Sean Casey - Freelance Writer

Quick field notes from tonight’s Vision Vancouver City Council Nominees debate:

- 17 nominees are contesting for one of Vision’s eight City Council slots.

- Mayoral candidate Gregor Roberston has endorsed incumbents George Chow, Heather Deal, Raymond Louie, and Tim Stevenson. This may all but guarantee them a nomination.

- The nominees were divided into groups of four. Each group was asked two questions by a panel of journalists from the Tyee, 24 Hours, and the West Ender.

- All nominees generally focused on the same core issues: homelessness, affordable housing, transit, the environment, and the overall failure of the NPA to invoke political willpower.

- Group 1 consisted of Catherine Evans, Heather Deal, Vaune Adams Kolber, and Andrew Dewberry. Heather Deal dominated the first group, displaying a depth of understanding regarding Vancouver’s transit and recycling problems. Last-minute nominee Dewberry constantly brought up the over-hyped “treefort saga”, and struggled to present any big-picture solutions to the city’s problems. His heart’s in the right place, but he’ll need several more years involved with community affairs before he’s ready to tackle city council.

- Kerry Jang, Kashmir Dhaliwal, Geoff Meggs, and George Chow formed Group 2. Jang was by far one of the smoothest talkers of the night, responding articulately to the panel’s question regarding drug treatment centers and NIMBY (”Not In My BackYard”) attitudes. George Chow won the crowd over with his self-effacing sense of humour. Chow and Jang emphasized the use of government endowment lands for the use of building affordable housing.

- Group 3 was made up of “Heather and the three Raymonds”: Heather Harrison, Raymond Louie, Ray Lam, and Rey Umlas. All four nominees agreed that ticketing the homeless for sleeping in the street was ineffective, if not stupid, and promised not to continue that NPA strategy. Umlas’s energetic responses were invigorating, energetic, and a bit vague all at once. Ray Lam deserves an honourable mention for giving the most honest answer of the night. When asked what his solution would be for middle-class renters unable to afford the rising rent prices in Vancouver, he honourably admitted that he had no immediate answer to such a complex question instead of rambling nonsensically. Props to Lam for his honesty.

- The final group comprised of Tim Stevenson, Doug Bencze, David Eby, Demitri Douzenis, and Andrea Reimer. Reimer and Eby shined most brightly of the four, fielding questions on civil liberties and safe housing with ease. Douzenis was strong on passion, but weak on policy. Benz and Stevenson both felt that the Provincial and Federal government need to be brought in to solve Vancouver’s drug and homeless problems.

A fascinating night overall. With nine days left till the nomination vote on September 20th, the Vision Vancouver City Council slate is still anyone’s game.

Tags: Vision Vancouver