A wooden model shows the proposed development at the heart of Mount Pleasant.

The Residents Association Mount Pleasant (RAMP) called one of the first meetings for Oct. 26^th at south Main Street’s Heritage Hall. The group’s goal is to get council hopefuls to clearly state to what degree, if elected, they will use neighbourhood-level input to guide city planning and land use decisions.

RAMP and Rize

RAMP was formed in response to a July 2010 rezoning application by Rize Alliance Properties. The building proposed by Rize at the corner of Kingsway and East Broadway includes a mix of retail and residential units and would rise to 19 stories at its highest point. Fifteen of the 241 dwellings would be rentals proposed under the city’s Short Term Incentives for Rental program.

The group believes the development threatens the neighbourhood’s current character. On its website and in regular Facebook and Twitter posts, RAMP argues that the project doesn’t fit with the vision that emerged from the 2007-2010 Mount Pleasant community planning program.

“Generations of residents, planners, and politicians have created the current environment in Mount Pleasant,” said Stephen Bohus, RAMP’s director. “Now, an opportunistic developer has come in and they have a different vision: high rises.”

Mount Pleasant residents who attended community consultations held by Rize in March and April 2011 expressed little support for the project. RAMP has gathered nearly 2,000 signatures on a petition opposing it.

The public hearing and council vote on Rize’s rezoning application is unlikely to occur before Nov. 19. Bohus believes the outcry from angry constituents about the project has spooked the election-minded council.

“I don’t think Council will want to look at a public hearing of a few hundred people right before the election” he said. “That’s not a politically expedient thing to do; you don’t want to have a hot potato in your hands.”

Sandeep Johal posts a flyer advertising RAMP's all-candidates meeting.

Citizens call council candidates on the carpet

RAMP proposed the upcoming all-candidates meeting as a way to force council candidates to take a stance on the Rize project and other development projects across the city that are facing local opposition.

“It’s sort of a litmus test,” said RAMP volunteer Sandeep Johal. “Citizens can really decide who is espousing their values and supporting their communities.”

Other citizen groups have adopted a similar strategy, and a series of all-candidate meetings pack the calendar in the weeks leading up the the 2011 municipal election.

Randy Helten, a candidate for mayor with the Neighbourhoods for a Sustainable Vancouver, tracks the events on his blog CityHallWatch. He says the pre-election forums grow out of a frustration with the current Vision Vancouver majority on city council. Helten estimates neighbourhood groups have dedicated “tens of thousands of hours” organizing letters, emails and calls to council that are critical of projects in the city planning process, to seemingly little effect.

“Vision Vancouver has absolute power on city council, with 8 of eleven votes,” said Helten. “They vote as a block, with almost no exceptions, against the wishes of the community.”

New media, new activism

The large number of pre-election forums reflects the growth of a relatively new network of citizen bloggers and Internet-savvy neighbourhood-based organizations, according to Helten. He says few such candidate debates occurred before the 2008 election.

In the coming weeks, these groups will use social media tools and other means of Internet-based publication to distribute records of the candidate’s meetings.

“We will be filming, Twittering, and live streaming our event,” said RAMP’s Johal. “It will be right there in black and white. People can see exactly what’s said; it can’t be misinterpreted.”

Johal hopes the records of the candidate’s statements will inspire voters and inform their choices on Nov. 19, an exciting prospect for Helten, as well.

“This election will be really interesting to watch, because it puts the information into the hands of the citizens,” he said. “It’s a new stage in our democratic system here in Vancouver.”

Merzetti disgusted the crowd with the cigarette butts from a prior two-hour clean-up.

On a recent sunny Saturday morning, some 35 West End residents in Vancouver donned yellow vests and blue rubber gloves and proceeded to scour their neighbourhood’s streets in search of cigarette butts.

They were there at the behest of John Merzetti, who started getting locals to pick up trash as part of his “West End Cleanup” group back in in 2007. Since then, he said, “cigarette butts have increasingly become the bane of our existence.”

