Correct me if Im wrong, but didnt COPEr Ellen Woodsworth narrowly lose her seat on city council in the fall election?
I thought so.
So did NPAer Suzanne Anton.
But unlike Anton, who has quietly carried on with life outside the civic scene, Woodsworth appears feisty as ever and glued to the goings-on at city hall.
The evidence is in the dispatches Ive received over the past two months from COPE in which Woodsworths comments are prominently featured. COPE no longer has a voice on council and this, apparently, is its strategy of staying in the conversation.
On Vision Vancouvers plan for an online rental database, which excludes private secondary suites and single-room occupancy (SRO) hotels:
The database would only include purpose built rental buildings, meaning that a vast number of renters would find no information about the quality of their housing options, said Woodsworth, noting there are an estimated 25,000 secondary suites in Vancouver, more than 17,000 rental condo units and plenty of SROs. We have a huge number of SROs that are known to be violating bylaws, are in need of critical repairs and whose landlords show no sign of coming into compliance. The people of Vancouver need to know about these units and right now this database would leave that out.
On election finance reform and city councils ongoing demands of the provincial government to implement some limits on campaign financing:
This government ignored COPE in 2005, the NPA in 2007, and Vision in 2010. The issue isnt Vancouver, the issue is the province, said Woodsworth, suggesting if the provincial government rejects the city again, it might be time to have major parties enter into a voluntary arrangement based on city bylaws to reduce expensive campaigns.
On the makeup of Mayor Gregor Robertsons affordability task force and why advocacy groups such as Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre and Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood Council were excluded:
We are faced with a housing affordability crisis that is multifaceted and impacts many different people all over the city. If the mayor is serious about looking at this challenge from every possible angle and having every option on the table, then he needs to add some other key voices.
Woodsworth served one term under then-mayor Larry Campbells government from 2002 to 2005. She lost in the 2005 race, but ran again in 2008 and got elected when Robertson and his Vision Vancouver team knocked off Sam Sullivan and his NPA majority.
In the 2011 race, Woodsworth narrowly lost to Green Party candidate Adriane Carr. COPE council candidates Tim Louis and R.J. Aquino also failed to get elected, leaving COPE without a councillor for the first time since 1999. In fact, school trustee Allan Wong is COPEs only elected official.
The next election isnt until November 2014. And, judging by the COPE dispatches filling my inbox, I doubt Woodsworth and her party will be going away anytime soon. Shes also a prolific Twitter user.
Money man
Mayor Gregor Robertson was in Toronto last Friday to deliver a speech to the Toronto Board of Trade.
Maybe you saw my story online.
In his opening remarks, he, of course, thanked the Toronto Board of Trade. He also thanked Concord Adex for sponsoring the event. According to my Google research of Concord Adex, the companys chief executive officer is Terry Hui. I assume its the same Terry Hui who heads up Concord Pacific in Vancouver.
That would be the same Hui and Concord that has been one of Vision Vancouvers biggest financial contributors since the party won power in 2008.
But why Concord gives money to Vision isnt something Hui has been willing to answer in the repeated requests from yours truly for an interview. Concord has also given money to the NPA and COPE.
Twitter: @Howelling
