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Two weeks prior to the Nov. 19
election McRae, founder of the online magazine, wrote a front page
article highlighting who the local riding community was endorsing
for mayor and council. All three of the mayoralty candidates the
magazine endorsed were elected along with four of the six endorsed
councillors
"Basically I was submitted a
list of names by politically-active mountain bikers," McRae
told The North Shore Outlook. "One of the things that
influenced us was councillors who had supported initiatives like
the North Shore Mountain Bike Festival and Conference - that's how
Darrell Mussatto and Pam Goldsmith-Jones got our support."
McRae said the mountain bike
community was also influenced by councillors' votes on items like
the Alpine Strategic Plan and their participation in discussions
on banning the sport in specific areas, often initiated by veteran
Coun. Ernie Crist.
The only two councillors endorsed by
the NSMB magazine that weren't elected were Roger Bassam and Bruce
Crowe, who were both added to the trail-friendly slate three days
prior to the vote.
McRae didn't have specific numbers as to what percentage of the
local vote mountain bikers represent, but he noted NSMB-endorsed
candidates in areas such as Upper Lynn and Seymour, where bikers
are known to live, did very well.
"I'm hoping that we have a
climate of cooperation between council and the mountain biking
community," McRae said. "And I have every reason to
believe that will be the case based on the council that's been
elected.
Another group pleased with the
municipal results is West Vancouver's Citizens' For Good
Government. All of candidates the group endorsed were elected to
West Vancouver council Nov. 19, but director Gene Quan says the
results shouldn't come as a surprise.
"We're not an exclusive
group," he said. "We are the voters. If you understand
our process it shouldn't be too unusual.
Quan insists the group, made up of
more than 550 West Vancouver citizens, is non-partisan and
scrupulously avoids getting involved with single-issue candidates.
Candidates are interviewed privately in a calm atmosphere and then
voted on by the society.
"People who chose to join the
society are interested in the community," he said.
"They're generally people who vote. Some are civic-political
junkies.
Perhaps the biggest surprise among
the organized political slates was the defeat of CUPE-endorsed
candidate Barbara Sharp for the North Vancouver City mayor seat.
"We were very disappointed that
Barb was not re-elected," said Cindy McQueen, president of
the largest North Vancouver union. "It was disappointing and
disturbing to the majority of our membership that did endorse her,
and the attacks on her leadership were unfounded.
Of the 13 candidates CUPE 389
endorsed, six were elected
Although she didn't have specific
numbers, McQueen said the number of candidates elected didn't vary
much from the previous civic election.
"We gained
an additional candidate on school and council, but we lost the
mayors," she said. "CUPE will work with both the mayor
and council in the City and District and build bridges necessary
to protect the services that drive the very foundation of
communities.
Over the past 25
years the number of Iranian voters has steadily increased on the
North Shore, where the majority of the 55,000 Iranian residents
who live across the Lower Mainland reside.
But a political scientist from Sari, Iran says there's still no
unified endorsement among the Iranian community when it comes to
civic elections.
"I guess it
will take a while before the Iranian community has a unified voice
and can gain proper influence within the social, economical and
political system," said Behshad Hastibakhsh. "It takes a
while before people come and learn about the democratic
institutions in Canada and before they learn how the system is run
properly to lobby and sort of influence the system."
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