Merzetti had convinced more than just concerned West End residents to search the streets that day; they were joined by a number of politicians running for office in the upcoming municipal elections. He’s appealed to them by way of a digital campaign carrying the tagline “Don’t be a butthead.”

He hopes that after spending a few hours picking up the butts by hand, those who got elected would take action to prevent the discarded cigarettes from being left on the street in the first place.

A simple ask

Before going off to pick up butts, Merzetti stood in front of the crowd on a bench in front of the Community Garden at the corner of Davie and Burrard, holding a container overflowing with the fruits of his group’s labour. “This was only collected over two hours,” he yelled.

The laws the current administration had passed so far, such as the smoking ban in public parks and on beaches, were obviously not working. “The parks are littered,” he said. Nearby Nelson Park “is disgusting.”

Jason Lamarche, City Council candidate from the Non-Partisan Association (NPA), said the clean disposal of cigarette butts wasn’t currently a priority on his agenda. But he promised that if elected, he’d make time to address it.

He also brought along a cameraman to film him picking up the butts, which he later on posted on YouTube and on his website.

“I don’t pretend to have all the answers and am definitely open to suggestions,” said Aaron Jasper, member of Vision Vancouver and chair of the Vancouver Park Board. “Cigarette butts are a huge issue.”

However, Jasper refused to admit to any mistakes in the current legislation. “The bylaw itself,  the rationale and the scope of the bylaw, I stand behind it 100 percent,” he said.

As a public figure, Carr gladly helps raise awareness on green initiatives.

Adriane Carr, candidate for City Council for the Vancouver Green Party, said she’d participated in the West End Cleanups before and promised that if elected, she’d address the issue within three to four months.

“I can’t see how the city would not be willing to move on putting in some more garbage cans and ash trays,” she said. “It’s a simple ask.”

It’s up to them

The West End Cleanup has been fighting for this “simple ask” for years. Driven by a deep appreciation for the neighbourhood, Merzetti has been able to rally volunteers to pick up trash on the second Saturday of every month since the group’s inception; some have even adopted their own block whose cleanliness they oversee.

The candidates’ participation on one of the last Saturday cleanups before votes are cast in the upcoming municipal election left him hopeful but realistic about the prospect that his hard work may finally pay off.

“We got a good turnout from all the different political groups today and I tried to drill it into them that something has to be done,” he said.  The next step will be to contact the councillors after the elections, around the New Year, and remind them of their promises.

“It’s not going to be a piece of cake,” Merzetti said. “But we’ve presented this [issue] to them on a silver platter. And now it’s up to them to do something with it.”

The Ambleside shore inspires Shaver

Shaver is an independent artist who creates rock sculptures. He has been working on Ambleside shore in West Vancouver over the past year.

Public art is a priority in Vancouver, with the city aiming to encourage artists. More than 20 new permanent and temporary public artworks were commissioned for the 2010 Winter Games.

According to Shaver ,an art piece is a way artist tries to communicate with his audience.

“Every human being has something to say and share a thought with people,” he says. “An artist’s way to send that message is art. That is why this sort of work matters.”

Shaver’s balancing act

Shaver has no formal arts training, but he does not see that as a barrier. He likes to work whenever and wherever he wants.

His work is inspired by The Coral Castle created by Edward Leedskalnin in early 1900s in Florida. Leedskalnin made a castle out of stones single-handedly and managed to move it from one place to another.

Shaver started to work on rocks around English Bay in downtown Vancouver five years ago. But waves easily destroyed his art so he decided to move to the other side of the Lions Gate Bridge, the Ambleside shore on West Vancouver.

The local authorities are open to the work of artists like Shaver.

Glenn Madsen, the cultural program coordinator at the district of West Vancouver, said there were no regulations against artistic work in a public place.

“I consider such work as a random act of art, its not public art,” Madsen says. “They somehow spur dialog among people and become a meeting spot for them.”

“If the residents of the community start to complain about it ultimately it can end up with a policy. Other than that I don’t see any problem with it.”

