NDP and Liberals to beat Stephen Harper
Bill Siksay and Billy Cunningham are going to get their wish to beat Stephen Harper in the next election.
Stephen Harper is the Green Party of Canada candidate in Burnaby-Douglas. Whether they beat the other Stephen Harper is something that may take more effort.
Stephen Harper is the Green Party of Canada candidate in Burnaby-Douglas. Whether they beat the other Stephen Harper is something that may take more effort.
posted by Robert Burnaby at 10:14 AM
68 Comments:
Is this not the perfect candidate for the Liberals!? Those that decide to vote for GRN will revert back to LIB. Given the "excitement" several past candidates in this riding provide, whoever beats Bill Siksay will have his own story to talk about.
Sure.
About how they tried, and once again were unsuccessful.
So "Stephen Harper" of the Greens is facing off against who represents "Stephen Harper" of the Conservatives.
Big deal. Not exactly new.
If this Green Guy campaigns only on his name, then there's obviously not much to the Greens in Burnaby if that is all that is offered.
Has been done before.
In fact, Team Burnaby did that last time. Garth Evans got quite a few votes because people thought he was related to Doug Evans who didn't run again.
But the Greens have their work cut out for them.
And why the relationship with Bill Cunningham's wish? The wish is to defeat Siskay and also defeat the Green candidate in addition to the Conservative candidate.
Actualy many voters thought Garth was Doug Evans' son. And many more just recognized the name and voted for him thinking he WAS Doug Evans!
The BCA will make sure the voters don't make that mistake again. Garth will have to work the fields on his own side of the river this time - oopps I forgot - he burned those bridges too.
Does anyone remember Nancy Harris? She got 5,000 votes last time running as an "independent". I always liked Nancy; a nice lady and a former councillor with several good issues.
Garth didn't burn any bridges, he
crossed one to exit a bad neighbourhood and is on the road to more new and exciting opportunities.
Okay. Have it your way. He is sitting on a sandbar. Let's call it an island in the stream. However this is an election year(read flood). High ground is rather important. This will be interesting to watch. Hello Nancy!
The only people sitting on a sandbar are those in Team Burnaby.
Garth and a few others have since stepped onto the hovercraft which had since delivered them to shore where they are safe and sound.
While those in Team Burnaby are still burning the wood and cooking weenies on the campfire while obvilious to the slowly rising waters...
I give up. You must be right.
The cause of Team Burnaby's mess is very close to you.
Look in the mirror.
Hmmm. I get it. The hovercraft someone spoke of earlier is called the good ship BCLP. Crewed by Bloy's Boys who think they can save Garth.
Most peope will see a similarity between this hovercraft and the Queen of the North - complete with Harry and his boys on the bridge.
Has nothing to do with Harry Bloy.
He's on a different ship heading on a different course..
Team Burnaby is already taking on water, the cause of too many incompetent people on the bridge not paying attention to where they are or where they wanted to go.
A tramp steamer with poor ship management and incompent captain.
It astounds me how every single post can evolve into something against TB.
So Garth Evans burned his bridges. So Mayor Corrigan will be golfing during election season. So most of the "independent"/pro-BCL councilors will help elect finally a pure BCA government. Does that matter to Stephen Harper? Probably not.
But one thing is for sure though. For Bill Cunningham to unseat Bill Siksay, I dont see he can do that too well when his supporters are already busy defending their own seats against an organized BCA Co..
Maybe it is time for a new party to be born, a new party that is not based on premise of opposing BCA, but one that unites highly profiled figures such as Richard Lee who can launch a real challenge to the party in power.
Re previous blog: All great ideas. Bring 'em on.
"It astounds me how every single post can evolve into something against TB. "
It astounds most Burnaby voters that TB still hasn't realised they really need to take a look at themselves.
"So Garth Evans burned his bridges. "
Crossed one into new opportunities, actually.
"So Mayor Corrigan will be golfing during election season."
If it means getting more support on election day, so what?
"So most of the "independent"/pro-BCL councilors will help elect finally a pure BCA government."
What does the BCL have to do with anything at the civic election level? Not very much.
"Does that matter to Stephen Harper? Probably not."
It doesn't. Stephen Harper doesn't stand a chance against Bill Siskay.
There's not much there in that Green Candidate other than comical
commentary, which doesn't translate into votes.
"But one thing is for sure though. For Bill Cunningham to unseat Bill Siksay, I dont see he can do that too well when his supporters are already busy defending their own seats against an organized BCA Co.. "
That was started months ago, with and without Billy Boy.
"Maybe it is time for a new party to be born, a new party that is not based on premise of opposing BCA, but one that unites highly profiled figures such as Richard Lee who can launch a real challenge to the party in power."
Burnaby people are tired of partisan petty politics at the civic level.
Richard is too busy being Parliamentary Secretary to Asia and doing more important things than to try and save some political ambitions under a civic party label.
The people who run independently can do it sharing their own resources and suppport.
While Team Burnaby continues on with blaming everyone else except themselves.
Word on the street is that BCA is thinking of running Doug Evans or one of his sons this time. Given the non-performance of Garth Evans, it won't be hard for the BCA to pick him off. At least Doug Evans could express an intelligent thought or two at council meetings.
Thinking and doing are two different things.
Besides the BCA can come up with much better candidates this time around than what Team Burnaby will have to offer to the voters.
If Doug Evans runs, he has my vote.
"Besides the BCA can come up with much better candidates this time around."
The idea about running Doug or one of his sons is at least a year old. The way I heard it they would run one of the Evans (father or son) as an independent to confuse TEAM votes about Garth. All this as payback for the way Garth paraded around last time. The independent Evans would not be part of their BCA slate. It's probably all bull----, but the idea is pretty clever. No one ever thought they (BCA) were dumb. The BCA campaign will be much better than last time.
TEAM votes are virtually gone. Pfft.
