Great. So if Adrian is the best of the lot, you propose that we get an NDP castoff?

Gregor underperformed in the Leg, and I don’t think there is any love lost between him and Dix.

Dix will run pretty much unchallenged, when they finally have Carol James walk the plank.

RAV = easy political points for Robertson? At least he tried to stand up to the provincial bullying. Ladner was on the Translink board and on council, but he accomplished nothing for his constituents and barely made a peep. Why? He either didn’t care, isn’t an astute enough politician to score the easy points, or he’s a Liberal lackey (or, all of the above).

Sure Robertson bumbles along occassionally and can seem a little idealistic at times, but compared to 3 or 4 months ago, he’s definitely showing himself to be a quick study and is becoming more confident with the media/public. If a newbie can hold his own vs. Ladner’s trumpeted wealth of experience, then what does that say about Ladner?

And am I the only one who thinks that Ladner is the better-looking of the two? He’s a total-super-cutie in person.

I do agree wholeheartedly with one point of Wow’s, however: Adrian Dix could run circles around any politician in BC. Here’s hoping we’ll see him in a leader’s debate sometime soon.

The 3800 units are right here – Francis posted it.

http://www.francesbula.com/?p=293

Ladner said yes to compensation…..then tried to spin not doing it.

COPE/Vision like everyone else, were presented with a fraud in the materials provided to the City by RAVCo when they gave their conditional approval. And by the way – those conditions have never been met)

The real tragedy is that a full review was not conducted when this deception was revealed. This project was rubber stamped and rammed through.
see my post above.

If government funded, and driven mega-projects willfully mislead the public ; provide false information to those who are charged with voting its approval to proceed ; factor in nothing to mitigate the impacts of this negligence;
then the project must not proceed.

I guess you’re not a fan of the BC Liberals either Cameron, if you think bribing people with their own taxes is a bad thing. What did you spend your $100 cheque on?
I hope it went to a struggling shop in Cambie Village.

What have either of these men shown in the way of leadership? Gregor’s so-called business chops are now the stuff of urban legend, but who leaves an enterprise at the peak of its success to run for public office, let alone in his early 40s? Ask Chip Wilson if he wants to run for office right now.

By all accounts from Victoria, Gregor was an embarrassment as an MLA. Shane and Adrian ran circles around him. The Canada Line was a gimme for him, but what did he accomplish except a few media scrums with Susan? Was he in the least bit diplomatic in how he approached the government on this file, or did he just apply his legendary “edge” approach and tick everyone off?

I’ve listened to Gregor enough to understand he is incapable of verbalizing an original thought. His improvised speeches are painful to listen to. At best he can string together a 4-second sound bite before a video editor needs to save him – see the video on votevision.ca as an example. Frances is being too generous by half for not pointing this out.

He is the proverbial straw man. Good-looking, mayoral in appearance, but in reality he’s an empty vessel. The NDP are slavering so badly for control of City Hall they are deliberately ignoring this thinking Raymond and Geoff can turn the knobs.

Sadly, like the experience of Sarah Palin stateside, Gregor’s telegenics will probably get him elected.

Ladner while having considerably more substance, will always be the guy who knifed the crippled guy in the back.

How did Vancouver get stuck with a choice like this?

Also, as anyone who has sat on a board knows, there’s usually a few people on any board who do squat and are totally ineffective. If Ladner is so experienced at negotiating and getting results, then why, under his term on Translink board, do we have the debacle we have now? His “results” are a 3-fold increase in homelessness, a loss of civic/public power in controlling Translink, and the province is now essentially running the city. Great negotiating, Peter!

About the only thing he seems to have done well is stab Sam in the back.

Robertson may not have all the answers, but he sure seems to be a quick study and is rapidly getting himself up to speed on the details of many issues. Plus he seems to genuinely want to do the right thing for the city. In person, Ladner doesn’t come across as a guy who cares about any issue very passionately — other than getting himself elected.

I was there as well and was pleasantly surprised at how well both Peter and Gregor handled themselves: i.e. a mostly respectful tone and addressing the questions head-on at least half the time. This was definitely helped out by the specificity of the questions thrown there way.

It’s hard not to see this contest as having some of the ingredients of the Obama/McCain race down south – obvious massive differences notwithstanding. That is to say that Ladner, like McCain, is somewhat pinned by his association and past support of a failed party leader (Bush/Sullivan).

Though I thought Peter commanded a good presence and was clear, specific, even thoughtful, you get the sense that he’s inevitably shackled to a ship that’s taking on a lot of water. Having voted with Sam and the other NPAers (I won’t say 95% of the time), may prove his undoing. This might not be fair in the light of how party politics works but there’s no doubt that if Peter gambles at projecting a message of independence and change it will be very tough sell me thinks.

With his so-called six years on council (which Frances, Garr and Quinn all know was filled with more than it’s share of naps), Ladner should be owning the debates. Instead, he’s on the defensive by a guy he describes as inexperienced.

did anyone else see how Pedro was allll over the map on Cambie street: he spent the first 2 minutes talking about why compensation was a bad idea, bad precendent, and then he went 180 and said he fought for it and there was still hope. what?? make up your mind.

Face it NPAers, you can’t stand that you’re getting smoked on the small business file by a guy who has got the centre-left locked up.

Did I mention that after 90 minutes, Ladner couldn’t give one – one! -reason why he would be different from Sam Sullivan.

Weak.