he was surprised...
He then went on to tell us a story about monks and drowning people that frankly made no sense whatsoever and confused the entire room. Including me thinks, Mr. Ladner.

He then outlined his goals.
1) Increase income. "People who have no income have no options".
2) More "Supportive housing". He then claimed that his administration had created 3800 units of housing since 2005. (This was later rebuked by a one of the interviewers to a number in the single digit realm.)
3) Mental health services.

It should also be pointed out in due fairness to Mr. Ladner that he did recognize that there was very little evidence that his party had remotely done anything visible over the last 3 years. Must be a lot of invisible rental units on the downtown eastside.

They were then asked to give short answers to key issues.
This is where you separate the men and the boys... invisible or not.
Here are the highlights...

Q - Do you think there should be an annual report to the city on the progress of ending homelessness?

Ladner - Yes, and there is.
Q - We haven't seen one in 3 years.

Ladner - We just got one...ummm... in July.
We haven't had one in 3 years? Seems like we had one. We do get updates.

Robertson - Yes. There should be. A regular full report.

Q - The city currently has two supervised injection sites. Do you believe there should be a 3rd one operated under the same law that exists at Insite now, where there is transitional treatment and housing added to the site?

Ladner - I'm leaving that up to the health authorities that run those facilities...
Q - Yes or No?

Ladner - Uhhhhh... I don't know. I'm sorry. Stop that. The answer would be if I had to do this... yes or no... I would say no. Until somebody makes a case.

Robertson - I would say yes. Particularly if there are treatment beds included.

Q - There are several S.R.O. buildings in Vancouver that are empty as owners wait for development. Do you believe the city should meet with those owners to try and convince them to lease their rooms temporarily to ease the homelessness situation?

Robertson - Yes. Absolutely.
Ladner - Yes

Q - Would you meet with B.C. housing to put pressure to fill those units on a temporary basis.

Ladner - No to filling those units and yes to meeting with them (the owners) to hasten the development of those sites.

Robertson - Yes to meeting with them and Yes to using that housing on a temporary basis.

Later, they both had opportunities to answer questions in full. To be honest, the implied audience rules of being quiet and respectful basically went out the window a few times. In essence the questions above pretty well encapsulated the mood and positions of the candidates during the entire debate.

Like the American election and unlike the Canadian election... There is one guy who has been a "yes-man" for a leader that has been unsuccessful for years and a challenger who has new ideas and wants change. Is there a parallel? In very broad terms...maybe. I will let you be the judge of that, dear reader.

One thing that is for sure. If you are a resident of Vancouver...

On November 15th... VOTE!

Homelessness affects us all.

Colin