People are smart to vote for the person not the person tied to a party, besides running Evans as supposedly related to D. Evans won't work. It's already been done.
The BCA is crazy most of the time, but they aren't dumb.
At least not as dumb as some Team Burnaby people.
I am not certain if you saw the support from our fellow Chinese Burnaby voters are showing for TB. I guess they better hope the whole "scandal" going on at the city hall will drag down their support in the poll. So I guess you are right, Team Burnaby is "virtually gone".
But wait, that's right, it's the BCA scandals.
Maybe BCA are smart, and no one is denying that, it does take more than some skill to hold on to the power of governing the city for more than twenty years. But shall they pride themselves as the civic by-product of BCNDP, or fedNDP, maybe they should look closely at past election polls and recalculate the "mandate" they have in Burnaby.
No one is against partisan politics. But people are against people "cruising" on a partisan slate. If our next election takes up the them of independents vs BCA, it will be premature for Mayor Corrigan to be fishing and golfing when he should be campaigning to save his own seat.
In Coquitlam, 7 independents won out of 8 seats shrinking pro-mayor party to a single unit, and an independent took beat the incumbent mayor. Now she has her own labour council endorsed pro-mayor voting bloc on the council. In Surrey, an independent won against a strong mayor supported by a party whose influence is unmatched by BCA's own in Burnaby, and the incumbent mayor lost by a landslide. Dianne too has her own voting bloc on the council. So it is very well possible for Mayor Richard Lee, or Mayor Harry Bloy, or anyone equally competent, to match what Dianne had done as an independent, win by a landslide and engineer his own majority.
Certainly BCA can cruise all they want and people can say all they want about BCA army staying in Burnaby city hall for the next hundred years. But just because our mayor got elected by 20,000 people out of more than ten times eligibles, and it is certainly premature for Mayor Corrigan to cakewalk on these votes, the so called "mandate".
"I am not certain if you saw the support from our fellow Chinese Burnaby voters are showing for TB."
If anyone thinks that the Chinese Cdns in Burnaby are specifically supportive of Team Burnaby, they are sadly mistaken.
The Chinese Cdn vote is not owned by Team Burnaby.
"I guess they better hope the whole "scandal" going on at the city hall will drag down their support in the poll."
It won't. It's foolhardy for Team
Burnaby to hope that this will mean
a large majority for them during the civic election.
So I guess you are right, Team Burnaby is "virtually gone".
But wait, that's right, it's the BCA scandals.
Not nessesarily.
"Maybe BCA are smart, and no one is denying that, it does take more than some skill to hold on to the power of governing the city for more than twenty years."
True. Skill that Team Burnaby obviously doesn't have.
"But shall they pride themselves as the civic by-product of BCNDP, or fedNDP, maybe they should look closely at past election polls and recalculate the "mandate" they have in Burnaby. "
Maybe you should look at those same polls and figure out whether they do have a mandate. They do.
Doens't matter in terms of results
that's campaign material.
"No one is against partisan politics."
Quite a few are now becoming against partisan politics.
"But people are against people "cruising" on a partisan slate."
Well if that's the case, then both Team Burnaby candidates and BCA
candidates are both offenders.
"If our next election takes up the them of independents vs BCA, it will be premature for Mayor Corrigan to be fishing and golfing when he should be campaigning to save his own seat."
Fishing isn't all that good in November. best fishing is from May to July.
"In Coquitlam, 7 independents won out of 8 seats shrinking pro-mayor party to a single unit, and an independent took beat the incumbent mayor."
True, and wasn't a key Team Burnaby person involved with Coquitlam First and they didn't disclose where the campaign money came from?
"Now she has her own labour council endorsed pro-mayor voting bloc on the council."
She has a group of people who work towards making Coquitlam better. The 'labour' label is irrevelant.
"In Surrey, an independent won against a strong mayor supported by a party whose influence is unmatched by BCA's own in Burnaby, and the incumbent mayor lost by a landslide. Dianne too has her own voting bloc on the council. So it is very well possible for Mayor Richard Lee, or Mayor Harry Bloy, or anyone equally competent, to match what Dianne had done as an independent, win by a landslide and engineer his own majority. "
Mayor Harry Bloy?? Where did this come from?
"Certainly BCA can cruise all they want and people can say all they want about BCA army staying in Burnaby city hall for the next hundred years. But just because our mayor got elected by 20,000 people out of more than ten times eligibles, and it is certainly premature for Mayor Corrigan to cakewalk on these votes, the so called "mandate".
Which despute your denials, does in fact exist.
If you and Team Burnaby keep goin' on like this, it will be a cake walk for Corrigan.
The only hope for not getting a BCA absolute majority is to elect a few independents.
First it was Harry Bloy "saving" Burnaby by building up the so-called BC Liberals in Burnaby by himself and his minions against the NDP. According to some, Harry somehow had a big part in the winning of two other Burnaby ridings (which in fact he did not).
Next it was Richard Lee "saving"
Burnaby.
Someone mentioned "Mayor Richard Lee".
Now it's "Mayor Harry Bloy".
What's next "Mayor John Nuraney?"
Team Burnaby is defintely way out and on its way out.
This is getting comical.
No, Chinese Cdn are not owned by TB, but you would think so from the letters on our local paper this week. But the fact is TB is ailing and has lost a significant amount of electability after an Evans quit the party. But again, no one is against partisan politics as no mayor "independent" of the council is able to govern the city. Had Surrey Mayor not approached the party that she defeated in the general mayoral election, she can forget about running the city hall. So now she has her own "partisan slate" on the council all of whom will be running behind her for their re-election.
"If you and Team Burnaby keep goin' on like this, it will be a cake walk for Corrigan."
Didnt mention TB and I was talking about Mayor Richard Lee or Harry Bloy. Either of them can be running independently and win as what had happened in Coquitlam and Surrey where those who were cruising on the back of the pro-mayor party had fallen hard in 2005.
