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Sam Sullivan was elected Mayor of Vancouver almost three years ago, replacing the outgoing, popular Larry Campbell. Those three years have been rocky, to say the least.
Sullivan is facing an insurgent challenge from inside his own party, in the form of Peter Ladner, who is a fellow councilor from Sullivan's ruling Non-Partisan Association (NPA).
The main factors behind this challenge are, Sullivan's growing closeness to the federal Conservative Party, his handling of the city workers strike in the summer that left garbage piling up and hundreds on the picket lines, his controversial drug policies that seem to encourage users sometimes, and his lack of movement on much that's worthwhile in the city.
Does Ladner have a chance to knock Sullivan out, and should he?
Ladner has been a member of the NPA for two terms now, and will likely run as an independent if he can't unseat Mayor Sullivan.
Critics of the challenge, and members of COPE and Vision Vancouver, say that Ladner has essentially the same record as Sullivan, and he does, outside of voting against the Mayor to open the old Woolworth's into a social housing development, when Sullivan was against it. Is Ladner being genuine in his challenge, or is it a power grab?
Sullivan will likely beat Ladner in a leadership campaign, but it may leave him a little more than dented to have one of his own party turn so viciously against him, and also to likely make a run as an independent, siphoning votes and possibly Nader-ing him out of City Hall.
Ladner also says that Sullivan is a risky candidate to put into an election with such high profile possible nominees from Vision Vancouver, such as Gregor Robertson, founder of Happy Planet Juice and Provincial NDP member, Raymond Louie, who is eyeing to be the first Mayor of Chinese descent, and Alan DeGenova, who is a longtime member of the city council and five-term Parks commissioner.
Sullivan may have his faults, but he certainly has better odds of defeating the Vision Vancouver dream team, and a possible COPE challenge, than Ladner does. Like him or not, Sullivan has developed a bit of an international persona with all the Olympic hoopla, accepting the torch from Torino in 2006, and has made progress with environmental policies like green cabs. His problems with Conservative Party backing and controversial drug policies, like his giving of money to a homeless man to go score, could come back and haunt him, but in my opinion, Sam Sullivan is the better choice for the NPA than Peter Ladner.
What about you, do you think Peter Ladner is right to challenge Sullivan for the NPA nomination? Will it help or hurt the NPA's chances in November with one of these two running as an independent against the party?
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