Using all my fingers and toes, I’ve calculated that it’s now less than a month before the next municipal election. Three weeks tomorrow, to be exact.
On Oct. 20, we get to do something about traffic and affordable housing by putting little Xs in boxes, while surrounded by a confidential cardboard enclosure.
Democracy is a fragile miracle.
It’s no wonder only about a third of the population turns up to vote in municipal elections. Somehow the relationship between Xs and gridlock is tough to get our heads around. But make no mistake, the Xs will magically transform into councils that will be responsible for solving some of the toughest problems ever facing the North Shore – especially affordable housing and unsustainable traffic.
I have to admit, some of the fun went out of it for me when Roger Bassam withdrew from the District of North Vancouver race for mayor. Roger was an enthusiastic advocate of amalgamation of the two North Vancouvers, and managed to get this question on the district ballot:
“Do you support the establishment and funding, not to exceed $100,000, of an advisory body comprised jointly of residents of the City of North Vancouver and residents of the District of North Vancouver to investigate the costs, benefits and potential implications of reunifying the two municipalities?”
As Roger rides off into the sunset, he takes his vision and enthusiasm for amalgamation along in his saddlebags. However, Mike Little, another former district councillor and the likely frontrunner in the race for DNV mayor, endorsed the marriage of the two North Vans in a recent article.
So, while Mike wasn’t part of the amalgamation revival movement, perhaps if elected he can blow on the embers during the next four years.
The real antagonist to amalgamation over the years has been the City of North Vancouver, especially fierce opponent Mayor Darrell Mussatto. He won’t be running again, but mayoralty candidate Rod Clark will take up the anti-amalgamation torch, making it a controversial subject in a race that already has enough to chew on.
Guy Heywood, former city councillor and candidate for CNV mayor (when amalgamation comes, we won’t need all these clumsy qualifiers) is a longtime believer in amalgamation, but even he is a bit weary and wary of fighting the good fight. He calls it the “A” word.
Still, you don’t have to scratch the surface too deeply to find a rich vein of enthusiasm for the idea of turning two North Vancouvers into one.
At the very least, Heywood argues, traffic and development planning should be amalgamated. Right now, for example, no one adds up the number of new cars spawned by development on the roads of the North Shore.
“You’d think,” Heywood says, “that they would stop digging at least long enough to see how deep the hole is.” A North Vancouver Traffic Authority would be a start. It would at the very least conduct a vehicle census, then start applying the implications of that number to developer traffic studies now done in isolation from one neighbourhood to another.
“It’s pretty simple,” says the guy with all the letters after his name (MBA, CPA). “Only do stuff that doesn’t make it worse.”
And while you’re at it, he says, build more affordable housing. It would help to amalgamate that process as well, so you don’t have competing development schemes across the street from each other, which is what’s going to happen once the smoke clears after Oct. 20.
Unless there’s a miracle. Let’s start with an introduction: Guy Heywood, meet Mike Little. Mike, Guy.
I’d like to remind you that 87 per cent of North Shore residents (both city and district) in a recent poll approved of the idea to “investigate the costs, benefits and potential implications of reunifying the two municipalities.” You’d think this would be a no-brainer. But lest we forget, CNV Councillor Clark told the DNV to “get stuffed” when the district offered to partner on the study.
Of course, I’d like to know how we’re going to solve traffic and affordable housing when the two municipalities operate like the Two Solitudes. When there are two different, not necessarily compatible, answers to every question. Not to mention all the costs associated with two councils, two administrations, two thises and two thats. Never mind West Van, which sees itself on a higher, separate plane.
How’s it working for you so far, Rod Clark, et al.?
Journalist and communications consultant Paul Sullivan has been a North Vancouver resident since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the rise of Madonna. [email protected]