Having independents taking over city hall has been done. And if Burnaby voters, those eligible, decide to see the transition of power to independents instead, then I agree that whichever party on belongs may not matter at all in the next election.
No, Chinese Cdn are not owned by TB, but you would think so from the letters on our local paper this week.
Not really, since those kinds of letters are staged, and one is actually incorrect.
"But the fact is TB is ailing and has lost a significant amount of electability after an Evans quit the party."
And who is to blame for that? Certainly not Evans or any of those who left.
"But again, no one is against partisan politics as no mayor "independent" of the council is able to govern the city."
Yes and no.
"Had Surrey Mayor not approached the party that she defeated in the general mayoral election, she can forget about running the city hall."
I doubt that. She's become popular over there. She does not need the assistance of the party she defeated.
There's no 'general mayor election' since it is tied to the civic election.
"So now she has her own "partisan slate" on the council all of whom will be running behind her for their re-election."
Surrey First is just a label for now, it's not exactly partisan 100%
"If you and Team Burnaby keep goin' on like this, it will be a cake walk for Corrigan."
Didnt mention TB and I was talking about Mayor Richard Lee or Harry Bloy. Either of them can be running independently and win as what had happened in Coquitlam and Surrey where those who were cruising on the back of the pro-mayor party had fallen hard in 2005.
Someone was, it's in here. See it for yourself. Pretty comical, as is one guy who figures Richard can 'save' Burnaby and Team Burnaby when in fact he has better things to do than to save a dysfunctional civic party.
"Having independents taking over city hall has been done. And if Burnaby voters, those eligible, decide to see the transition of power to independents instead, then I agree that whichever party on belongs may not matter at all in the next election.
We're in agreement then. There's onlt three choices for Team Burnaby.
Lead, follow or get out of the way.
They've pretty much haven't done the first, and are very poor on the second, so the third is their best option unless they smarten up.
Actually, TB is only one group of people who will be running against the mayor and his party. There are others, including some prominent independents.
True, some BCA supporters are already celebrating the victories, likely treating the next nomination race as coronation of next government. Forget the flyers, lawn signs and paper ads, better yet, pretend nothing happened all the way through the election seasons. But given how badly their counterparts did in the last election, I suggest BCA to hold on opening champagnes and take these independents seriously or risk having the same fate happening to them.
Can Richard Lee make an excellent mayor? I believe so. Transferring from Secretary of Asian Affairs to Mayor of the city with 50%+1 minority, Chinese being the most populous, it is very relevant. As an independent or otherwise, he is certainly by far the most electible BCLIB figures across the city in the general election.
"Can Richard Lee make an excellent mayor? I believe so. Transferring from Secretary of Asian Affairs to Mayor of the city with 50%+1 minority, Chinese being the most populous, it is very relevant. As an independent or otherwise, he is certainly by far the most electible BCLIB figures across the city in the general election."
There's one simple aspect to that that was missed.
He isn't interested.
Besides, not all Chinese Cdns will
vote for him. That was shown quite clearly last time since he won Burnaby North by less than 400 votes.
But you're right though, he the mot electable since he actully does things (John does not) and doesn't piss people off (Harry does).
If anyone figures that Richard can carry the majority Chinese Cdn. population in Burnaby to a win for the Mayor's chair, they are fooling themselves.
Richard is doing an excellent job as MLA and Parliamentary Secretary for Asia Pacific and is obviously enjoying it, so why would he give that up for a run for the Mayor's chair that he would most certainly lose?
Richard isn't the Saviour that Team Burnaby is looking for.
If Team Burnaby is looking for a Saviour or an Enchanted One to save them from destruction and obvilion, then they are really in bad shape.
Again, Richard Lee's candidacy is not representative of TB vs BCA partisan conflict. Running as either an independent or otherwise, TB is only small fraction of the support that desire a transition of power, be it to independents or otherwise.
Certainly he has done an excellent job. But for better or worse, he will be running for re-election again against BCNDP and however he succeeds in the government usually will not translate into election results against BCNDP (there were cabinet minister fallen to BCNDP in 2005). So which one is easier, to defend against a seat he won by 400 votes against likely stronger organizational campaign, or to run to succeed a mayor that has faced various negative press stories in his present term. The answer is clear.
Richard Lee can run as an independent, or on a party slate, even a new one based off his mayoral campaign, but I think most would agree that TB vs BCA is a story of the past, and I can certainly see how Mayor-elect Richard Lee can open a new chapter in the city's civic politics.
"Again, Richard Lee's candidacy is not representative of TB vs BCA partisan conflict. Running as either an independent or otherwise, TB is only small fraction of the support that desire a transition of power, be it to independents or otherwise."
TB deserves and will get a small fraction of the vote out there.
"Certainly he has done an excellent job. But for better or worse, he will be running for re-election again against BCNDP and however he succeeds in the government usually will not translate into election results against BCNDP (there were cabinet minister fallen to BCNDP in 2005)."
Doesn't matter if the NDP is in power at City Hall or not. Richard will face the NDP next provicial election.
"So which one is easier, to defend against a seat he won by 400 votes against likely stronger organizational campaign, or to run to succeed a mayor that has faced various negative press stories in his present term. The answer is clear.
Sure is. Run for MLA once again.
"Richard Lee can run as an independent, or on a party slate, even a new one based off his mayoral campaign, but I think most would agree that TB vs BCA is a story of the past, and I can certainly see how Mayor-elect Richard Lee can open a new chapter in the city's civic politics.
Mayor-Elect Richard Lee won't exist.
MLA / Parliamentary Secretary for Asia Pacific will exist.
You guys must be smoking B.C. bud...Richard Lee and Harry Bloy aren't running for mayor...hey, how about Rick Hansen or Lui Passaglia or the Dalai Lama? The BCA loves these happy independents because they know they can make mince meat out of them. Call them the coalition of retreads led by Garth Vader delivered to Emperor Corrigan for the slaughter. Slurp, munch, devour, end of story. May the farce be with you.
