One was at the Bayshore. The other was at the Greek community centre. In the old days, the first fundraiser would have been the Non-Partisan Association’s, the second would have been COPE’s (except it would have been held in a community centre of some eastern European nationality).
But the tables have turned and it was Vision Vancouver, where almost 1,000 gathered at an upscale downtown hotel to donate money for the party, eat some kind of chicken thing, listen to Steve Burgess try to crack some jokes over the sound of 1,000 voices gossiping, wander around and sample desserts from three food carts brought in for the occasion, and more.
The Non-Partisan Association, on the other hand, held the most downscale annual fundraiser that I’ve been to in 15 years of covering city hall. Although the organizers put their hearts into jazzing up the space, the $275-a-ticket event was in a room that felt like a high-school gym, with a mishmash of various dishes (sushi, pasta) on tables at the side, and red, white and blue balloons rising from few tables available. (Most of the 600-some people who attended stood.)
There was a huge difference in the presentations too. Someone said to me that he and a friend were talking and the friend said, “Who do you think wrote Suzanne Anton’s speech?” He answered: “Suzanne.” “And who do you think wrote Gregor’s speech?” “About 10 people, who worked hard to come up with something new that would convey a lot of big ideas.”
Suzanne’s speech was a re-iteration of much she has said before on the campaign trail: A streetcar, a tall building for St. Paul’s, the party that says Yes, not the party that says No like Vision.
Gregor’s speech, on the other hand, tried to reach for some bigger themes. (You can see the speech somewhere on YouTube, or at least the zingers, i.e. talking about people in the city that see “calamity in a new bike lane, apocalypse in a chicken coop, that reads Winnie the Pooh and thinks, ‘Eeyore, that’s a role model for me.'”)
What does it all mean? Well, one could argue that the NPA could have splashed out on a big hotel dinner but is working hard to keep its expenses low.
However, since fundraisers are not just about raising money, but about projecting an image of momentum and confidence in the party, it looked to many attending as though the NPA just isn’t getting much support.
It is collecting money from its diehard base and from those groups who have wisely learned (ever since Larry Campbell and COPE surprised everyone in 2002 with a near-complete sweep of council) to put some money down on both sides of the election race.
Party organizer Norman Stowe put a good face on this, saying something along the lines of “People who were at Vision Vancouver HAD to be there; people here tonight WANT to be here.”
Of course, this all leads to the burning question of who was buying tickets/tables at each fundraiser: vital information for every unhappy critic who will use the information to decide that one party or the other is in thrall to developers. (Reality check, folks: Until there is campaign-financing reform, developers will always be significant donors to the winning party. They’re the ones with money. It takes money to win. If you turn it down, you guarantee that you won’t be on council.)
So here’s who was where:
Vision Vancouver sent media a full list of their attendees. The NPA did not.
From what I was able to see in the room, NPA attendees included people from:
Concord Pacific, including Terry Hui
ParkLane Developments
Dialog Architects
Great Canadian Gaming
Barwatch
Vancouver Firefighters
And Suzanne Anton made reference in her speech to having had a chance to talk to people in the forestry and mining industry. ??
Vision Vancouver tables were bought by the following:
1 GBL Architects GBL Architects
4 New Way Concrete Aquilini Group
5 Concord Pacific Developments Inc. Concord Pacific Developments Inc.
6 Aquilini Group Aquilini Group
7 Rennie
8 Brook Pooni Associates Inc. Brook Pooni Associates Inc.
9 Polygon
10 Interdependent Investments Joel Solomon
11 BC Cleantech CEO Alliance Cleanworks Alliance Corp./McCarthy Tetrault LLP
12 Artists for Vision sponsored by Wall Capital Wall Corporation
13 West End Supporters
14 Vision YOUTH
15 Vision STAFF
16 Women with Vision donated by Wesgroup
16 Women with Vision – Wesgroup Wesgroup
17 Gord Wylie Ivanhoe Cambridge
18 Westbank Westbank
19 CUPE 15 CUPE 15
20 Wall Corporation Wall Corporation
21 Tim Stevenson Tim Stevenson Table
22 Corinex Communications Corinex Communications
23 Chrysalix Chrysalix
24 Elemental Energy
25 Out in Schools
26 Rory Richards
27 Friends for Life
28 VanEdge Capital VanEdge Capital
29 Geoff Meggs Geoff Meggs
30 Ryan Beedie Beedie
31 First Nations Friends of Vision
33 Reliance Properties Reliance Properties
34 Parklane West Group
34 Parklane Anthem Property
35 Swissreal
36 Henriques Partners Architects Henriques Partners Architects
37 W2 Media
38 Marcella Munro
39 Women with Vision
40 Elegant Development Inc. Elegant Development Inc.
41 COPE 378 COPE 378
42 Earnscliffe Strategy Group Earnscliffe Strategy Group
43 Bastion Deveopement Bastion Deveopement
44 Solterra
45 Raymond Louie
46 PCI Group PCI Group
47 CUPE 1004 CUPE 1004
48 International Union of Operating Engineers Local 963 International Union of Operating Engineers Local 963
49 Bentall Kennedy Bentall Kennedy
50 Phillipino Friends of Vision
51 Artists for Vision sponsored by Wall Capital Wall Corporation
52 Friends of Ken Clement Friends of Ken Clement
53 Farmers Market
54 viabc
55 Wanson Development Ltd. Wanson Development Ltd.
56 COPE 378 COPE 378
57 Onni
58 CAW CAW
59 Renewal/Renewal 2 Renewal/Renewal 2
60 Vancouver Taxi Association Vancouver Taxi Association
61 Stratcom Stratcom
62 We Back Man the Juiceman
63 Busters Towing Busters Towing
64 Artists for Vision
65 LGBT Friends of Vision Outlooks TV
66 Donnelly Group Donnelly Group
67 Rising Tide Rising Tide Consultants Ltd.
68 BARWATCH BARWATCH
69 Lafarge Lafarge
70 Concert Concert
71 Richmond Elevator Richmond Elevator
72 Denise Taschereau Denise Taschereau
73 Nicli Antica Pizzeria Nicli Antica Pizzeria
74 Vision STAFF – Bradley Shend Vision STAFF – Bradley Shend
75 GC Gaming GC Gaming
77 Perkins & Will Perkins & Will
83 Bladerunners
84 Vision Exec
86 Friends of Rob Wynen
87 Friends of Vision General seating
88 Friends of Vision General seating