Balancing rocks are dotted around the Ambleside shore

Defining the city

Vancouver has an official public art program that covers a variety of activities. They include public and private sector artist commissions, community art initiatives and citizen donations of artwork.

The city aims to commission art that expresses the spirit, values, visions, and poetry of place that it believes collectively define Vancouver.

Bryan Newson, Vancouver city art program manager, feels that this program contributes to the values of the city.

“It is about creating a place for artists,” he says. “We are interested to bring artists forward and contribute to the values, visions, and the poetry of Vancouver.”

Arts professor Xiong Gu at the University of British Columbia says public art is an attempt to make the environment more pleasant.

“Public art is a broad concept,” he says. “It does give a city identity.”

But others are more guarded. “There is nothing unique about Vancouver,” says John O’Brian, arts history professor at UBC. He points out that the city has less public art than most other cities, like neighbouring Seattle.

Art with a message

The rock sculptures have become part of the landscape in Ambleside.

“It is really nice to see that someone puts all of this effort to build something for the community,” says Feri Amin, a West Vancouver resident.

“I think every person has something to say about life, maybe a message,” she adds. “I believe that creating a sculpture is the way artists use to send us that message.”

Shaver believes that each set of rocks resembles one person and their personalities.

After a minute or two, people find themselves staring at one set for several minutes and just like clouds, they can shape a figure in their eyes.

“When you associate with that stone, you must realize that one day that stone will fall and so you will too,” says Shaver.  “Life is temporary … so enjoy right now.”

Scores of young Vancouver residents won’t be heading to the polls on November 15^th, but it won’t be  apathy keeping them away – it will be the law.

To cast a ballot in the upcoming municipal election, voters must be Canadian citizens at least 18 years of age. They must also have lived in Vancouver for at least a month before election day, and been a resident of British Columbia for at least six months. It’s the last requirement that has some young people all fired up.

“Sure, I’ll be able to vote in the next local election, but so what?” said Derek Wong, a first year student at the University of British Columbia. “This is the election that will have the most impact on my time in the city.”

Thousands of out-of-province students are ineligible to vote

Some 2,174 out-of-province undergraduate students like Wong started at UBC or Simon Fraser University in September.

Every three years, more than 2,000 out-of-province students find themselves without a voice in local politics.

That might not seem like a big number, but in tight races, every ballot counts. In 2005, Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan defeated Jim Green by a margin of 3,747 votes.

Derek Wong was born and raised in Scarborough, Ontario. He moved to Vancouver at the end of August to start his Bachelor of Arts degree at UBC.

But for this aspiring political scientist, making the move meant giving up his right to participate in local politics, at least for a little while. Under the city’s current rules, Wong will not meet the residency requirement in time to vote in this year’s municipal election.

“As long as I’m studying at UBC, I’ll spend at least twice as much time in Vancouver as I will back home. Why shouldn’t I have some say in how my new home is run?” said Wong.

He’ll be eligible to vote in the 2011 municipal election, but Wong noted, “In three years, I’ll be close to finishing my degree and I really don’t know if I’ll choose to stay here after I graduate.”

RELATED: Map: Residency requirements in Canada

Not all students who fail to meet the residency requirements to vote in the upcoming election think their exclusion is a bad thing.

“I agree completely with the voting rules,” said Dave Marchant, a graduate student at UBC. A native of Baddeck, Nova Scotia, he won’t be casting a ballot on November 15^th, but he doesn’t mind.

“The municipalities have limited power compared to the national or provincial governments,” Marchant said. “But the decisions they make affect the local community on a day-to-day basis. Everything from property taxes to public transit to garbage falls under the municipal government.”

“I think that you really need to know a lot about the city before you can make an informed decision,” added Marchant.

“I definitely don’t think you can expect someone to develop an informed opinion on local issues in less than six months, and I don’t think it’s fair to the people who live here long term to have their vote undermined by someone who might just be passing through.”

International students want a say

Lisa Anderson, a fourth year general science student from Hermosa, California, shared Wong’s frustration at being excluded from municipal politics.

