The NPA announced a city-wide campaign Friday to seek input from residents and businesses in an effort to shape the party’s policies in the run-up to next fall’s civic election.
The campaign is a direct criticism of the ruling Vision Vancouver that the NPA says has not consulted with residents over various issues, including planning of neighbourhoods and controversies over bike lanes and community centres.
“We want the policy to come from the grassroots and that’s what we’ll take to the voters in November,” said Affleck, whose party launched its campaign at the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue downtown.
Affleck was joined at the launch by fellow NPA Coun. Elizabeth Ball and park board commissioners Melissa De Genova and John Coupar. The party represents the minority at city council, school board and park board.
Numerous rallies related to bike lanes, community centres and development have been held across the city and on the steps of city hall since Vision Vancouver was re-elected in November 2011.
The NPA’s elected officials, who have been present at many of the rallies, pointed to that unrest, with Affleck saying residents are angry with Vision and believe it’s time the ruling party was replaced by a party that “listens to everyone.”
Some of that unrest has been directed at the Vision Vancouver-led park board’s desire to create a single membership card for all 22 community centres — a tussle that ended up in B.C. Supreme Court.
Legal action was also taken by a city resident and activist against the park board and the City of Vancouver over plans to build a three-metre-wide paved bike land through Kitsilano’s Hadden Park.
Residents concerned over new community plans set for neighbourhoods such as Marpole and Grandview-Woodland have also told council to put the brakes on development and consult more with people before implementation.
The NPA, which rebranded itself with a new logo and colours, posted a short, slick video on its website Friday that focused on a message that will likely be heard many times during next year’s campaign: “Vision Vancouver has stopped listening.”
Vision Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs, who was elected in 2008, said the NPA’s criticisms of Vision are unwarranted when considering Affleck’s record of voting against rental housing and a homeless shelter in Yaletown.
“He has fought tooth and nail against our efforts to improve the supply of housing for tenants and oppose some of our measures to protect them against exploitation by slumlords,” Meggs said. “I believe those are issues where [the NPA] needs to do some listening.”
He pointed out one of then-NPA mayor Sam Sullivan’s first acts in office in 2005 was to wipe out advisory committees to council, which upset many residents. Meggs acknowledged the “dramatic changes” occurring in Vancouver and how they’ve unsettled some neighbourhoods.
“What I think has been hard for some people is to understand the attempts made to balance that change with some of the other objectives — voters want us to tackle housing affordability, access to transit and things like that,” he said.
The NPA’s “neighbourhood-listening forums” will be held across the city where residents are invited to discuss various issues, including safety, small business and the economy, parks, seniors and issues in the gay community. The first forum is set for Dec. 11 at the Museum of Vancouver.
The NPA chose to launch its campaign Friday to remind voters the civic election is only one year away. Mayor Gregor Robertson and Vision Vancouver have ruled city hall since November 2008.
COPE, which ruled between 2002 and 2005, is also hoping for some gains in next year’s election. And, unlike the previous two votes, COPE plans to run a mayoral candidate. A number of other smaller parties are also expected to field candidates.
