The late '60s and early '70s in this part of the world, as elsewhere, were a time of significant political change and even turmoil. Long standing regimes fell; upstart groups or those hovering on the periphery took power and implemented dramatic and at times radical policies and programs.
What's most noteworthy is this: While their time at the helm was brief, giving way to old alliances regaining control, the impact of that moment in history has often remained.
That all occurred to me as I contemplated the passing of Art Phillips. He was Vancouver's mayor from 1972 to 1976. Phillips was part of a political phenomenon that became known as The Electors Action Movement or TEAM. Within four years it would bring to an end more than three decades of uninterrupted power by what was considered the most successful municipal party in the country, the Non Partisan Association or NPA.
Meanwhile, across the water in Victoria, another regime was about to come to an abrupt end: Social Credit and the 20-year rule by then premier W.A.C. Bennett. Bennett, himself a one-time political visionary, was running out of steam. And in his words: "The Socialist hordes were at the gates."
If there was a single catalyst to TEAM's birth, it was the NPA plan, promoted by city staff and embraced by council, to build a freeway through downtown that would slice eastward through Chinatown and Strathcona, destroying residential neighbourhoods along the way. It would also tie in with a planned third crossing of Burrard Inlet from Vancouver to the North Shore.
What started as a protest by citizens, academics, storefront lawyers and other young professionals taking to the streets over that planned freeway finally came together in this new movement that would shift the centre of power to the left. TEAM was a coalition formed among Liberals like Phillips, Walter Hardwick and Fritz Bowers and moderate NDPers like Mike Harcourt and Darlene Marzari.
Phillips, who by then was a successful investment counsellor, became TEAM's first president. He was first elected alderman in 1968. Then after two two-year terms, while the freeway battle continued, and while the city went ahead and built two viaducts as part of the freeway plan, Phillips and TEAM finally defeated the NPA in the fall election of 1972. And that was the end of the freeway.
Two months earlier W.A.C. and his Socreds fell to the Socialist Hordes in the form of Dave Barrett and the NDP. And once Barrett and his crew got over the shock of their victory they went on a legislative tear. Among many other accomplishments, they used the money saved by cancelling the third crossing (which was part of Phillips et al stopping the freeway project) to fund more public transit and the SeaBus.
Phillips and his council majority were equally aggressive. Up to that point, the city was run by the rigid hand of Gerald Sutton-Brown, the onetime director of planning who moved on to be the city's chief administrator. And he pretty well called all the shots until the day - legend has it - when Phillips almost immediately after being sworn in, walked out of his office and down to Sutton-Brown's office and fired him. From then on, politicians would direct the running of the city.
Phillips' inaugural address delivered 40 years ago was remarkably modern by today's standards. There would improvements to the "deplorable" social housing around Main and Hastings; council would turn the industrial sewer that was False Creek into a livable and affordable neighbourhood (where Phillips and his new wife Carole Taylor actually moved to make the point).
Council would "improve livability" in the West End. Council created a new property endowment fund for all city-owned lands rather than fritter pieces away by selling them to meet budget needs.
Public hearings would be held in the evening so they would be more accessible. There would be funding for a rapid transit system, the "acceleration of tree planting" and the enforcement of air and noise pollution bylaws."
And while Phillips only managed four years in the mayor's chair and TEAM disintegrated not too long after he departed, the legacy from that period is indisputable. In many ways it still defines the best of what we see in our city today. [email protected]