American Lisa Anderson has been living in Canada for three and a half years

“I’ve been living here for three and a half years, and I feel as though my voice isn’t being heard,” said Anderson. “It’s frustrating.”

Since starting at UBC, Anderson has only returned to Hermosa for short visits. In spite of that, she is still eligible to vote in local, state and national elections. But because she is not a Canadian citizen, she is ineligible to vote in any election north of the border.

“I spend more time here than I spend in my home state,” Anderson noted. “So what happens up here affects me way more than what happens at home, where I’m still allowed to vote.”

Although she can see the logic in limiting the franchise to Canadian citizens, Anderson thinks the rules should be amended to grant international students a say in local matters.

For the moment, relaxing residency rules for students new to Vancouver isn’t up for debate. Wong thinks that the reason none of the candidates have talked about this sort of reform is obvious.

“The only people interested in hearing about new rules for students like me are students like me,” he said. “Since we don’t have a vote, no one’s trying to appeal to us.”

Some argue participation in advance polls was boosted by Obama's presidential win

When advance polls closed in the evening of November 12, a total of 15,188 early ballots were counted, up from 8,763 in 2005.

This amounts to a 73 per cent increase which some argue is driven by youth interest and excitement from the US presidential election.

Richard Hungerford, member of the youth-focused advocacy group Get Your Vote On, was encouraged by the results. He said young voters are feeling more confident about inciting government change following Barack Obama’s presidential victory.

“The American election has triggered a lot of excitement around the democratic process,” Hungerford said.

But University of British Columbia political science professor Fred Cutler doubted there was an “Obama effect” at play. He said participation in municipal politics is known to fluctuate more than in provincial and federal elections.

Related: Advanced polling figures at a glance

For example, when COPE swept the Vancouver municipal race in 2002 participation hit an even 50 per cent, while the 2005 election brought in a modest 32 per cent turnout just three years later.

“I think at this level of government turnout depends on how compelling the candidates are,” said Cutler. “I doubt there is much of an Obama effect.” Cutler noted advance polls were more accessible this year.

Voting made easier

Changes to the rules on advance voting may have also played a part. Whereas early voters had to provide a written excuse in 2005, anyone was able to cast a ballot at the advanced polls on Nov. 5, 8, 10 and 12 this year.

“Due to a legislative change, all eligible voters are now permitted to vote at an advance voting opportunity,” said the City of Vancouver in a statement. “Voters no longer have to sign a document giving their reason for voting in advance.”

The municipal government also increased the number of places to vote early. There were five designated polling stations: City Hall, Dunbar Community Centre, Trout Lake Community Centre, Sunset Community Centre and the West End Community Centre. During the last election, there were only four.

“In this case, voting early is just a little more convenient,” said Cutler, adding that he would be surprised if participation rose above 50 per cent on Saturday.

However, youth workers argue that these changes alone would not account for the jump in turnout. “One extra polling station is not going to be a major factor,” said deputy chief election officer Paul Hancock.

Although one less form to sign might encourage a few extra early birds, Hancock did not expect the change would cause Vancouverites to show up in droves. He added the change was not widely advertised.

Youth ‘getting their vote on’

Advocacy group Get Your Vote On uses stickers and buttons to promote civic participation among youth

Although youth are often dismissed as a typically apathetic demographic, early voter turnout might suggest young people have been paying attention during this election.

Trout Lake’s presiding election official Pamela Leaman said young voters and first-timers were in high volume at advance polls.

Advocacy group Get Your Vote On has been helping young people get registered to vote since the 2005 B.C. provincial elections.

Through online social networking, youth-focused events, backpack buttons, trendy-looking stickers and good old-fashioned canvassing, the group encourages Canadians aged 18 to 34 to get out to the polls at every level of government.

Leading up to this week’s municipal election, Get Your Vote On put together several youth-focused events, including a speed-dating style debate October 27, an all-candidates mixer November 7 and an awareness-raising bike rally on November 14.

