On January 13, 2021, COPE Vancouver City Councillor Jean Swanson made it official that she will run for re-election to Council in the October 2022 civic election. This is not just good news for COPE. It is great news for the city as a whole.
Councillor Swanson has a very impressive history of activism and standing up for social justice going back to the late 1970s. In the early 1980s, when I was still in college, she accompanied and supported me whenever I spoke to Vancouver City Council as a whole or to one of its committees when I was promoting the creation of HandyDart.
In the 1970s, Jean was a very significant force within the then newly founded Downtown Eastside Residents Association – an organization that gave voice to the voiceless in one of Canada’s poorest neighbourhoods.
Among her many accomplishments was founding End Legislated Poverty. The name of this organization says it all – poverty does not happen by mistake. It is government legislation that either creates or eliminates poverty – how high the minimum wage is; what the benefit rate is for individuals on income assistance; what protection is afforded to tenants under the Residential Tenancy Act.
In 1979, Jean ran as a provincial NDP candidate in Vancouver Little Mountain, running against the very right-wing incumbent, Grace McCarthy. Although unsuccessful, she was able to raise the issue of poverty and other social justice issues to the provincial level.
She continued to seek public office, running as the COPE mayoral candidate in the 1988 Vancouver civic election against the incumbent mayor Gordon Campbell. Although she did not succeed, once again she did an outstanding job of raising issues that would not have received coverage otherwise.
In 2016, Jean received country-wide recognition for her work, becoming a Member of the Order of Canada, in recognition of her 40-year battle to end poverty and homelessness.
It was in 2018 that Jean was elected to Vancouver City Council, placing fourth in a field of 71 candidates. As a Vancouver City Councillor, she has significantly improved the lives of renters across the city. She has also not been hesitant to speak out on international issues such as supporting the farmers in India who organized nationwide demonstrations against proposed legislation that would have radically reduced their incomes. Fortunately, the farmers were victorious.
Jean Swanson has proven herself to be practical, ethical, creative, and in for the long haul. Let’s get Councillor Jean Swanson re-elected. Let’s also get some additional COPE candidates elected to City Council to make Jean even more powerful.
Daily atmospheric CO2 [Courtesy of CO2.Earth]
Latest daily total (Jan. 20, 2022): 417.46 ppm
One year ago (Jan. 20, 2021): 415.08 ppm
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Go Jean!! Was a pleasure to work with Jean when I moved from North Van to Vancouver fresh out oof Capilano College. Jean was incredibly warm and welcoming to this idealistic little snot nosed kid thanks fof all you do.