Honestly, until months ago people were still banking on TB being the next party in power, but with a divided opposition, transition power to TB probably will never happen.
However, I am certain there are enough people that like Richard Lee enough to ask him to step aside and run to become our mayor, likely a historic victory, for 2008 or 2011 election. Though his campaign will be much weaker if he becomes one of the opposition. But make no mistake, no matter it is running to become the mayor of Burnaby or to defend his seat, neither will be an campaign.
"You guys must be smoking B.C. bud...Richard Lee and Harry Bloy aren't running for mayor...hey, how about Rick Hansen or Lui Passaglia or the Dalai Lama? The BCA loves these happy independents because they know they can make mince meat out of them. Call them the coalition of retreads led by Garth Vader delivered to Emperor Corrigan for the slaughter. Slurp, munch, devour, end of story. May the farce be with you."
Team Burnaby is a farce.
Hey! Has everyone forgotten Patti Sahota. Ms Sahota for Mayor was the subject of this site for many weeks last fall. Let's get Patti back in the mix.
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"Hey! Has everyone forgotten Patti Sahota. Ms Sahota for Mayor was the subject of this site for many weeks last fall. Let's get Patti back in the mix."
Why waste any time supporting her for Mayor? She couldn't keep her own riding intact.
Forgetting about her running for Mayor is the best thing for Burnaby.
If Patty is thinking of running she better watch her back with Judas Evans lurking in the background -- she'll end up like his ex-wives -- used and discarded.
Used and discarded. Certainly not so. I suppose you fail to understand how much passion some people have to challenge Mayor Corrigan for the seat. Had Patti Sahota parachuted to the riding like how Carole Taylor did, would you say Carole Taylor would have been "used" when she made two city councilors stepped aside to coronate her?
But Patti Sahota is a candidate that runs on popularity shall there be a platform for her to step on. Harry and John run on resources and network. But Richard Lee runs on leadership.
Patti would have been a star candidate had she announced her intention when there was traction that brings members together. She has missed her chance unfortunately.
"Used and discarded. Certainly not so. I suppose you fail to understand how much passion some people have to challenge Mayor Corrigan for the seat."
Passion and being smart about what should be the end result are two different things
"Had Patti Sahota parachuted to the riding like how Carole Taylor did, would you say Carole Taylor would have been "used" when she made two city councilors stepped aside to coronate her?"
Big difference between Carole Taylor and Patti Sahota.
"But Patti Sahota is a candidate that runs on popularity shall there be a platform for her to step on. "
If she stepped on that platform, she would fall through as the platform is made of weak wood.
"Harry and John run on resources and network. But Richard Lee runs on leadership. "
True.
"Patti would have been a star candidate had she announced her intention when there was traction that brings members together. "
Patti was a traction mat for the BC Liberals in 2001.
"She has missed her chance unfortunately."
Nothing worth worrying about there.
If we're really lucky, Ragini Rankin and Patty Sahota will team up to save Burnaby. Hooray!
You want Ragini Rankin running things?
You certainly want Burnaby to turn into a totalitarian benevolent dictatorship, don't you?
In a political sense, she can be
The Queen of Mean.
What's with all this nastiness from all these obvious BCA members towards Patti Sahota.
The truth is none of the MLA from Burnaby has ever in the cabinet before the historic appointment of Patti Sahota, representative of Burnaby population, not Harry Bloy, and not Richard Lee. And none of the BCA members/mayor can claim that and it is very likely Mayor Corrigan will never make it to the cabinet.
"Big difference between Carole Taylor and Patti Sahota. "
Yes, Carole Taylor would never become a Mayor while Honorable Minister Patti Sahota, would have become one.
Would Patti make a star candidate with prominent MLA figures backing her run, most definitely had she jumped in when BCLIB had be united behind TB, and conservatives (Bloy) and liberals would have too come together behind her. With her image as a reformer, first female/South Asian mayor under 50, I think ti is easy to determine which mayoral would have been more popular amongst the voters.
"What's with all this nastiness from all these obvious BCA members towards Patti Sahota. "
There's no nasties. It's more of her not being around civic politics or the community long enough to be credible.
The truth is none of the MLA from Burnaby has ever in the cabinet before the historic appointment of Patti Sahota, representative of Burnaby population, not Harry Bloy, and not Richard Lee."
She only got that appointment virtually at the last minute since it was very close to the start of the 2005 provincial election, and being Minister of Resorts isn't exactly a major thing since much of that "Ministry" work would have been done by a Ministry of Tourism anyway. It was a last ditch effort to save her, and it didn't work.
"And none of the BCA members/mayor can claim that and it is very likely Mayor Corrigan will never make it to the cabinet. "
Well duh. First the NDP has to win a large majority which wouldn't happen. Second Corrigan would have to be in close cahoots with who ever the leader is to win confidence that he is Cabinet Material, and that wouldn't happen
very easily.
"Big difference between Carole Taylor and Patti Sahota. "
Yes, Carole Taylor would never become a Mayor while Honorable Minister Patti Sahota, would have become one.
Yeh right. Taylor could become Mayor of Vancouver if she went that way, but she hasn't.
Would Patti make a star candidate with prominent MLA figures backing her run, most definitely had she jumped in when BCLIB had be united behind TB, and conservatives (Bloy) and liberals would have too come together behind her.
rewrite that. Bloy is both Conservative (supporting Yonah Martin) and Liberal (supports Bill Cunningham).
With her image as a reformer, first female/South Asian mayor under 50, I think ti is easy to determine which mayoral would have been more popular amongst the voters.
You're living a dreamland, pal. Most voters wouldn't care if a mayoralty candidate is under 50 and of South Asian descent. They are more interested in the contents of the cake not the colour of the icing.
"She only got that appointment virtually at the last minute since it was very close to the start of the 2005 provincial election, and being Minister of Resorts isn't exactly a major thing since much of that "Ministry" work would have been done by a Ministry of Tourism anyway."