Hungerford described the political speed date: “Each candidate sat at a table of about seven or eight participants, and were given an informal topic. Whether it was housing or violence or the environment, participants got to hammer out the issues face-to-face.” Candidates switched tables every ten minutes, allowing for a mix of conversation and debate.

The event, advertised as “not your parent’s debate,” blurred the lines between advocacy and amusement. “There’s nothing wrong with mixing entertainment and politics,” Hungerford said.

(Photo of Barack Obama courtesy of Jack Thielepape/jmtimages)

Peter Ladner and Gregor Robertson go head to head

The Non-Partisan Association’s Peter Ladner and Vision Vancouver’s Gregor Robertson have differing perspectives on the Downtown Ambassador program.

The Downtown Ambassadors are private and semi-private security guards, partly funded by Downtown Vancouver’s Business Improvement Association, and by the city.

They have no law enforcement capacity, and unlike police, are not bound by the Police Act.

Hear from both of Vancouver’s mayoral wannabes about the private security initiative that has become a wedge issue in the 2008 elections, and also from a shop keeper who works on the Ambassadors’ beat. Recorded November 12, 2008.

Peter Ladner showed off his musical talents

Local arts management group Left Right Minds hosted the event at the Roundhouse Community Centre. They were hoping to address issues in the arts community and collect donations for a new theatre production centre.

“It’s about awareness.  It’s about seeing the other side of these candidates, and it’s about fun,” said Chris May, production manager for Left Right Minds.

The cabaret featured several independent candidates as well as representatives from Vision Vancouver, NPA, COPE, the Work Less Party and the Nude Garden Party.  Even the mayoral frontrunners, NPA candidate Peter Ladner and Vision’s Gregor Robertson, took time to make an appearance.

RELATED: Video of performances by Peter Ladner and Vision Vancouver

Organizers wanted to showcase Vancouver as the “creative city” by focusing on the arts in the upcoming election. They drew from the success of October’s Wrecking Ball cabaret and debate on federal arts and culture policy, which was held in nine different cities from coast to coast.

The arts have been a hot topic in Canadian politics this season, after the Conservatives’ proposal to cut arts funding spurred angry responses from voters across the country.

However, arts issues didn’t take centre stage at Saturday’s event.  Though all candidates entertained the audience, some could not resist the opportunity to bring politics into the mix.

Independent mayoral candidate Marc Emery chose to abandon the “performance” altogether.

“I didn’t want to make it seem like I was trying to take advantage of this as a politician,” said Emery, after a lengthy speech about crime, the Olympics and the city’s financial problems.  He emphasized the need to prioritize, suggesting that issues in arts and entertainment need not be a primary focus.

Olympic controversy

Participants were each allowed to answer two questions from the audience.  Organizers tried to keep the questions light-hearted, but conversation drifted back to key election issues: housing, the environment, and the Olympics.

Members of various parties spoke out about City Hall’s recent decision to lend $100 million to Olympic developers. The NPA’s Peter Ladner was the main target.

Onstage with his guitar, he performed a song he wrote about homelessness.  His second song dealt with the blame that comes with being in politics.  He called it “Because of You”.

Betty Krawczyk, of the Work Less Party, used Ladner’s tune to segue into a passionate confrontation.

COPE's Ellen Woodsworth and Jane Bouey don beards for their comedy sketch

“Yes, Mr Ladner, because of you, none of that $100 million went to the homeless.  It went to a private corporation… and as a taxpayer and a citizen, I really object,” said Krawczyk.

When asked why he did “such a stupid thing”, Ladner defended the council’s decision.

“I think you’re going to have to ask everybody on the council who was in on that vote.  We did it because it was the best thing for the city,” Ladner said.

Apart from Ladner’s serenade, there were a few other noteworthy performances.

Vision’s Gregor Robertson played guitar and sang along with council candidates Heather Deal and Geoff Meggs. Eighty-year-old Krawczyk presented a Louisiana-style tap dancing number, and COPE’s sketch advertising itself as a cure for ED (“Electile Dysfunction”) drew a lot of laughs from the crowd.

