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Mayor Sam Sullivan lost an ally last week in his ongoing public relations assault on how good the 2010 Winter Games will be for Vancouverites.
On June 25, Conservative Vancouver-Kingsway MP David Emerson was officially given the post of foreign affairs minister by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Emerson had been the minister responsible for the 2010 Olympics, a position that made him a target of protesters.
Sullivan was present at many of the events crashed by protesters, but it was a protest outside the mayor's city hall office in March 2006 that really got him dishing out some Olympic-sized comments about what a "very capable and competent man" Emerson was.
The protesters were up in arms over Emerson's defection from the Liberals to the Conservatives and they said Sullivan supported the floor-crossing.
"I don't think it's really wise for our own citizens to be undercutting him now," Sullivan told the Courier at the time.
Sullivan said his comments, made earlier to television reporters about whether he supported Emerson's defection, had been taken out of context.
"The reality is he is a minister for Vancouver that the prime minister is listening to," Sullivan said. "It's obviously legal and there's nothing against the law, what he's done. It's been done by other people without the protests you're seeing now."
Added Sullivan: "The fact that he could change parties, I think it really speaks to the fact that he really isn't a partisan type of person. He's focused on getting the job done."
NPA Coun. Elizabeth Ball, believed to be the only councillor who lives in Vancouver-Kingsway, told the Courier at the time that municipal politicians should "stay out of federal politics as much as possible."
With Sullivan ousted recently as the NPA's leader, could he himself be contemplating a switch to federal politics? He lives in Yaletown, which is in the Vancouver-Centre riding--a riding that's lacking a Conservative candidate for the next election. Sullivan versus Liberal Hedy Fry?
Talk about an Olympic-sized matchup.
MASCOT'S GOTCHA
Quatchi invades city hall?
The 2010 Winter Games mascot managed to get by security and into the city's website to shamelessly advertise himself for sale.
So have the hairy guy's cohorts, Miga and Sumi.
Viewers of the city's website can now click on the heading "Game Plan 2008" which links directly to the Vancouver 2010 website. Everything about the Games you wanted to know, including how to score a 13.5-inch plush Quatchi for $30, is there to satisfy the Olympic addict.
Collectible key chains, playing cards, pins, foam coasters and hockey pucks are also available from the online Olympic store. But to the chagrin of all those Mayor Sam Sullivan supporters, there are no cuddly, furry facsimiles of His Worship.
Maybe that's because Sullivan's term ends this fall.
Thank NPA Coun. Peter Ladner for that.
Ladner's narrow victory over Sullivan in the NPA mayoral race now gives Ladner a chance of becoming mayor during the 2010 Games. And if anything can be read into Ladner's chances over Vision Vancouver mayoral candidate Gregor Robertson, it's this: Ladner's birthday is Feb. 12, the first day of the Games.
Ladner will turn 61 on that day, and Quatchi will celebrate his three-and-a-half years of hanging out in kids' bedrooms, having his name mispronounced and explaining to the Looney Tunes' Tasmanian Devil that he didn't rip off his look.
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