Say what you want, but truth continues to be that Patti Sahota is the only cabinet minister out of the four BCLIB MLA's. Again, you and I will agree that Mayor Corrigan will never make it even close to the cabinet.
"You're living a dreamland, pal. Most voters wouldn't care if a mayoralty candidate is under 50 and of South Asian descent. They are more interested in the contents of the cake not the colour of the icing."
Contents of the cake, you must be referring to the past Corrigan term correct? Then if you think our mayor is about to cakewalk on this "icing", then pal, I may not be the one living in la-la land.
No one is saying being able to relate to young/female voters and immigrant society is the only way to defeat Mayor Corrigan, maybe it would help to create a landslide defeat. But being to able expand base for new voters, or just a fraction of those, will bring about a TB landslide.
In terms of star power, it is easy to find popular figures that can easily out poll our mayor. Everyone will admit that Richard Lee will out poll our mayor by a large margin and will very likely become our new mayor, even more so than Patti Sahota. One wonders if people are going to vote for a mayor "endorsed by BCA", or a mayor endorsed by the people.
She only got that appointment virtually at the last minute since it was very close to the start of the 2005 provincial election, and being Minister of Resorts isn't exactly a major thing since much of that "Ministry" work would have been done by a Ministry of Tourism anyway."
Say what you want, but truth continues to be that Patti Sahota is the only cabinet minister out of the four BCLIB MLA's.
*Was* the only cabinet Minister out of the four MLA's and that appointment didn't last long. She got the thing in February 2005, but by April 2005, the session had ended and the BC Liberals are off on a provincial election campaign.
"Again, you and I will agree that Mayor Corrigan will never make it even close to the cabinet. "
Never said "never" I said "ain't gonna happen", which isn't absolute. The NDP would have to get a large majority and the probability of that right now is less than 2%.
"You're living a dreamland, pal. Most voters wouldn't care if a mayoralty candidate is under 50 and of South Asian descent. They are more interested in the contents of the cake not the colour of the icing."
Contents of the cake, you must be referring to the past Corrigan term correct?
Nope, Sahota. She's nice on the outside but not much on the inside.
"Then if you think our mayor is about to cakewalk on this "icing", then pal, I may not be the one living in la-la land. "
If you're still involved with Team Burnaby, you are in la-la land.
"No one is saying being able to relate to young/female voters and immigrant society is the only way to defeat Mayor Corrigan, maybe it would help to create a landslide defeat. "
No it won't.
"But being to able expand base for new voters, or just a fraction of those, will bring about a TB landslide.
Yeah right. The only landslide Team Burnaby has right now is its basic foundation which has slid off
as mud.
"In terms of star power, it is easy to find popular figures that can easily out poll our mayor."
Yeh? Like who?
"Everyone will admit that Richard Lee will out poll our mayor by a large margin and will very likely become our new mayor, even more so than Patti Sahota."
One problem with that. Richard is most likely not interested.
"One wonders if people are going to vote for a mayor "endorsed by BCA", or a mayor endorsed by the people."
Or in your case "a mayor endorsed by Harry Bloy or Lee Rankin or even Ragini Rankin", right?
Getting away from this silliness of Patti Sahota or Richard Lee being some kind of Saviour to Team Burnaby to come in and try to save them from their mess, a more important question is..
What does Stephen Harper have to offer the voters other than sharing the same name with the PM?
""One wonders if people are going to vote for a mayor "endorsed by BCA", or a mayor endorsed by the people."Or in your case "a mayor endorsed by Harry Bloy or Lee Rankin or even Ragini Rankin", right?"
Funny, I thought the burden of proof to get re-elected lies with the mayor. People are already questioning if our mayor is enjoying the kind of popularity that he "believes" he has. With TB vs BCA becoming yesterday's story, the next election is now a vote of confidence on BCA, and it will no longer be TB that will carry the sole responsibility of succeeding the present government.
As for the mayor, whose past term will soon be examined before his expected cakewalk campaign, you may be surprised to learn that he is not very popular in the immigrant community, unlike Richard Lee. Patti Sahota tries cruising on the back of her new found fame and failed while Richard Lee's effort to expand his support brought him victory against the most well run campaign in Burnaby. Either candidate will easily become the star candidate, and the popularity will certainly be unmatched in today's Burnaby community.
But it is still too early to speculate who our "new" mayor may be. Independents or otherwise, this candidate may have what it takes to unite the support for change, like what Dianne Watts had done, who was by far weaker against Patti Sahota before she defeated a power incumbent. We should see soon enough if there is such a candidate in the next election.
Funny, I thought the burden of proof to get re-elected lies with the mayor.
Only for him or herself. The others are on their own.
The Mayor is only one vote on council. He is a prominent part, but the actions of councillors also play a large part.
People are already questioning if our mayor is enjoying the kind of popularity that he "believes" he has.
They are?
"With TB vs BCA becoming yesterday's story, the next election is now a vote of confidence on BCA, and it will no longer be TB that will carry the sole responsibility of succeeding the present government. "
TB never really had that responsibility even though they think they had.
As for the mayor, whose past term will soon be examined before his expected cakewalk campaign, you may be surprised to learn that he is not very popular in the immigrant community, unlike Richard Lee. "
Doesn't really matter. What matters is the sum of those who have been here for a long time plus the recent arrivals.
"Patti Sahota tries cruising on the back of her new found fame"
What fame. She never had much of it to begin with.
" and failed while Richard Lee's effort to expand his support brought him victory against the most well run campaign in Burnaby."
well he barely won, and don't forget the NDP was noticeably weak in 2005, and they know it.
" Either candidate will easily become the star candidate, and the popularity will certainly be unmatched in today's Burnaby community."
Star candidates are nothing for the voters, but everything for the political hacks.
"But it is still too early to speculate who our "new" mayor may be."
