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NPA fundraising chair letter rips into mayor and Vision while asking for donations

September 22nd, 2011 · 81 Comments

Not quite as visceral as the letters asking you for money to prevent wild animals from getting caught in leghold traps, but almost.

This is the pitch to the faithful from NPA fundraising chair Rob Macdonald for the party’s planned $2.4-million campaign.

RE:          Gregor’s Teflon Coating and Strange Leadership Style is Wearing Very Thin

I have never witnessed a civic government quite like the one we have now in the City of Vancouver.  When one looks at the record of Gregor Robertson and the Vision/Cope alliance, the litany of poor governance is quite shocking:

·         Complete mismanagement of the Olympic Village file where we now have the most expensive social housing in North America at $600,000 per door, coupled with a staggering loss of taxpayer’s money, in the $100 million range, due in good part to things said directly by Gregor Robertson that damaged the value of the property;

·         The backyard chicken coop economic strategy;

·         Horribly designed, multi-million dollar “temporary” bike lanes that have created substantial harm to the downtown business community that were literally rammed into place without honest consultation.  This was followed by an impact study that city staff proceeded to tamper with and delay;

·         A new “housing strategy” that could cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, all so you can pay someone else’s rent;

·         Out-of-control property taxes on small business, that are crushing people out of business and throwing people out of work;

·         Lack of accountability over the Stanley Cup riot where Gregor, as chief cheerleader of large downtown view sites, invited over 150,000 people downtown and then forgot to increase the police budget;

·         A half-baked, radical green-agenda that lacks environmental good sense;

·         Parks and City boulevards that are going unkempt and uncut while we fund various goofy social engineering projects like taxpayer funded wheat fields;

·         Ignoring the basic and important work of local government while civic employee morale drops to an all-time low;

·         And the list goes on, and on, and on.

In our quest for a progressive and vibrant Vancouver, we cannot afford or sustain this kind if ineptitude.

Enough is enough.

Like a growing number of Vancouverites, I believe it’s time for a change that puts common sense back into our local government.  It’s the reason I have decided to help raise money for this year’s civic election campaign in support of the NPA Party.

The NPA Team is being led by my long-time friend Suzanne Anton who, as both a former Crown Prosecutor and an expert in plain old mathematics, will bring both integrity and financial responsibility back to City Hall.  You can review the whole NPA Team of candidates on the website www.npavancouver.ca.  As a group, the NPA Team of business-like individuals offers a highly credible alternative to the existing City Council who have really let the citizens of Vancouver down.

As someone involved in the development business, you will be asked and expected to give a donation to the Vision party. What I would like you to carefully consider before you do that, is to take into account Vision’s support for activities taking place in the planning department that are horribly misguided. Attacking private property rights and effectively charging income taxes on the development community, when statutorily prohibited from doing so, is wrong. Strong arming money from people and then having them sign a “voluntary contribution agreement” is wrong.  Playing favourites and threatening your livelihood if you don’t “play ball” is wrong.  If we support this kind of behaviour with a political donation to the Vision party, basically out of fear of reprisal, then what does that say about us? Supporting the political process is one thing, but supporting plainly bad government, that does not understand the difference between right and wrong is another. Our democracy and our City deserve better.

The NPA has assembled an incredible team of professionals to run the election campaign and we have a $2.4 million budget for the campaign operations. As the NPA Campaign Fundraising Chairman, I really hope I can count on you for financial support.  Cheques should be made payable to “Vancouver NPA 2011 CAMPAIGN” and may be sent in care of myself at [business address].

I would be happy to get together with you personally to discuss the campaign as your support is integral to restoring common sense government to the City of Vancouver, and you can call me anytime at [personal cell number].  In addition, I would appreciate it if you would forward this correspondence on to any of your friends and particularly your professional advisors and contractors who you think might support a much needed change at City Hall.

At the end of the day, if we do not have good government, we have nothing.

