“Everyone is eating away at everyone.”
So says a campaign coordinator for some of the independents. He’s experienced, active in provincial and federal campaigns. He has perspective. “I have seen how ugly it can be and how unqualified and power-hungry people make it to the top.” Most of the people he sees running for council aren’t like that, he has found. They want to make decisions based on the good of the city, not their careers.
His view is that the new financing rules have altered the political landscape with an earthquake whose magnitude is not yet clear. But it has certainly leveled the playing field.
Hence so many independents pursuing what may be a once-in-a-lifetime political opportunity.
What about the established parties? Don’t they have a brand advantage?
Yes – but the brand is also one of distrust and fed-up-ness. That’s reflected in the polls which show leaders of the NPA and Vision in the bottom third of preferences, with independents puling away votes in a lot of different ways.
Young people will continue to emerge with electoral strength, he thinks, but they’re not ideologically driven; their lives make issues like housing and equality more personally relevant. If you can get to them through their phones.
So what will if take to get elected councillor in the City of Vancouver? Not a lot of money – say, $30,000, plus Which may help you get 30,000 votes, maybe 50.
Thirty for thirty is the formula at the moment.
