2011 local election results - poll by poll

Election results by polling station (which represent distinct geographical neighbourhoods) are available on the Elections Canada web site. Comparing the election in 2008 to 2011 provides some interesting numbers (polling station maps remained more or less the same for the two elections).

NDP Wins	2008	2011
# of Polls	2	10

2008 – both polls were in Vernon

2011 – 6 in Vernon, Enderby/Salmon River, Six Mile Creek,
Tappen, Salmon Arm

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More Green Votes Than NDP	2008	2011
# of Polls	94	8

NDP votes	# of polls in 2008	# of polls in 2011
More than 40%	0	11
36 % - 40 %	3	22
30 % - 35 %	9	48

Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline starting to fade

Talk of the Enbridge Pipeline(s) from Alberta to Kitimat has died down but we have to assume that work is being done in the background to move the project along. The proposal is for 225 supertankers per year to travel from Kitimat to the open ocean through Douglas Channel.


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Two events might have taken the wind out of the 'jobs/economy' side of the argument. In 2010 two BC organizations passed motions opposing the project. In March, the Union of BC Chiefs Council announced that they were opposed. This is significant because of the requirement to consult with all the First Nations whose traditional territory would be affected. Wayne Christian, chief of the Splats’in First Nation seconded the motion. Fabian Alexis, of the Okanagan Indian Band, abstained.

The second convention to oppose the pipeline(s) in 2010 was the Union of BC Municipalities. Its members are mayors and councilors from BC communities that at least in this area lean towards the 'development is always good' side of the political spectrum. This vote should give the Conservative/Liberal coalition pause to consider their chances of re-election without local government support. Mayors and councilors are the people who get to spend most of the 'stimulus' dollars on roads, etc. and are usually reluctant to speak against senior governments.

Unsurprisingly, the 2011 federal NDP convention also passed a motion (2-05-11 Resolution on a Tanker Ban) opposing the pipeline(s).

Nathan Cullen, MP for Skeena-Bulkley Valley has been the most vocal critic in the House of Commons to date. He has turned over the task to Fin Donnelly, the MP who swam the length of the Fraser (twice) to show his support for salmon.

Fin Donnelly, the new opposition critic for Fisheries, has already reintroduced two private members bills for the new Parliament to consider:

1. C-211, a legislated ban on oil supertanker traffic on BC's North and Central Coast. 
2. C-225, the Wild Salmon Protection Act, calls for open net pen salmon farms to be transitioned to land-based closed-containment technology.

There's a lot of powerful forces aligned on the 'opposed' side, and they represent the views of the majority of BC citizens. 75% opposed west coast tanker traffic in an Ipsos-Reid poll from May 2006. In April 2010 that went up to 79%, including 65% of Conservative voters.

It is hard to get 79% of BC to agree that the sun comes up in the east. I am feeling a lot better about this particular battle, but know that Enbridge hasn't given up yet.

Vancon2011 convention notes

Random notes taken while watching the convention unfold. Almost all motions passed without serious debate. A common "No" microphone starting point was, "While I support the intent of this motion, I am speaking against it because it doesn't go far enough!" However,  there were several motions that were contentious and difficult to resolve. (All links are to YouTube videos taken at the convention).

1. What political manoeuvrings it took to eventually get almost unanimous support for the 'Insite' motion! It took Friday to add a clause about the benefits of a harm reduction approach. Then on Saturday afternoon a notice of motion to amend Sunday's agenda. On Sunday, the chair tried to kill the amendment by defining a day as 24 hours. His decision was overruled by a challenge to the chair, and then finally a passionate speech from Libby Davies. There was no dissent to the motion, and therefore one was left wondering why the party felt the need to block it at every turn.

2. Stephen Lewis's inspirational speech opening the section on human rights and Canada's place in the world was everything I expected. Sensible, passionate, global, focused on larger issues than the petty problems facing our wealthy country.

3. A motion to support the Canada-to-Gaza ship was squashed by the party bureaucracy according to another local delegate. No explanation, so we delegates were left wondering why it is such a threat to the party. The motion did not rise high enough to make it to the convention floor and so was not debated or voted on.

4. A motion to (pro) change the preamble to the party's constitution, with the (con) removal of reference to 'socialist', received the most media attention. This wasn't just the changing of one word, but a complete rewrite of the purposes of the party. Not enough work had been put into circulating the proposal to the membership prior to the convention. Brian Topp's compromise motion to table it and have it reworked for the next convention with a reference to arts & culture added, and even reviewed by writers and poets to improve the language was a reasonable defusement of a divisive proposal.

5. The defeat of a motion to not allow the party to discuss a possible merger with the Liberal Party also received media attention. If the proponents of the motion had not taken advantage of the opportunity to take mean-spirited shots at the Liberals (and Stephane Dion, who was present as an observer) this might have passed.

6. Not a motion but a comment from Andrew Cash MP for Davenport, ON of the benefits of having a children's play area at the front of his campaign office made a lot of sense. Our Vernon office with its main street windows would have looked more inviting with some toys. (He also talked about door-knocking for 18 months prior to the election).

The highlight of the convention was the moment when all 103 NDP MPs were on the stage at the same time. Unbelievable celebration!

 

Welcome!

Okanagan Shuswap is a big riding.   Google Map shows it would take 4 hours and 45 minutes to drive from Cherryville to Chase, and then onto Seymour Arm, without visiting Falkland or Malakwa. Communication is a significant barrier within this largely rural riding.

We can use this blog to keep each other up-to-date on events and activities of interest to activists throughout the riding.

Any and all suggestions and comments will be considered.