Yours sincerely,

Robert J. Macdonald
Fundraising Chair
NPA 2011 Campaign

Categories: Uncategorized

  • spartikus

    Pretty sure citizenship requirements for property ownership would have to be enacted at Federal level. My [limited] understanding is that there are very few countries in the world that do this – and those that we usually think of as basketcases.

  • Bobbie Bees

    spartikus, I’m pretty sure there are some provinces in Canada that have this requirement.

  • Bobbie Bees

    okay, just checked I’m wrong. We should fix this though. This one simple fix ought to bring sanity back to the real estate market.

  • Chris Keam

    As a child of immigrants, who came here, worked hard and were able to buy a house before they would have been eligible for citizenship I have to say citizenship as a condition of home ownership reeks of xenophobia. It’s bad enough we still force people to abide by invisible lines demarcating freedom of travel and employment in a global economy, when capital and its chief owners need not observe any real restrictions in the same manner.

    If you were to suggest residency be a condition of ownership in some way, that might be a band-aid to this bigger issue of speculation, but one’s citizenship is an artificial construct. We all live under one sky.

  • Bobbie Bees

    Chris, I can understand your concern of xenophobia, however I’d still consider landed immigrants to be eligible to own property. The people that I don’t want buying property and speculating on it are offshore speculators who couldn’t find Vancouver on a map, even if you placed a large arrow pointing at it.
    Whether it be American speculators, Russian speculators, Australian speculators, Chinese speculators, if you don’t have even the slightest inclination of living here, why should they be able to purchase property here and in turn drive up the cost of buying property for everyone else?

  • Westender1

    Michael Geller, I’m surprised to hear that some developers are now paying Development Cost Levies under the STIR program – each of the applications I’ve seen going to Council have included a statement from the City Manager Penny Ballem indicating that STIR developments are “deemed to include some measure of affordability” (whatever that might mean) and are therefore eligible for a waiver of DCL’s – meaning that this shortfall in DCL revenues will need to be made up by either other developers or taxpayers.
    With regard to Community Amenity Contributions (CAC’s) on STIR projects, the way it has been explained to me by the Planning Dept. is that the City declares there to be no increase in land value for projects that include STIR rental units, therefore there is no CAC payable as a result of the rezoning. The market rental units are assumed to be the “benefit” for the community.
    Many in the community have difficulty accepting this argument for projects like 1215 Bidwell Street (at Davie) which including an increase in FSR from 2.2 to 6.2 to allow for 85 condo units and 49 small rental units. The recently-released condo units almost entirely sold out over the last three weeks. But by the City’s rationale there’s no increase in land value on the project or “undue profit.” I agree that the rules need to formatted in a way that they can be “written down” and they need to be applied consistently. Doing otherwise is creating uncertainty for landowners, developers, and neighbourhoods.

  • Chris Keam

    Bobbie:

    Agree that there’s issues and a problem at the present, but I’m always worried about barriers to trade… a revelation that might come as a shock to those who just assume I’m a raving socialist because I use a bicycle on occasion. I won’t profess to have answers, but I’ll put forth this hypothetical situation as an example of unintended consequences. What if a village somewhere in a developing nation pooled their money and bought a revenue property in North America to generate cash they could use to build infrastructure and provide education for their own people.

    IMO, trade barriers are an all or nothing proposition. You either ban the import and export of capital entirely, or open the doors. Anything in between is picking winner and losers through market interventions. Gov’ts should stay out of the marketplace wherever possible.

  • Chris Keam

    ‘for their own people’ should have been followed by a question mark.

  • Jason

    If you’re trying to build communities, trying to keep real estate affordable enough for the teachers, police officers, etc that live in your community then you look at policies that achieve this. Someone wishing to live here should be welcomed with open arms…but individuals artificially driving up the cost of property through speculation from abound, should be limited. Our cities revenues are driven largely by property taxes…I think we should significantly increase property taxes on those who never reside in our city, and are therefore in no way contributing to our community.

