Wards are coming to Vancouver; at least, that’s my prediction. I think the “Yes” forces will win, and our next mayor will be Larry Campbell running as an independent. I’d put money on both of those things at this point in time.

But I’m enjoying watching the campaign happen, and staying somewhat non-partisan; although I think wards would be good for the city, I’ll likely vote no.

Why?

Today’s Vancouver Sun article points out some of the negatives of a ward based system: costs tend to be higher; councillors will certainly engage in some form of vote trading; lower debt loads in an at large system. All of these are compelling arguments in favour of an at large system.

Still, at large systems have a major flaw: a lack of accountability, and a ballot which is virtually impossible for the average voter to understand (at least in any reasonably sized city) becuase of the number of names on it.

My major problem with Vancouver’s current ward proposal is that it doesn’t fix the real problem of the region: the structure and function of the GVRD. As it’s currently structured, GVRD is taxation without representation. Look no further than RAV: a bunch of old guys I don’t get to vote for were deciding how much I would pay for this thing, or whether I would pay for it at all.

So far from worrying about councillors pursuing “pet” projects only for their wards, I’m worried about this entire region being poorly represented.

To those who say that the GVRD problem is a provincial one, not a municipal one, I say phooey. Yes, the provincial government created the GVRD and the provincial government can - and will - solve this problem easily by creating Van-Mega-Couver.

If the municipalities are smart though (and I have no reason to believe they are) they’ll band together and figure out a solution that truly works for the municipalities; given a sensible proposal, it’s likely that the provincial government would adopt it. Not guaranteed, but likely.

Instead, we’re mucking around with wards in Vancouver while Burnaby, Richmond, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Surrey and White Rock will continue to elect at large councillors.

That makes sense; absolutely.

Posted by skooter at 10:04 PM This entry is filed under Vancouver.