It's another big weekend for civic politics in Vancouver.
On Sunday, the opposition Vision Vancouver party will select its nominee for the mayoralty elections in November. It all adds up to a busy time for the three men vying to take on the governing Non-Partisan Association party's nominee Peter Ladner for the city's top job.
On Friday, one of the three Vision Vancouver candidates spent most of the day in his campaign headquarters, talking to staff, working his supporters and getting himself ready.
"I'm feeling great, it feels intense and close race, but Sunday's going to be fantastic, I think,'' said Gregor Robertson
A British Columbia New Democratic Party MLA and local businessman, Robertson is running against Raymond Louie and Al Degenova.
Louie is a two-term city councilor who is running on a promise to lower civic taxes, amongst other things.
Degenova is a veteran Vancouver Park Board commissioner, who quit the NPA following a dispute with Mayor Sam Sullivan, and hopes to capitalize on a consensus building approach to politics.
As the clock ticks down to voting day, Louie and Robertson are considered the favouritest to win, meaning that voters must chose between a party favourite and a person who many say is most likely able to beat the NPA at the polls.
"It's all about electability,'' said Alex Tsakumis, a Vancouver-based political analyst and political blogger for ctvbc.ca. "If they want the best chance to beat the NPA in the fall, they need to beat Gregor Robertson. But all bets are off."
Aside from the usual worries about political posturing, concerns being raised about the actual method of voting itself.
Vision Vancouver members will use a preferential balloting system that some say is too confusing and will result in too many ballots being thrown out, Tsakumis said,
But he isn't making any firm predictions.
"It's going to depend on who comes out to vote on Sunday and what goes through their mind in the voting booth. That will determine the outcome on Sunday," he said.
Still, Tsakumis, thinks Vancouver needs a change at city hall.
He says it needs a whole new culture of politics, needs to engage the people of Vancouver and ultimately take on the city's biggest challenges.
They are homelessness and public safety. Other challenges that loom ahead, he says, include the question of how to capitalize on opportunities that come with a green economy and a creative realm.
In an interview with CTV, Degenova says he has been looking forward to Sunday's vote.
"I'm about solutions, not goals and promises, we've heard that for way too long,' he said. He describes himself as a get on the job kind of guy. "I'm not caught up in the east versus west and left and right of politics. I'm a centrist person who brings things together. That's what I do."
For his part, Louie said he has received a lot of complaints about the balloting system
"I want to make it very clear that you can mark a for one person,'' said Louie, who is encouraging people to vote for a second person as well. "It's important that we do have more than a majority of people voting for the winner," he said
Louie said the feeling he gets from his volunteers and supporters gives him reason to be optimistic. " They're motivated and positive, everybody's got a smile on their face."
If he wins the nomination, Louie is vowing to lower taxes for homeowners and renters. With respect to the issue of contracting out, he says the city's labour force should be respected.
With a report by CTV British Columbia's Stephen Smart