    Unfortunately our cities reliance on property taxes means they will likely only pay lip service to trying to keep property affordable for the average citizen.

    And Chris, real estate is not limiting “trade” in anyway. Many cities and countries around the world make it difficult for foreigners to own real estate for the exact reasons I state above. We are going into a civic election, and many of the people who work in this city everyday (including most of our police force) will not get to vote because the can’t afford to live here. We need to decide what we want our city to look like…because I personally don’t think a Porsche or a Bently on every block is a good cultural mix.

  • Jason

    And that was abroad, not abound…damn iPhone!

  • IanS

    I agree with Chris Keam @56, more or less.

    And, for those anxious to keep the darn foreigners from owning property in Vancouver, I ask that you give me warning before you take that step, so I can set up my company to take funds in from outside the country and hold properties in trust for the non-Canadians. All for a modest fee, of course.

  • Chris Keam

    When money and resources change hand Jason, that’s trade. The nature of the resource is irrelevant. Democracies have no business discriminating against individuals on the basis of birthplace.

  • Bobbie Bees

    Chris and Ian, no one is saying that foreigners can’t own property, just become a citizen landed or permanent,that’s all. Pretty simpe actually.

  • Bobbie Bees

    @Chris 61, the only problem i have with what you’ve said is how many of Russia’s bilionaires came by their riches by far less than honourable means. Quite a few of Russia’s nouveau riche got there by less than honourable means. Throw into that the desire not to actually live where the property was purchased but a desire to park and/or hide their money and you quickly get what we have here, real estate that has gone through the roof even though wages and incomes have actualy gone down over the last 30 years. Not exactly a very positive outcome, is it?

  • Sean Bickerton

    What Michael Geller’s insightful comments point out is that one of the largest forces making Vancouver housing unaffordable are the CAC and DLC policies in place at city hall itself.

    Vancouver’s system is highly unusual, even prior to the additional cash-grabs outlined above.

    It has produced the spectacular city we see around us – much of the money to pay for all of the daycares, seawalls, parks, libraries, community centres, theatres, social housing and landscaping has resulted from this process.

    But it drives up the cost of land and makes it much harder to provide affordable housing.

  • Chris Keam

    Bobbie:

    I have no problem with placing indivdiual investors under intense scrutinyto ascertain the provenance of their wealth, but I don’t think we should rule out foreign investments as a category.

    In fact, I’d go you one step further and ban investments in Canada by anyone whose money can be connected to companies that use prison labour such as in China or the U.S, and I presume Russia. (though I don’t know for sure the current practices of the country, but base that assumption on history and supposition). These steps would open up opportunities for ethical investing by Canadians and others who have a modicum of ethics.

  • brilliant

    Kumbaya Chris Keam,Kumbaya.

    As a Canadian,British Columbian and Vancouverite, I see no reason to supply rich citizens of Mainland China with houses here.

    Check out this weekends Globe real estate “Done Deals” section. 2545 W 13th. Last sold in 1995 for $508k – sold this month for $2.06 million. Realtor’s quote: “strictly a land sale,and as expected, offshore Asian purchasers were the only interested parties bidding on this product”.

  • Bobbie Bees

    @Chris 65, i like your last point about checking on the ethics of the investor. Human trafficking is a substantial source of income along with drug trafficking for a lot of these organized crime syndicates.

  • Bobbie Bees

    Sean, i’d by Michael’s arguement, but there isn’t a huge difference indevelopment costs between Vancouver and the surrounding municipalities. If there was then we should have seen a mass exodus to the burbs.

  • Chris Keam

    “As a Canadian,British Columbian and Vancouverite, I see no reason to supply rich citizens of Mainland China with houses here.”

    As a homeowner, you’re free to accept whichever deal/buyer suits your fancy. To my knowledge there’s no law that says you have to take the highest offer.