That won't be decided until after the ballot count on Election Day.
Quite a ways to go to that.
Independents or otherwise, this candidate may have what it takes to unite the support for change, like what Dianne Watts had done, who was by far weaker against Patti Sahota before she defeated a power incumbent.
Dianne Watts never ran against Patti Sahota.
"We should see soon enough if there is such a candidate in the next election."
Doesn't matter that much. The voters will decide who they want
as the Mayor.
Whether they are new immigrants, old immigrants or long time residents, dosn't matter all that much, and quite frankly, shouldn't.
We're all Canadians and all citizens of Burnaby and that's what matters.
Strangly, no one has mentioned Lee Rankin as a contender for the Mayor's chair.
Richard most likely isn't interested and it seems that a few people want Richard as a Saviour to save Team Burnaby's political fortunes and future.
"The Mayor is only one vote on council. He is a prominent part, but the actions of councilors also play a large part. "
Yes, a prominent vote that gets to appoint members to important positions and lead a vote through "computer-gate". As a mayor, everyone is responsible for what happened for the laster term, for a mayor that received 17000 votes in a city more than 11 times the population, he answers not to those votes he received, he will have to prove to the people he should continue to govern, one is not so sure after all the noise at city hall, that vote total will stand.
"Dianne Watts never ran against Patti Sahota."
No, she ran against an even more powerful incumbent and governing, before, as we all know, winning by a landslide with her female and relatively young image. Drawing parallel to Patti Sahota who is even more prominent and closer to immigrant community, she would have easily achieved a degree of landslide untouchable had she run when a united TB would have expanded its support across political spectrum against the civic NDP. Like Dianne Watts, Patti Sahota definitely qualify, more so and more popular, as a mayor that is able to reform the old style of politics.
Both Patti and Richard would receive unequivocal support as our mayor, either Richard Lee or Patti Sahota would have brought some fresh air into the city hall. But TB used to carry the responsibility based on the fact that it is the official opposition in city hall providing alternatives as a whole. With three TB councilors, two of whom now sitting and read to run as independents, working together to watch BCA government, it is no question all of them would like to see a new mayor elected.
There can always be a difference in opinion, but it will be obvious no matter how many people would like to run against Mayor Corrigan, there can only one new mayor elected. To find one that TB and other independents who have decided not to join BCA can agree on will be the key. If Lee Rankin can bring TB back together, then he certainly should run against Corrigan, but in reality his candidacy may well have Gary Begin back Mayor Corrigan instead. Having someone like Patti Sahota and Richard Lee that the three TB councilors can agree on will very likely have other independents who are willing to form the pro-mayor voting block with TB endorsing that candidate as well. It will no matter if that candidate is nominated as an independent or otherwise.
Judging from the News Leader, it looks like reports are true that Kathy Corrigan is leaving the school board to take on (out) John Nuraney in Willingdon. John will be the first casualty of Bloy and the boyz screwing up (temporarily) Team Burnaby. Not to mention the vulnerable position of Richard T. Lee come redistribution that sees more of his riding in Corrigan/NDP turf.
Be very, very afraid John and Richard. Harry and his boyz have done you in.
Hey...if we're floating the idea of ethnic females like Patti Sahota for mayor, why not school trustee Helen Chang? She's Asian...she's female and she can see things that no one else can see....like spy helicopters flying over her neighborhood and peering into windows. She can run for mayor and expose all those organizations that are secretly spying on us citizens from helicopters and spy satellites. She'll certainly get all the unusual thinkers' vote.
Again, none of the sitting BCA councilors dare stepping down to challenge BCLIB. I say stay put "boyz", cuz Kathy Corrigan is most likely going to challenge for an open seat in place, doing something others wouldnt do, leaving the board's leadership to challenge for a higher position.
Hey...if we're floating the idea of ethnic females like Patti Sahota for mayor, why not school trustee Helen Chang? She's Asian...she's female and she can see things that no one else can see....like spy helicopters flying over her neighborhood and peering into windows. She can run for mayor and expose all those organizations that are secretly spying on us citizens from helicopters and spy satellites. She'll certainly get all the unusual thinkers' vote.
Unsual thinker's vote.
That pretty much sums up the type of voter who write to this blog.
Yes, a prominent vote that gets to appoint members to important positions and lead a vote through "computer-gate".
Would be also true if Team Burnaby had a Mayor. since city committees are usually appointed through the Mayor's Office, but with Team Burnaby it would be most likely dusty worn out candidates who would be appointed to the coveted positions, and that's not what the city needs or wants.
" As a mayor, everyone is responsible for what happened for the laster term, for a mayor that received 17000 votes in a city more than 11 times the population, he answers not to those votes he received, he will have to prove to the people he should continue to govern, one is not so sure after all the noise at city hall, that vote total will stand. "
Not too difficult to do, since right now people are not mad enough (except the TB types who are always mad at something). Also consider that civic elections do not get more than 35% of the total vote, so there's a lower turnout.
"Dianne Watts never ran against Patti Sahota."
"No, she ran against an even more powerful incumbent and governing, before, as we all know, winning by a landslide with her female and relatively young image."
Her haivng political smarts had alot to do with it, not nessesarily her being anatomically correct for a perceived demographic.
"Drawing parallel to Patti Sahota who is even more prominent and closer to immigrant community,"
There's more to Burnaby than just the Indo-Cdn. immigrant community.
"she would have easily achieved a degree of landslide untouchable had she run when a united TB would have expanded its support across political spectrum against the civic NDP."
If Team Burnaby had evolved into a true democratic and respectable civic party with positive positions and policies then perhaps someone like her would be
a foundation, but that's gone.
"Like Dianne Watts, Patti Sahota definitely qualify, more so and more popular, as a mayor that is able to reform the old style of politics. "
Yes and no. Dianne is the receipient of old style politics since one of the founding people of Surrey First is a good friend of Kevin Falcon.
