16 November 1999

Vancouver Votes: The NPA - THE COMMENTARY

By Joseph Planta

To say the NPA hasn’t had a monopoly on the governance of this town, we’ll my friend you’ve got something else coming. Currently headed by the two term incumbent Philip Owen, the NPA is in the most comfortable of positions. This election will be there’s to lose and I don’t think they will. Most of all, Mayor Owen’s position as the city’s big cheese. Council on the other hand has 10 seats, all being sat currently by NPAers. COPE/Green will have a hell of a time coveting a majority or a minority for that matter.

The NPA has had a very interesting lead up to the campaign. They have not had their inner-workings under control and COPE/Green hasn’t exploited that. COPE/Green, if it plans to win, should. At the recent nomination meeting, claims of ballot box stuffing were circulating, and to this very moment they haven’t answered to these claims. The dumping of Nancy Chivario and Alan Herbert at this same meeting, was an eventful moment for the party, as they refused to endorse their own incumbents. Chivario and Herbert are now running as incumbents; the former promptly fishing an endorsement from COPE/Green. The short-answer to the NPA’s dropping of Chivario and Herbert, is that they strayed too much from the centrist status quo that is so near and dear to the NPA.

As I have predicted in this column in the past, Vancouverites will unknowingly embrace that middle of the road attitude and sweep (he says cautiously) back into power.

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An archive of Joseph Planta's previous columns can be found by clicking HERE .