  • brilliant

    So Chris, how do you reconcile your bike riding green ways with driving working people farther away from jobs in favour of those buying up housing here as an investment or summer home? Add the very real fact those offshore fortunes have most likely been created by destroying the environment in their home country.

  • Chris Keam

    Well brilliant, it’s almost as if the world is a complicated place with no easy answers isn’t it? Where was the computer you used to post your comment made? How does it feel to be complicit in creating the offshore wealth you find abhorrent?

  • rf

    Bobbie…..I know you think it’s simple…but it’s not.
    So let’s say your little rule get’s put in place. Residents only.

    So you are ok then if the US turns around and says, sorry, Canadians can’t own property in florida, arizona or california….or point roberts?

    I’m all for a higher property tax rate on non-residents…..but making such a black and white declaration is far from rational and I don’t believe you have considered the possible consequences.

  • Chris Keam

    “So let’s say your little rule get’s put in place. Residents only.”

    Somewhat exceptional circumstances, but worth noting that Banff has had a need-to-reside policy in place for some years.

    http://www.banff.ca/locals-residents/housing/need-to-reside.htm

  • Jason

    “When money and resources change hand Jason, that’s trade. The nature of the resource is irrelevant. Democracies have no business discriminating against individuals on the basis of birthplace.”

    Thanks for the business lesson Chris. However, democracies all over the world put limits, restrictions, levies, taxes, you name it, on foreign entities buying or selling goods and services. In fact, it’s the norm, not the exception.

    I encourage you to go and try and buy property in Mainland China….you may be surprised that the utopian, “discrimination” (poor choice of words) free vision you’re describing is not followed there….or most anywhere else.

  • brilliant

    CK – that’s a deflection on your part. How can someone supposedly as green as you support tonnes of material going to landfill, just to build a much larger mini-mansion which frequently houses fewer people and often on a part time basis? And now we have an overpriced house sitting on an already overpriced lot. Housing should not be treated as an investment vehicle for foreigners. They can buy shares in Canadian companies if they want to invest here.

    Look at this forum and ask yourself how many of those “residents” are interested in Vancouver’s civic issues.

  • Michael Geller

    Bobbie Bees, now I don’t want to sound negative, but the developers are generally fleeing Vancouver for the surrounding burbs. Just look at Burnaby and Coquitlam and Langley and Richmond….there’s far more development activity happening out there compared to Vancouver.

    The reason is not just the DCC’s and CAC’s. They do have them too. But they are generally much less, and the process is much more certain; there’s more suitably zoned land (or it’s easier to rezone) and the product is therefore much more affordable. (Although I’m the first to admit, it’s still damn expensive.)

    At some point we are going to have to decide if it’s fair to burden new homebuyers with all of these additional costs, especially when those of us who bought even five years ago seem to be getting a winfall when we sell.

  • Chris Keam

    Jason:

    I understand it’s as you say. I’m not suggesting other countries are any better, esp. Mainland China. I guess Canadians have to choose which path they are most comfortable with and move forward. It seems to me we might end up sacrificing principle for expediency and that’s often a slippery slope.

    Brilliant:

    Nowhere have I indicated any support for McMansions. I just have trouble supporting barriers based upon country of origin. And I make no claim to be particularly greener than the next person. Take me off the pedestal please. You’ve created a persona in your mind that’s not an accurate reflection of the real person.

  • Bill Smolick

    Last year the NPA nominated a few candidates, including the amazing Mr. Jesse Johl.

    That guy’s name doesn’t appear anywhere on the candidate list today.

    WTF? Why isn’t anyone asking what happened here?

  • Frances Bula

    @Bill. He was dropped by the NPA earlier this year because he wasn’t showing up to anything. That was reported on my blog and others.

  • Bill Smolick

    Ah ha. Thanks Frances. Apparently he was as useless as I suspected from the Federal election.