A Very Dark Time for Democracy in Vancouver

This is a dark time for democracy.

A very dark time.

A very dark time for democracy in general and a very dark time for Vancouver’s municipal democracy in particular.

For the first time ever, the Vancouver Police Union has decided to interfere in Vancouver’s municipal election by endorsing a specific party and candidates.

A state or government has many branches, only two of which carry weapons – the military and the police. For many good reasons, we would expect neither of these branches to interfere in elections. As a matter of public trust, police officers and police organizations are expected to hold themselves to high ethical standards — similar to standards that regulate the judiciary.

This political endorsement by the Vancouver Police Union is unprecedented and unacceptable.

Under the BC Police Act, the Vancouver Police Board  already has a budgetary appeal process. If they disagree with the budget amount established for them by our democratically elected City Council, they may appeal to the BC Director of Police Services, a non-elected bureaucrat in Victoria. This bureaucrat’s decision is binding.

The Police Board used this appeal process in 2021, resulting in a decision that reversed City Council’s vote to freeze the Vancouver Police Department’s 2022 budget and added $5.7 million to their funding. The City now spends over $1 million per day on policing, accounting for 21% of the City’s overall budget.

If the Vancouver Public Library feels that City Council is not providing enough financial resources, it has no such right of appeal. Ditto for every other City Hall department.

As long-time subscribers to my blog will know, former Vancouver City Councillor Harry Rankin is a mentor of mine. Throughout his time on City Council, his right-wing adversary was the Non-Partisan Association’s George Puil. They rarely agreed on any issue. However, when it came to the need for City Council to control the VPD’s budget, they saw eye to eye.

The Vancouver Police Board has demonstrated that it does not respect the right of our democratically elected City Council to manage the City’s expenses. The Vancouver Police Union has demonstrated that it does not respect the integrity and independence of our democratic process.

When hundreds of armed men and women try to tell us how to vote, they are taking one very dark and dangerous step towards an armed state.

 

 

Daily atmospheric CO₂ [Courtesy of CO2.Earth]

Latest daily total (Oct 6, 2022): 415.20ppm

One year ago (Oct 6, 2021): 413.82ppm