Some of the performances had less success with the audience.  Stand-up comedy routines turned into a series of offensive sexual jokes and one candidate was asked to leave the stage.

After the show, Left Right Minds’ Allyson McGrane said that she was satisfied with how the event went, despite the shift away from cultural issues.

“We didn’t know how it was going to go.  All you can do is lay all the groundwork, invite the people, invite the audience, and see what happens.  Because that’s what theatre and the arts are all about,” said McGrane.

Independent and small party municipal candidates sparred at a debate

These candidates have a difficult time changing policy because it is hard for them to get their views on to the mainstream agenda, said Cutler, who studies elections.

An all-candidates debate on November 9th highlighted this problem when 12 independent and small party candidates squared off over issues ranging from the decriminalization of marijuana to banning the RCMP from Vancouver.

“They don’t get a lot of coverage,” said Cutler. “If they’re really extreme in some view, they might get some coverage but that probably won’t move it into the mainstream. And if they are not a whole lot different than what the major candidates are saying then they’re unlikely to get any coverage at all.”

Despite the challenge, Vancouver’s electoral system is unique because councillors are elected at-large, allowing for the formation of political parties – even small ones – and giving citizens the opportunity to vote along ideological lines. Although it can be even more difficult for independents at the municipal level because the stakes are a lot lower than in a federal or provincial election and the public is usually less engaged.

Related: Fringe party profiles

None of the small party candidates on the ballot were elected in the last civic election.

For example, marijuana activist and mayoral candidate Marc Emery, who has been in jail 17 times, said that small party candidates mean nothing to the political machine.

“No one attends the meetings we are invited to, the media ignores us, the developers give generously to the contenders [Vision/NPA] and buys them off, and we simply get no voice.”

Despite the struggle that these candidates face, Cutler said there is a benefit to having more viewpoints represented in the political system and it is possible for candidates to move fringe views into mainstream politics.

“Every once in awhile, at any level of government, you get a new candidate who does capture the attention of the public on some issue or position that the other guys have neglected,” said Cutler.

“If a candidate or a party gets about 10-per-cent support, say, they’ve broken in enough to be noticed and usually what happens is one of the other parties or candidates adopts a similar position. So they can have an effect that way even though they’re not that successful.”

RELATED: Fringe party profiles

In the November 9th debate, candidates’ platforms focused on dealing with social problems such as drug addiction and the sex trade, rather than more traditional areas such as law enforcement.

Opinions ranged from Emery’s call to legalize drugs to Steve Wansleeben’s suggestion that the city change its bylaws to make it easier for sex trade workers to move off the street and into safer locations.

“Anyone who persists in supporting [drug] prohibition is supporting organized crime, they’re thugs, they’re criminals, they’re usually in office and you usually vote for them,” said Emery.

Marc Emery speaks out against the status quo

“I think we need to stop demonizing the sex trade industry,” said Wansleeben, an independent candidate for city councillor, who works in credit and collections management.

The biggest difference between the independent and mainstream platforms, however, involved support for the Vancouver Police Department.

Both Vision and the NPA have pledged to increase funding and hire more police officers, while a number of the smaller party candidates want to see funds diverted to other areas.

Ian Gregson, a candidate for city councillor said the Work Less Party would not approve an increase in police funding. “What we would suggest is that instead of putting that money into police officers, we put that into mental health workers that work on the Downtown Eastside and try and break that cycle of addiction.”

“Do not hire more police, they are the prime problem,” said Emery. “Don’t give them more money. Make sure they do better with the money you give them now and freeze their budget forever.”

In the 2005 election, small party and independent candidates for mayor received a combined total of 8.21 per cent of the vote. Candidates for council received a combined total of 9.84 per cent.

In the end, many people are reluctant to vote for independent candidates. Vancouver resident Ali Chernoff is among them:  “Odds are they are not going to win so I would rather vote realistically.”

Drivers don't look out for cyclists in bike lanes, says Shaw

“We have to change our transportation priorities in this city,” said Dr. Chris Shaw, party spokesperson and candidate for Vancouver City Council.

