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One way to be an opposition politician — come up with ideas that the majority party thinks are swell

April 16th, 2013 · 25 Comments

Hmm, this is the second time I’ve seen this where Councillor George Affleck pitches an idea that the Vision council decides to adopt with no quibbling.

(Other one was New Year’s Eve celebrations)

It’s kind of a novel approach to political activisim — think up new things to do that fit with the governing party’s general ethos (parties, beer) and then get out in front of staff or anyone else to propose it.

Anyway, enough digressing. Here’s George’s motion for next week:

NPA Councillor Seeks Support for Craft Breweries

For Immediate Release
April 16th, 2013

A motion put forward by NPA Councillor George Affleck, on the regulatory changes needed to permit micro-breweries and distilleries on industrial land to sample products produced on-site, is expected to be unanimously passed at next Tuesday’s Council meeting.

“Current City of Vancouver regulations do not allow for brewery and distillery operations to offer customers samples and purchasing options. I’m asking staff to come back to Council with recommendations on how we can change that” says Affleck.

“This motion is intended to bring the City of Vancouver up to date with Provincial policy directives, and is aimed at giving local breweries and distilleries a greater chance to thrive while adding to the vibrancy of the city’s robust food scene.”

“I’ve already received a great deal of support from the Mayor’s office since submitting the motion and am confident it will receive unanimous support at the Council table.”

Councillor Affleck’s motion will be debated at the April 23rd, 2013 City Council meeting.

Categories: Uncategorized

  • boohoo

    I wish at the very least once you were in power you stopped identifying yourself as a party monkey and rather simply as a Councillor.

  • Glissando Remmy

    Thought Of The Night

    “Simple tactic. Affleck is treating Vision like a smart wife would treat her bossy, arrogant, pain in the ass husband. Period.”

    LOL, cut the man some slack. He’s smart enough to know that with this Vision gang, you have to serve them with exactly what they want to hear and more so they need to think it’s their own idea, so… good job, Georgie boy!

    It’s all in the argument, I believe, or the abuse…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQFKtI6gn9Y

    We live in Vancouver and this keeps us busy.

  • Threadkiller

    You know, I could swear that that there was another NPA councillor elected to Council in the most recent election… Elizabeth somebody… oh, right; Elizabeth (Mannequin) Ball. Performing just about as well as predicted. Having had some encounters with Ms. Ball, I can well imagine how alone poor George must feel.

  • George Affleck

    Hi Frances,

    You should connect with me sometime about my motions before reporting on them and promoting and trusting Vision Vancouver. Would really appreciate it. (IE – no truth or evidence that Vision was working on a new year’s eve idea btw)

    Just so you have the facts, the industry had approached Vision and staff several times and were very frustrated. I met with a rep last week (full account of that here http://eastsidebeer.blogspot.ca/2013/04/beer-lounge-possibilities-in-vancouver.html) . I thought it was a good idea and so in my role as a Councillor thought I should bring it to the table publicly so there is some public input on changing zoning policy in Vancouver.

    I ran the motion by and worked with staff on it and at no time did they say this was a priority for them or that the Mayor was working with them on it.

    Oddly, before my motion had been made public or even distributed officially to Councillors, the Mayor and Clr. Deal started tweeting and reaching out to the media.

    What worries me most about this is that it appears Vision Vancouver is seeing things before other Councillors and the public and then hijacking and spinning them like they did with my seawall motion and new year’s eve.

    There are a lot of great ideas out there and I have publicly given Clr Deal and Clr. Meggs props for leading many of them. This childish game of taking credit where credit is NOT due is a sad statement on politics in this city.

    But don’t worry — I have lots of great ideas that are meant to make Vancouver great and that Vision can continue to try and co-opt. #getyourownideas

    Sincerely and honestly —

    George Affleck — NPA Councillor

    PS — If anybody in Vancouver has other great ideas like Paddy (@vaneastbeerblog) brought to me on this one, please get hold of me at city hall. I will get back to you. After all, that is my job.

  • waltyss

    Threadkiller. You are very observant. But I bet she picks up her paycheque.
    Did you notice that the city, after voting for the Vision gang, then simply went alphabetically for two NPA types. That appears to be how Affleck and Ball got elected. At least Affleck tries; Ball, not so much.

  • George Affleck

    Hi Waltyss

    If that is true then why didn’t Aquino and Alm win in 2011 – not even close? Perhaps it was my endorsement from Ben Affleck and a famous duck that put me over the top : )

    George

  • waltyss

    Councillor, I think that there was a decision to have NPA councillors but not COPE. Otherwise, how to explain why some NPA candidates who had a higher profile than you did poorly.
    Maybe you are right and it was the association with the duck.

  • Agustin

    Well done all around. Good policy idea, good collaboration. Nice to see!

  • babalu1

    That’s the Afflack duck on those commercials. Not Afleck. Be you didn’t know it is Glissy doing those voice-overs for it!

  • Terry M

    Walrus & babelus
    Please… What’s the plural for douche bag?

  • Frank Ducote

    This blog has become such a delightful thing to read. Thanks to all who continue to find ever new levels of negativity and ad hominem insults to hurl at other posters as well as politicians and other public officials whom you don’t like.

