O'Neill and O'Neill: What's in a name?

Terry O'Neill

Shari O'Neill

Now that the election brochures have been distributed and the lawn signs have been planted, questions are arising once more about the two O'Neills -- yours truly, running for Coquitlam council, and Shari O'Neill, who is running for School District 43 board.
The short answer to the ubiquitous question is: we are not married; we are not even related.
The long answer is: we are not married; we are not even related. Hope that makes everything perfectly clear.
Meantime, I'm wishing Shari all the best in the election!

There's no place like home

Barring any last-minute applications for a recount (and candidates have until November 28 to ask for a judicial recount), the results of last Saturday's election are now official. The actual moment of record was at 4 p.m. today when Lauren Hewson (pictured), the City's Chief Electoral Officer, stood in the centre of council chambers and declared the results official. The event was witnessed by four people: Richard Stewart, Linda Reimer, defeated school board candidate Humera Ahsanullah, and me.
Hewson also released the poll-by-poll results of the election. You can examine them in detail yourself by clicking here and scrolling to the bottom of the page. My scanning of them has turned up the following tidbits:
*I received votes on 42% of the 17,961 ballots that were cast.
*My strongest poll was Eagle Ridge Elementary (very close to where I live), where I received votes on 58% of the ballots. My 287 votes put me behind only two other candidates, Selina Robinson (308) and Ms. Reimer (288).
*The poll in which I finished highest was, not surprisingly, at another school that is very close to where I live, Bramblewood Elementary. My 389 votes (51%) placed me second, behind only Ms. Reimer (417).
*I also did quite well at the Walton Elementary poll--also located fairly close to my home, and in the midst of an area where I did a lot of door-knocking. My 344 left me with the third highest total, and gave me the support of 49% of the voters there.
*My sorriest showing was at the Banting Middle School polling station, where my 186 votes meant that only 32% of voters chose me, and the total left me in 11th place. My placing in this strongly NDP/Left/Labour riding isn't all that surprising, but the figures are still rather sobering.

'Hear, hear!" for the campaign

Great news for my campaign this morning, as the Vancouver Sun's Peter Birnie quotes, in his column today, my entire final response to the Alliance for Arts and Culture's recent questions to candidates.
Better yet, he seems so pleased with my answer that he concludes by writing, "Hear, hear!"
The article is on page D4 of today's paper.
Here's the link to all Coquitlam candidates' answers.
And here's the full text of that final paragraph that Mr. Birnie so admires:

G.K. Chesterton wrote, "There is no such thing on earth as an
uninteresting subject; the only thing that can exist is an uninterested person." With this in mind, I see the "cultural" sector of our community as one that has the ability to turn an uninterested person into an interested one. This is vital, because an interested person is a better citizen and, ultimately, a better person. To stimulate someone with an engaging work, to open their eyes, to touch their heart--these are essential to human growth. It matters not whether we cry at a play, laugh during a circus, are outraged by an piece of performance art, or experience joy at a music concert; the important thing is that we have been moved--moved emotionally and, perhaps, intellectually. That's education. That's growth. That's being alive. A City Councillor can help direct a few dollars here and there to assist this, of course. But a Councillor's more important role is found in his or her ability to act as a community leader. Councillors can help open doors, facilitate planning, offer moral support, and set an example by attending performances.

Photo of the Evergreen Cultural Centre, from cultureandcommunities.ca

The CUPE issue moves front and centre

Hot on the heels of Jon Ferry's column in today's Province, which is about, in part, the financial and organizational support that CUPE gave to Neal Nicholson in last year's by-election, comes this blockbuster, pictured.
The graphic is of an ad that appeared on page 31 of today's Tri-City News (ironically, right below one of CUPE-endorsed Selina Robinson's ads).
For the record, I had nothing to do with the conception, purchase or placement of the ad. I had heard rumours that Coquitlam businessman William Dick, who is identified as the purchaser of the ad, was contemplating such an action, as he has attended several all-candidates meetings and has been vocal about his opposition to the undue influence of CUPE.
I was pleased to see that Mr. Dick, who two months ago donated to my campaign, had explained the controversy so well and, further, that he had gone so far as to endorse a group of independent candidates, including me, for council.
As readers of this blog and my Facebook page know, I have been writing about this subject for several weeks now in the hopes that the public would take notice. With today's publication of Mr. Ferry's column (which I blogged about earlier) and Mr. Dick's ad, it seems my efforts are finally bearing some fruit.

Two weeks to go

This is the second time I've run for a seat on Coquitlam city council, the first coming a year-and-a-half ago, when I contested a by-election. The campaigns are similar in many respects--funds have to be raised; signage designed; invaluable volunteers organized (thanks to everyone who's helping!); paperwork completed; ads designed and placed; pamphlets written, printed and circulated. Et cetera.
The big difference is in the number of organizations that want to know your platform or want to know your position on a specific issue. So far, I've responded to detailed questions from the Now, the News and the Vancouver Sun. I've also filled out questionnaires from the arts community, and am in the process of answering a very detailed one from Greater Vancouver homebuilders.
There are a few others I've completed, as well. But I've let the politically charged "Living Wage" query slip by. And, oh yes, I travelled downtown a few weeks ago to tape a two-minute presentation for Shaw TV. It and hundreds of others were airing yesterday.
And then there are the all-candidates meetings. I recall participating in four during the by-election campaign. This time, there are a seven, count 'em, seven for council candidates. Yesterday's, sponsored by the Civic Association of Iranian-Canadians (pictured, courtesy of the association), was the third. We have the final four over the next seven days.
All in all, it's quite the schedule, and makes me evermore appreciative of the higher-level politicians who campaign for months or, in the case of the U.S. presidential race, years on their way to elected office.
And one final thought: It's hard not to come to the conclusion that there's really no excuse for citizens to say they aren't voting because they don't know anything about the candidates. There's more information out there than ever before, in print and especially online.

Unions and the political process

Writing in the Financial section of today's National Post, Neils Veldhuis and Amela Karabegovic say, "It is high time the government forced [labour unions] to open their books" to reveal how much they spend on political campaigns.
The writers, who are economists with the Fraser Institute, argue that it is unfortunate that, in the Ontario provincial election, "unionized workers footing the bill through forced union dues will be left in the dark about the millions of dollars unions spend on political attack ads and donations to advocacy groups and political parties."
It's a big issue, and one which also captured headlines in today's Vancouver Sun, which reports that the federal Conservatives are accusing the NDP of an illegal cash grab totalling at least $85,000 at the party's June convention in Vancouver. Allegedly, six union spent at least that much, and possibly as much as $160,000, to promote themselves at the convention.
But while there may be fog enshrouding Big Labour's financial backing of candidates and parties at the federal and provincial levels, there's no obscuring unions' influence in civic politics here in B.C.
In Coquitlam, for example, readily available financial-disclosure documents spell out exactly who has received how much and from whom. In the case of the by-election in which I ran a year-and-a-half ago, one candidate--the winning one, Neal Nicholson--received the majority of his funds from Big Labour, specifically the Canadian Union of Public Employees. COPE, the BCGEU, the Firefighters, the local Labour Council, and even the Canadian Labour Congress also pitched in. You can see all the details for yourself by clicking here.
My disclosure statement shows donations from private companies doing business in Coquitlam, family members, friends and neighbours.
One should not think that there's something fundamentally wrong about receiving funds from unions or corporations. It's all part of the political process. Ultimately, it's up to voters to educate themselves on such matters; by doing so, they can certainly better understand where candidates' sympathies might rest.