Vancouver already has a series of bikeways that form a network of 23 paved routes that intersect with or run parallel to major roadways. There are also designated bike lanes on some major streets.

Shaw likes these routes, but argues they are not enough. He says safety is a concern for cyclists in the city and makes it hard to persuade more people to use bikes.

“A lot of the drivers, we know, sadly don’t always see bikes very well and if you’re in a car tangle, we know who’s going to lose,” said Shaw.

“[Cyclists] need to be able to ride safely, and one way to be to do that is to provide bike-only streets.”

Election rivals Vision Vancouver have a similar proposal for cycling infrastructure, though they want to move at a much slower pace.

“Vision wants to start a trial, we want to shut down streets [to cars] in the summer,” said Ian Baillie of Vision Vancouver, adding a trial period would help drivers adjust. “We’re saying let’s start slow, let’s have a trial.”

The Non Partisan Alliance (PDF) could not be reached for comment by press time. The party’s electoral platform (PDF) electoral platform says it would expand Vancouver’s bike routes and lanes, increasing the emphasis on safety for cyclists.

Related: Major parties pedal plans for cycling city

A mix of traffic

In contrast, the Work Less Party is proposing taking major east-west and north-south streets in the city, such as Broadway, Cambie Street, and Oak Street, and making limiting them to bikes and buses.

For bike-only streets, the party wants to alternate smaller streets as car streets or bike-only streets. Shaw says the change will be gradual to help drivers adapt.

The ultimate goal is for traffic consisting of one-third cars, one-third bikes, and one-third mass transit.

Residential streets designated bike-only will allow drivers to use back lane entrances, while commercial streets for bikes or mass transit will let delivery trucks and vans through to access businesses, says Shaw.

“It wouldn’t necessarily be a one-for-one thing, it might only be one bike lane per five car streets,” said Shaw.

“The devil will be in the details, but those are pretty far down in the weeks considering we are just proposing it as more a conceptual notion right now than a practical, hardcore plan.”

“We could work that out, and we could do so in consultation with transportation experts from the different communities, in other words the biking community, the mass transit communities, and of course average people who just have to drive their cars.”

Learning from abroad

Cameron Dean, a bike mechanic at the University of British Columbia’s Bike Kitchen, thinks a network of bike-only streets sounds like a good idea.

Bike mechanic Cameron Dean wants bike plans similar to Dublin

He recommends the next city council take transit cues from bike friendly cities like Dublin, Ireland.

“I really like what they do on almost all major roads…just sections on the side of the road that’s painted a different colour, that’s connected to all of the major roads,” said Dean, who lived in Dublin for a year.

He saw how this made “bikes part of traffic as opposed to relegating them to the side streets and the less popular routes.”

Dean says Dublin cyclists have a distinct advantage over Vancouver cyclists because drivers are more aware of them.

“Every time a car would turn into traffic or change lanes, the person looks to see if there is a cyclist or a motorcyclist coming by them, no matter what lane they’re in and no matter what road,” he said.

“Here, car drivers on some roads sort of seem to take the attitude that they’re the only ones that are on the road.”

Shaw admits he drives his car from his house in North Vancouver to his job at UBC’s hospital, but says he uses his bike when at home.

“Unfortunately I am not a good example of how this should work. But if I lived here in Vancouver I would ride a bike.”

End of car days

The Work Less Party recognizes the plan might not be popular with voters, especially drivers, but Shaw says the shift is needed.

“We’re used to having endless fossil fuels, being able to drive our cars everywhere,” he said.

Bike routes are good, but not enough for The Work Less Party

“Those days are coming to an end, so we can decide to do it in a transitional, step-by-step way, in a very deliberate fashion, or we can wait until we crash into the wall and have to pick up the pieces afterwards.”

“We see ourselves as a party that strives to put new options before the public to increase debate and to get people thinking about ways to change the way our society works — if that costs us this election, that’s fine.”

