On June 7, Vancouver Park Board met to discuss what they heard from their own engagement around the draft Capital Plan.
 
In their presentation, staff noted that an equal number of emails for and against the Mount Pleasant Park pool had been received. Commissioner John Coupar, a vocal supporter of the pool, just wouldn’t have it. He kept interrupting the Chair and insisting they should not be listening to the voices against the proposed pool because it has – in his words – been “long asked for by the community” (min 7:56:40 of this video link).
 
Now, which community do you think he is speaking about? The community of today, or that which may have existed prior to 2009? Because those are radically different things.
 
We call BS on pool proponents who claim that engagement has been done. Expressions of support a decade ago cannot be used as a reflection of current sentiment towards a pool today. Obviously.
 
But this is inconvenient to admit for pool proponents. Commissioner Coupar also noted that efforts to raise public awareness (like this petition) stem from “a highly organized and well financed group that was opposed all of a sudden to the Mount Pleasant pool”. This made us laugh.  We have collectively caught their attention on a bare bones budget. So much so, we didn’t even have a budget! Just some brains, a sense of humour, moderately thick skin, and a belief that Mount Pleasant Park is the wrong place for an outdoor swimming pool.
 
So what to do?
 
Commissioner Coupar believes that even acknowledging our collective opposition to the pool “sends a false message to the public”. He doesn’t believe there is any real opposition, despite the fact that this petition topped 1,000 signatures this week!
 
So can you please send one last unequivocal message stating that you are opposed to a pool in Mount Pleasant Park? It doesn’t have to be long. Make a simple statement like “Dear Mayor, City Councillors and Park Board Commissioners, I am opposed to the Mount Pleasant Park pool proposal” or “Dear Mayor, City Councillors and Park Board Commissioners, Let me be clear that  I do not want an outdoor pool in Mount Pleasant Park.” The list of people to send it to is posted at the bottom of this message.
 
And what comes next? Staff go back to the Park Board with a report on the draft Capital Plan process on June 20, and then back with the final Capital Plan on June 27th for a decision ahead of Council meeting on the final Capital Plan on June 28/29. So stay tuned - we hope to ring in Canada Day with great news about our beloved Mount Pleasant Park!
 
If you haven’t reached out to Council and Commissioners, or even if you have, this is really the last chance to send your thoughts about the proposed pool. Send your email to the following: pbcapitalplan@vancouver.ca ,
Kennedy.Stewart@vancouver.ca , CLRbligh@vancouver.ca , CLRboyle@vancouver.ca , CLRcarr@vancouver.ca , CLRdegenova@vancouver.ca , CLRdominato@vancouver.ca , CLRfry@vancouver.ca , CLRhardwick@vancouver.ca , CLRkirby-yung@vancouver.ca , CLRswanson@vancouver.ca , CLRwiebe@vancouver.ca , Tricia.Barker@vancouver.ca , john.coupar@vancouver.ca , Dave.Demers@vancouver.ca , Camil.Dumont@vancouver.ca , Gwen.Giesbrecht@vancouver.ca , John.Irwin@vancouver.ca , stuart.mackinnon@vancouver.ca ,PBcommissioners@vancouver.ca , paul.mochrie@vancouver.ca
 
Oh, and one more thing, remember the name John Coupar. He’s running for mayor in the forthcoming election!