    Keep it up I say! Then pretty soon there’ll be only a handful of you to offer such a sorry spectacle of a public forum for the rest of the diminishing public to shake their heads at.

    BTW, Thank you Councillor Affleck for daring to express yourself here. Your willingness to do so and the perhaps too-subtle humour are both appreciated.

  • Silly Season

    What @Frank Ducote #10 said, on all points.

  • F.H.Leghorn

    Let me just say, on behalf of the ABRI community (Amphibian, Bird, Reptile and Insect), that we congratulate Councillor Affleck for his strong commitment to our issues, for instance his motion calling for free bird-seed dispensers in all bike-lanes and needle-exchage sites. We’ll flock together with George.
    Until somebody posts a picture of him leaving a KFC. Then all bets are off.

  • gman

    My gawd FB you make it sound as though GA came up with a perfectly acceptable idea but you infer that somehow he stole it from Vision and jumped the gun on them.Wow that’s pretty weak
    So I guess when they finally agree on something,that we all should be happy about,you try and make it sound like it was Visions idea anyway.

  • Peter Ladner

    Dare I say that a different interpretation of this (other than getting out in front of VV’s parade) is that the NPA is also capable of recognizing changes that voters want!

  • Ned

    gman #13,
    I guess, Glissy penned it wonderfully at #2
    “He’s smart enough to know that with this Vision gang, you have to serve them with exactly what they want to hear and more so they need to think it’s their own idea, so… good job, Georgie boy!”
    True, too! 🙂

  • teririch

    I applaud Councillor Affleck’s intitiative on this matter.

    It is about time that Vancouver played catch up in certain areas, this just being one. The craft brew business is big and growing.

    Something I noticed during one of my recent trips to Spokane, some of the local brew pubs have a (round) seating table that has a draw spout in the middle. The customers at this table purchase a token or key of sorts that allows them to pour their own beer while seated. The max is typically two per person. Kind of nice for larger groups – these tables seat 6-10 persons.

  • teririch

    @gman #13:

    The Vision gang were tweeting out that Heather Deal had been working on this for months…..

    Yet, it was Cllr. Affleck that took the meetings from those involved on the craft brew side of things in order to get this rolling.

  • babalu1

    The late Jim Green had been pushing for sensible cabaret and local bistro by- laws for years. Like those neighborhood bistros you now see on Main Street in Mount Pleasant and other places. We change with the times, no big deal. But hey, George, you got the ball on the one yard line and carried it in.
    Super!!!

  • Frances Bula

    @George. Not sure what your complaint is. I didn’t talk to Vision or anyone about this motion. Didn’t think about phoning you, as I assumed you said what you had to say in your news release. I wasn’t doing a news story, but a quick post. Your news release didn’t include any of the points you just made. If it had, I would have posted those too.

  • Silly Season

    Well, I think that @George Affleck has done a helluva job on this—and yes, @Peter Ladner #15, I also agree that no one should be surprised that new ideas come from an NPA representative. Why wouldn’t they? Change has to come.

    As far as I know, there’s no copyright on ideas, right? (idealogies, perhaps, but not ideas themselves). Mr. Affleck has picked up the ball, and run it 100 yards down the sidelines for a touchdown.

    If the Mayor and Ms. Deal (and various of their fart-catchers) are trying to claim credit, well, nuthin’ new from that crew.

    As for Heather Deal having her eye on the ball–on anything— I recall her dropping it with a thud with regards to arts groups, the casino situation, etc.

    Talk is cheap. Affleck got it done. Looks like he’s growing into the job.

    Congrats, George! You now have a mega bullseye pinned to your back. I’m sure that soon we’ll hear all kind of whinging, whining nastiness from Jang et al about you, coming to a council chamber near you.

    Because that’s how they do business.

    Ah, the price of democracy…

  • brilliant

    @George Affleck-Kudos for the motion and for posting here. Sorry some regular posters don’t have the same class.

  • Bill McCreery

    Good work George.

    You have a rather formidable obstacle in that Vision Vancouver ignore the Council Chamber and announce things like the Art Gallery on the Thursday before the Tuesday Council meeting.

    And, at 11 PM last night they posted the complex and far reaching “Regional Context Statement” report, put over to a Public Hearing, which will no doubt be in June, with one public ‘information’ presentation, but not even one opportunity for public discussion, much less a proper public consultation process. A sham and a shame.

    Wouldn’t it be a good idea if someone were to put a bit of a spotlight on rather more important topics such as these above from time to time, which would perhaps shed some light into the rather murky waters of this present administration?

  • Bill McCreery

    The paragraph from above should read:

    “And, at 11 PM last night they posted the complex and far reaching “Regional Context Statement” report also going to Council next Tuesday to be put over to a Public Hearing, which will no doubt be in June, with one public ‘information’ presentation, but not even one opportunity for public discussion, much less a proper public consultation process. A sham and a shame.”

  • Susan

    G.A. obviously did nothing on the Seawall, didn’t discuss it with Park Board or even his NPA partners on park board who ended up voting against even looking into the idea. All G.A. did for the Seawall was hear about it then write a press release.