Because Council consists of ten councillors plus the mayor, one might believe that this by-election of only two councillors is inconsequential. However, there are at least two reasons why the results will matter. One, the party controlling Council— ABC Vancouver— has suffered significant internal conflict.  A strong opposition is well-positioned to exploit and deepen the rifts within ABC, to the benefit of the citizens of Vancouver struggling with ABC’s catering to special interests. 

Two, a unified opposition can bring issues which have previously been hidden behind a veil of secrecy to public light. Most of the funds demanded by Vancouver city staff — to wit, $11.1 million— to pay B.A. Blackwell & Associates to “assess” then log Stanley Park, ostensibly (but without substantive scientific evidence) to rid the park of “dangerous” looper-impacted trees, were secretly approved in-camera with no opposition and no debate. A strong opposition could force a debate and public scrutiny, the result of which might be refusal of Council to approve raiding of taxpayer funds for a massively consequential project without peer-reviewed scientific justification.

Largely due to the persistent efforts of Stanley Park Preservation Society, public awareness and opposition to the unjustifiable and runaway destruction in Stanley Park has been increasing dramatically. Indeed, none of the opposition parties or independent candidates dared express outright support for the logging. 

On the contrary, two parties—TEAM for a Livable Vancouver and COPE— have called outright for a halt to the logging.

COPE provided the following statement:

The logging of Stanley Park perfectly sums up how Ken Sim and ABC do business. Secrecy, unaccountability, and a lack of integrity. By failing to provide credible scientific evidence to substantiate their claims, and by awarding contracts in back rooms, they are echoing how they conduct their business in other parts of the city— intimidation, conflicts of interest, and ignoring the community. As a city councillor, I will call on ABC to stop the ongoing logging operation in Stanley Park until a comprehensive scientific review and independent risk assessments are completed. This should include thorough tree inspections that take into account ecological, wildlife, and recreational values.
 

TEAM states in its platform “action items”: 

Protect Stanley Park by halting the current logging operation until a full scientific review and independent risk assessments are conducted, including documented tree inspections with consideration for ecological, wildlife and recreational values.
 

We acknowledge the efforts of Annette Reilly to meet with us and hear our position, and in calling for a public review. However, we are dismayed that Green Park Board Commissioner Thomas Digby has been a leading proponent of the logging and moreover expressed his intent to kill future hemlock saplings. Unfortunately, the Green Party of Vancouver has not been “green” in the actions of its Park Board commissioner and in the silence of the party.

We appreciate the strong anti-logging statement made by Sean Orr and note that it was not published on the COPE website. Lucy Maloney of OneCity expressed concern about dangerous trees in Stanley Park —apparently not having gotten the message that the “danger” of looper-impacted hemlocks is fiction, but their ecological value as snags and wildlife trees is fact.

TEAM is the only party that has explicitly opposed Stanley Park logging in writing on its website. Further, since the inception of logging TEAM candidates Theodore Abbott and Colleen Hardwick reached out multiple times to the directors of Stanley Park Preservation Society, making themselves abundantly available for discussion and support—never wavering in their opposition to logging without peer review and without credible supporting science. Finally, TEAM is the only party running two candidates unequivocally opposed to the logging. We believe that Colleen and Theodore working together would mount a unified and formidable opposition to ABC and Mayor Sim.

For these reasons, Stanley Park Preservation Society is supporting TEAM candidates Theodore Abbott and Colleen Hardwick. We strongly urge our members, and all of those interested in the preservation of the native coastal western hemlock forest of Stanley Park, to cast your two votes for Theodore and Colleen.

Let’s make this election the beginning of the end of the most disastrous and egregious offence to the integrity of Stanley Park in its history. Please vote, because this ecocide must stop while there is something left.