When the provincial NDP was elected in 2017, one of its first orders of business was a very positive change to campaign financing at the municipal level. Within months, it passed legislation prohibiting donations to municipal political parties from corporations and unions, and banning individual donations over $1,200.

Vancouvers two developer-friendly municipal partiesVision Vancouver and the Non-Partisan Associationwere dealt a devastating blow. These two parties had been bankrolled almost entirely by very large donations from Vancouvers business elite, including some of the citys biggest real estate developers. In the case of the NPA, this had been happening for a very long time since the party dominated city council for decades.

After the legal change to campaign donations, Vision Vancouver found itself unable to campaign in the 2018 civic election as it had every election since its founding in2005.

It was no more disadvantaged than any other political party because of the new law. But Vision had become so used to spending so much on election ads and its enormous army of paid staff, it found it wiped out at city council, electing zero candidates. Ditto for the park board. Visions sole seat last election was on the school board.

With such poor results, many have predicted that the 2018 election was Vision Vancouvers swan song.

While the NPA, Vancouvers other pro-developer party, did much better than Vision last election, it has shown major cracks since then.

The first crack appeared when the NPA board of directors was taken over at their last AGM in December by conservatives, including several social conservatives. (The term social conservatives is used in a number of ways these days, but youll find examples in the very right-wing Stockwell Day, and groups like the Reform Party, Albertas Social Credit party, Focus on the Family and the Christian Heritage Party of Canada. They believe in all the old-school bourgeois values that privilege Western, Christian, heterosexual, materialistic upper classes. They also want to turn the clock back on feminist gains, like abortion.)

If you can believe it, one of the new directors and the NPAs new chief fundraiser, Christopher Wilson, is the former B.C. director of the alt-right, sensationalist media outlet, Rebel News! Read all about him inthis excellent article by Charlie Smithin theGeorgia Straight. Wilson is known for his sly videos defending Donald Trumps racist views and questioning the motives of Black athletes who take a knee. Hes also a member of the B.C. Conservatives, who want to kill our very successful carbon tax.

He questions climate science, and kept calling our federal environment minister, Catherine McKenna, a Climate Barbie until he got called out by the minister herself andTabatha Southey in Macleans. (He later deleted the tweets.)

Note that two new directors on the NPA board were previously endorsed by an association that opposes SOGI, which helps make schools more inclusive for LGBTQ students. So copy out this paragraph and keep it on your fridge if youre tempted to vote NPA in the coming election.

All this prompted Councillor Rebecca Bligh, who is openly queer, toleave the NPA caucus in December,and sit as an independent. She was a moderate voice, capable of attracting centre-right voters.

More recently, city hall watchers were shocked to see four of the remaining moderate voices on the 15-member NPA board resign, as they were unable to stomach the far-right, undemocratic direction the party is obviously taking.

One of the four moderates, Jane Frost,toldtheGlobe and Mail, they found themselves thwarted by a group of new board members who dont seem interested in holding meetings, speaking out on important issues facing the city or including all current and potential NPA members.

Its easy see that new forces even more right of the usual centrist-right bent of the NPA now have lots of freedom to point the party in a direction that will surely result in its demise. Vancouvers electorate is way too moderate to ever elect a city council dominated by far-right individuals.

Its always a mugs game predicting the future, especially in politics. However, I wont be surprised to see the further implosion of the NPA and a brand new centre-right party born out of the remnants of Vision Vancouver and the moderate wing of the NPA that will be looking for a new political home.

Daily atmospheric CO2[Courtesy ofCO2.Earth]

Latest daily total (Aug. 11, 2020):412.40 ppm

One year ago (Aug. 11, 2019):410.43 ppm

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Tim Louis: Is the NPA on life support? - Straight.com