In Vancouver’s City Hall, opposition parties are weighing the possibility of uniting for the upcoming municipal election.
OneCity, a key player among the opposition, has proposed a primary election involving COPE and the Green Party. The aim is to select a single candidate to challenge Mayor Ken Sim and his ABC party.
William Azaroff, OneCity’s mayoral hopeful, emphasizes the importance of preventing vote splitting among progressive parties through this initiative. He envisions a collaborative effort to establish a “progressive majority.”
While the Greens and COPE are considering OneCity’s offer, they highlight that similar proposals have been discussed in the past. COPE indicates that a unity proposal was previously endorsed at a party meeting and supported by the Greens.
The Greens stress the need for comprehensive agreements across various boards to prevent any one party from dominating the election.
However, OneCity has set conditions for cooperation and expects a response from the other parties by Friday.
Political analyst Stewart Prest from UBC points out that forming a unified front against Mayor Sim may be challenging. He critiques OneCity’s approach as more of an ultimatum rather than true collaboration.
Prest notes that the success of this initiative hinges on how the parties handle the primary election process.