Motorist Stefan Schwertfeger had never heard of The Work Less Party, but he supports a network of bike only streets.

“I like that idea, because I take my bike as well when I’m not driving,” he said. “I like [the bike paths], but there’s too many traffic lights.”

Election rivals Vision Vancouver have a similar proposal for cycling infrastructure, though they want to move at a much slower pace.

“Vision wants to start a trial, we want to shut down streets [to cars] in the summer,” said Ian Baillie, media relations for Vision Vancouver, adding a trial period would help drivers adjust. “We’re saying let’s start slow, let’s have a trial.”

The Non Partisan Association could not be reached for comment by press time.

Vancouver is a city of dog-lovers

You won’t just be voting for a new mayor in Vancouver on Saturday. You’ll be asked to approve a project that might just give the city a $31 million dog pound instead of a library in one of its poorer neighbourhoods.

It won’t be obvious at the voting booth. The dog pound is buried inside the details of a proposal to approve $220 million in borrowing to finance the city’s infrastructure plans. Most people don’t even know it’s there.

It’s a choice about what kind of city Vancouver should be -  building libraries and upgrading community centres in our have-not neighborhoods or financing a multi-million dollar lavish lost-and-found for stray dogs.

The new dog pound is the pet project of Councillor Kim Capri, former Operating Officer at the SPCA. It’s competing with plans for a library in the Downtown Eastside-Strathcona area, currently the only neighbourhood in Vancouver that does not have its own full-service public library.

A decision between these two projects may look like a no-brainer. Building the library is another step toward addressing inequalities across communities and the needs of Vancouver’s poorest. Building a new dog pound is, well, a new dog pound.

Spending controversy

The financial machinations behind this dog pound plan are another in a string of murky money management decisions at city council. There’s just not enough transparency in how taxpayers’ money is spent.

The dog pound, an idea city councilors haven’t talked much about, comes on the heels of a secret $100 million bailout of the Olympic Village that you weren’t supposed to hear about either.

The dog pound is the pet project of Kim Capri (centre)

It may just be city council’s next multi-million dollar controversy.

The $220 million the city wants to borrow will ostensibly be used to finance approximately 40 per cent of the city’s infrastructure financing from 2009 to 2011. Hidden in the details, which you won’t see at the voting station, is a budget line that offers the first step to creating the $31 million dog pound.

For Councillor Capri, it’s a race between the pound and the library. The first project to present Council with a good proposal will receive the $13.6 million in seed funding sitting in the Capital Plan pot, to get either project started.

It begs the question of why should how quickly an interest group presents their project to city council determine funding. Certainly there is a better way to decide between libraries for our poorest people and a pound for Vancouver’s pampered pooches.

Capri’s plan for a multi-million dollar pound has already squeezed out other projects that Vancouverites  care about.

Take the Britannia Community Centre.

In September, city councillors were met by a riled-up roomful of Britannia Community Centre supporters at the public consultation meeting to review the Capital Plan. They waved little yellow signs and delivered eloquent messages to the councillors about the importance of the centre.

Ray Gallagher, Britannia Centre President captured the mood best: “If you don’t support hospitals, people die. If you don’t support community centres, communities die.”

In the days that followed, the draft proposal was rewritten into its current version. Britannia was shut out. But the dogs are still in line to get their new pound.

You’ve got to wonder at the logic. Vancouver has less than 20 stray dogs per day in our city and that number has been on a steady decline for the past decade. This is a $31 million problem?

The potential outcome is that a runaway dog will have a much better chance for shelter than the homeless on Vancouver’s streets.

Vancouverites need to ask council, in these days of unstable financial markets and in the lead up to Olympic spending splurge, whether millions spent on 20 stray dogs a day is the best bang for our buck.

When voters go to the polls on November 15, the are likely to green-light the city the $220 million financing needed for some badly-needed infrastructure projects.

But in the months ahead, don’t forget to let the next mayor know this idea is, well, a dog.

(Photo of dogs by thelastminute. Photo of Kim Capri courtesy Shazron)