Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05VANCOUVER1502
2005-11-29 00:40:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Vancouver
Cable title:  

CENTRIST SULLIVAN WINS MAYORAL RACE IN VANCOUVER

Tags:  PGOV CA 
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UNCLAS VANCOUVER 001502 

SIPDIS

WHA/CAN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV CA
SUBJECT: CENTRIST SULLIVAN WINS MAYORAL RACE IN VANCOUVER

UNCLAS VANCOUVER 001502

SIPDIS

WHA/CAN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV CA
SUBJECT: CENTRIST SULLIVAN WINS MAYORAL RACE IN VANCOUVER


1. (U) Begin Summary: Sam Sullivan of the Non Partisan
Association defeated Jim Green of Vision Vancouver by a margin
of less than four thousand votes in the city's mayoral elections
on Nov. 19. The race, part of British-Columbia-wide municipal
elections, saw the return of the centrist NPA to dominance
city-wide, capturing the council, schools and park board. End
Summary.


2. (U) The NPA, the city's ruling party for 70 years, had been
shut out of office from 2002-2005 by the left-leaning Committee
for Progressive Electors (COPE). It returned to power on the
coattails of Sullivan, longtime city councilman who fought for
the rights of the disabled and favored fiscal austerity
(Sullivan was left quadrapalegic after a skiing accident at age
19). COPE had also been hurt by internal divisions that lead to
a split and the creation of Vision Vancouver, the party of
outgoing Mayor Larry Campbell and Jim Green, his protigi.
Green, an American who fled to Canada to avoid the draft during
the Vietnam War, developed a reputation for being strongly
pro-union and made his mark as a poverty activist in the city's
Downtown Eastside.


3. (U) Not surprisingly, voting patterns fell heavily along
economic lines, with two out of three voters without a high
school diploma and a majority of households with incomes under
$20,000 casting a ballot for Green. Those who supported the
far-left New Democratic Party (NDP) also voted heavily for
Green. In contrast, Sullivan's support reached into the upper
middle class and more broadly across the political spectrum,
with a majority of Conservative (79%) and Liberal (62%) voters
preferring the NPA. Nevertheless, voters cited the personality
of the candidate as their top election issue, according to exit
polls.


4. (U) The presence of another candidate named James Green (as
opposed to Jim Green) on the ballot (who finished third with
over 4,000 votes) and the confusion that resulted appear to have
swung the vote in Sullivan's favor. However, others argue that
the city's large Chinese community may have held the key to
Sullivan's success given his fluency in Cantonese. Exit polling
suggested that roughly 14,000 out of 19,000 Chinese voters opted
for Sullivan. Though many are not registered, residents of
Chinese descent comprise about 1/3 of the city's population.
LUKENS