"Both Patti and Richard would receive unequivocal support as our mayor, either Richard Lee or Patti Sahota would have brought some fresh air into the city hall."
Richard is most likely not wanting to chase after the Mayor's chair.
"But TB used to carry the responsibility based on the fact that it is the official opposition in city hall providing alternatives as a whole. "
Wrong. There is no "official" opposition. There is an "opposition" made of people who are not BCA, but there is no specific decisive opposition at the civic level as there is at the provincial level in Burnaby. There's BCA and Team Burnaby, but Team Burnaby did not form any parliamentary decreed opposition interest.
" With three TB councilors, two of whom now sitting and read to run as independents, working together to watch BCA government, it is no question all of them would like to see a new mayor elected. "
No to mention a few citizens.
"There can always be a difference in opinion, but it will be obvious no matter how many people would like to run against Mayor Corrigan, there can only one new mayor elected."
No kidding...
"To find one that TB and other independents who have decided not to join BCA can agree on will be the key. If Lee Rankin can bring TB back together, then he certainly should run against Corrigan, but in reality his candidacy may well have Gary Begin back Mayor Corrigan instead."
Lee will have alot of difficulty in
bringing Team Burnaby into something close to a start of a civic party worth supporting.
"Having someone like Patti Sahota and Richard Lee that the three TB councilors can agree on will very likely have other independents who are willing to form the pro-mayor voting block with TB endorsing that candidate as well."
Not going to happen between now and the end of the next civic election. You're once again trying to find a Saviour that will save Team Burnaby's fortunes. That could happen, but with very low probability.
"It will no matter if that candidate is nominated as an independent or otherwise."
It will to a degree.
Be there when it happens.
"Be very, very afraid John and Richard. Harry and his boyz have done you in"
and the rest of us voters are looking forward to a great sunny summer at the beach and at the lake, working "in here to be out there", and looking forward to see what the Canucks end up looking like in October.
Not to mention the BC Lions starting another action packed season in August.
Anyone who is taken in by Harry's political "talents" is a fool. All of Harry's 'power plays' could backfire on him with spectacular results
"Not going to happen between now and the end of the next civic election. You're once again trying to find a Saviour that will save Team Burnaby's fortunes. That could happen, but with very low probability."
Given that Bill Rancic received the highest number of votes last election, there is no reason to believe that the party does not have a future, not to mention Bill Rancic was the only councilor sitting against BCA since before 2002. The party obviously does not require a "savior"
So what is the purpose of TB? It used to be that it acts as an alternative to BCA governance ready for transition of power. But they have lost the traction of unity by acting too slowly to a problem evident long ago.
So with dim hope of forming the next government, the need to start aligning with powerful incumbents who too want to see a transition of power and quickly position itself as a partner for change. A divided opposition will see likely a worse fate for all opposition than 2002 when none of BNA & TB got elected.
Opposition is split because it cannot agree on who should replace Mayor Corrigan and that cant be more clear. That should show how vulnerable in reality mayor is. The key is to find the common candidate, and if TB cannot realize that, then they should be responsible for their own losses.
Hmmm.... I could be wrong about the 2002 election, but I thought that TB elected one councillor (Rankin) and one School Board Trustee. Again, I could be getting a bit fuzzy in my old age, but I thought it was Gary Begin who lost out on council. I can't remember who the school board trustees were, but if memory serves they lost as well.
'Given that Bill Rancic received the highest number of votes last election, there is no reason to believe that the party does not have a future, not to mention Bill Rancic was the only councilor sitting against BCA since before 2002. The party obviously does not require a "savior""
Sorry, I meant Lee Rankin, he sat as an independent and BCA's 7 seat majority realli didnt do much in the following election.
So what is the purpose of TB? It used to be that it acts as an alternative to BCA governance ready for transition of power. But they have lost the traction of unity by acting too slowly to a problem evident long ago.
Very true. Based on their recent antics why would anyone want them as a party of government?
"So with dim hope of forming the next government, the need to start aligning with powerful incumbents who too want to see a transition of power and quickly position itself as a partner for change."
Good luck with that one.
"A divided opposition will see likely a worse fate for all opposition than 2002 when none of BNA & TB got elected."
and who is at fault for the current divided opposition? TB should look in the mirror.
"Opposition is split because it cannot agree on who should replace Mayor Corrigan and that cant be more clear."
Wrong. It's more to do with TB insisting that the Executive Board decides or has a major role on what the councillors do in terms of policy. There isn't any operating political party around that does that. It also has to do with the perpetual power plays and manipulations by a few who want control.
"That should show how vulnerable in reality mayor is. The key is to find the common candidate, and if TB cannot realize that, then they should be responsible for their own losses."
If they can't figure that one out for themselves, the voters will most certainly do that for them.
Previous blogger wrote:
"Wrong. It's more to do with TB insisting that the Executive Board decides or has a major role on what the councillors do in terms of policy. There isn't any operating political party around that does that. It also has to do with the perpetual power plays and manipulations by a few who want control."
This is clearly rubbish. Two councillors and one weeping "I-Coulda-Been-a-Contenda" left because they were afraid they would have to compete for their nominations like everyone else. They all insisted they be Grandfathered as candidates while the executive was dtermined to have a fully democratic candidate selection process.
We will have to wait until November to see how much support they get from the voters of Burnaby. But at least they will be doing their own work and using their own resources rather than acting like free loaders with an insatiable sense of entitlement.
"This is clearly rubbish. Two councillors and one weeping "I-Coulda-Been-a-Contenda" left because they were afraid they would have to compete for their nominations like everyone else. "
That's a bit odd. It was more to do with the signing of some kind of agreement to adhere to policies, some of which were obviously not formulated and other controlling aspects. That was reported in the local paper. Had nothing to do with grandfathered nominations.
If you disagree, write in your own name to the Burnaby Now to dispute the chain of events as reported.
