Between Robertson and Ladner, only Ladner was sitting on city council at the time. As the Van Muni election is largely characterized by the mayoral race, Ladner deservedly gets the heat for being an active participant in the fiasco. Furthermore, he has frequently supported the lack of transparency and advocated continuing secrecy behind city deals. His contention is that voters should "trust the council." I contend that the council should have nothing to hide and that everything should be disclosed. He claims disclosure affect negotiating power, which may be true, but I believe this to be a red herring.
In many ways, I like Peter Ladner and policies he supports. But I suspicious of how he is a scion of the old money Vancouver society. BC has a strong tradition of nepotism and I am wary of entrenched political circles. His long time position on council deepens my resentment given many of the mismanagements we have seen from them in the past: lack of action on DT east, garbage strikes, cost over runs on basically everything, rising taxes.
I am deeply angered by his stonewalling on transparency which I consider to be one of the greatest threats to a well ordered society. I strongly feel that full transparency, with independent verification and oversight, is required in all public actions as history always shows that the system will always be abused.
Ladner's encouragment of secrecy only deepens my doubts about council's independence and I am sure despotic rule shall continue.
I am voting Robertson for a hope of changing the status quo. Unfortunately, I find he is still inexperienced in politics and publicism. However, I approve of him standing up for the rights of the maligned and he has proven to be a successful business manager with Happy Planet and I hope his operational success rubs off on municipal efficiency.