"They all insisted they be Grandfathered as candidates while the executive was dtermined to have a fully democratic candidate selection process. "
Sure. So why handpicked candidates and with Harry Bloy at the Election Readniness Committee? An MLA on the Election Readiness Committee is a bit off the wall. he's not there right now, but was for a short time.
We will have to wait until November to see how much support they get from the voters of Burnaby.
The results could be surprising.
Teh results may not be what Team Burnaby wants. Could also be what the independents don't want either.
We voters are a fickle bunch. We tend to choose those who can best represent Burnaby's interests, not those of a provincial party or a civic party.
But at least they will be doing their own work and using their own resources rather than acting like free loaders with an insatiable sense of entitlement.
Like in parallel with the power plays of a few on the Executive perhaps?
Team Burnaby last time borrowed heavily from the BC Liberals, so from this we gather Team Burnaby is going it alone and not with some kind of entitlement from the BC Liberals?
Hope so.
But enough of this nonsense.
Back to the original topic. So what does Stephen Harper The Greenie have to offer the voters other than a similar name?
Harry Bloy was never on the Election Readiness Committee of Team bby and he never resigned from it.
Your info is just plain wrong. He had many demands but when they were not met he and his boys left. What they do now or who trhey "help" now is their business.
Why would Harry have demands, and why would Team Burnaby care what he thinks is important in the first place?
Its well known that Harry and his boyz has had his hands into Team Burnaby. That's probably one of the sources of problems. Too much power to too few.
As for this "grandfathered nomination business", its a bit odd that this comes up now as another 'excuse' from within.
It could have easily been turned from 'guaranteed nomination for the incumbents' to 'wide open nominations' in just 20 minutes at a Constitutional session at last year's Annual General Meeting. All that takes is just a resolution, mover, seconder and 5 minutes of debate and its done.
Harry can do what he wants in terms of playing around with civic politics or politics in other ridings if its not on public paid for time or using taxpayer funded resources.
A politicians have done that sort of thing in the past and got caught.
The result for one was defeat in the next election.
Blogger wrote:
"It could have easily been turned from 'guaranteed nomination for the incumbents' to 'wide open nominations' in just 20 minutes".
That's about how long it took the Directors to do it at a meeting less than two months ago. Gary Begin left within two weeks citing irreconcilable differences. Garth and the weeping wannabe left two weeks after that.
They left because they are afraid of a democratic candidate selection process they might not win.
It was more than that, re-read the article in the Burnaby Now.
Also a bit of history:
Team Burnaby had a wide open nomination process in 2005. Gary was part of it but was defeated
at the nomination meeting.
Team Burnaby is hardly in the position to be "right" and to consider Gary, Barbara, Garth, and a few others to be 'wrong'.
Team Burnaby really needs to look at itself in detail and actually
accept the fact that the power plays within and a few people are
the source of the mess it is in.
But the activities within Team Burnaby have a bit of value.
the BCA can't buy that amount of negative publicity
Blogger wrote:
"Team Burnaby is hardly in the position to be "right" and to consider Gary, Barbara, Garth, and a few others to be 'wrong'."
You've missed the point Sherlock. No one is claiming they are either right or wrong - only that they left; not because of supposed backroom Liberal types pulling the strings and not because anyone was supposedly trying to push them around. They left because this small clutch was afraid they would lose in a wide open nomination. Some people just have such a sense of entitlement that they refuse to accept any possibility that they may not be what the membership wants in its candidates. They just couldn't take the chance. Garth, Gary and the wannabe are where they should be. They are independents. If you want to support them you probably already have their phone numbers. They are no doubt looking for hard working election workers like you.
Let's agree to disagree. Give them a call.
"You've missed the point Sherlock. No one is claiming they are either right or wrong - only that they left; not because of supposed backroom Liberal types pulling the strings and not because anyone was supposedly trying to push them around.
They left because this small clutch was afraid they would lose in a wide open nomination."
Sorry pal, that's not what was reported in the local paper and elsewhere. It had more to do with the insiders wanting to control everything and simply not getting
the larger picture of being co-operative.
IF they had thought they would lose in a wide open nomination, they would have left last year.
"Some people just have such a sense of entitlement that they refuse to accept any possibility that they may not be what the membership wants in its candidates.
While other figure they can tell elected officials what to do in terms of voting on civic decisions.
"They just couldn't take the chance. Garth, Gary and the wannabe are where they should be."
Should be - that's interesting. First you whine about them leaving and now state "where they should be".
"They are independents. If you want to support them you probably already have their phone numbers."
Actually I don't.
"They are no doubt looking for hard working election workers like you.
Let's agree to disagree. Give them a call."
Not interested in helping out in any civic election. Got better things to do.
But get your facts straight or do a better job of responding to what the public read about Team Burnaby.
If this whole mess was solely because of guaranteed nominations then it could have been easily resolved at the last AGM, which obviously it hasn't.
There's alot other problems with Team Burnaby. Do yourself a favour for them and seek them out and fix them.
You can start by looking in the mirror.
"You've missed the point Sherlock. No one is claiming they are either right or wrong - only that they left; not because of supposed backroom Liberal types pulling the strings and not because anyone was supposedly trying to push them around. They left because this small clutch was afraid they would lose in a wide open nomination. Some people just have such a sense of entitlement that they refuse to accept any possibility that they may not be what the membership wants in its candidates. They just couldn't take the chance. Garth, Gary and the wannabe are where they should be. They are independents. If you want to support them you probably already have their phone numbers. They are no doubt looking for hard working election workers like you."
That is what you choose to believe. Whoever defies the mayor in BCA will lose the nomination incumbent or otherwise. True, people do get overly excited about the idea of transition of power and none of the present TB figures have what it take to lead the entire party, admittedly. If TB nominates full slate, that should be a sign to BCA how much opposition BCA is facing in reality. But I think like TB's own democratic nomination race, I hope to see Mayor Corrigan challenged for his seat who is willing to commit to the new school of politics.
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