XPost: bc.politics, van.general   
   From: Panca@nyet.ca   
      
   You don't have to read between lines to recognize that the NPA Party is very   
   anti-union.   
   Those who work for unions and LIKE working under union protection had better be   
   out to vote next Saturday.   
   _________________________________________   
   November 7, 2014 | National Post   
      
      
   Vancouver election turns bitter as mayor sues rival for defamation   
      
      
   Leaked results from a new public opinion poll show the once-commanding lead by   
   Mayor Gregor Robertson, left, has dwindled to just four percentage points over   
   rival Kirk LaPointe.   
      
   VANCOUVER — With just a week left in this city’s municipal election   
   campaign,   
   Mayor Gregor Robertson has decided to sue his main opponent,   
   journalist-turned-politician Kirk LaPointe, accusing him of defamation.   
      
   What had been a lacklustre mayoral race just became interesting, seemingly   
   overnight. The lawsuit coincides with reports of a shift in public opinion and   
   suggests that Mr. LaPointe, all but written off at his low-key campaign launch,   
   threatens to upset a two-term mayor who has never lacked any confidence. Until   
   now, perhaps.   
      
   A notice of civil claim filed Thursday in B.C. Supreme Court accuses Mr.   
   LaPointe and his municipal slate, the Non-Partisan Association (NPA), of   
   painting Mr. Robertson and a co-plaintiff, Vancouver city councillor Geoff   
   Meggs, as “corrupt,” “unethical,” and “given to dishonest   
   practices.”   
      
   The allegations refer to certain NPA campaign advertisements, and to comments   
   Mr. LaPointe made last month at a press conference and in an opinion column he   
   wrote for the Vancouver Province newspaper.   
      
   (The Vancouver Province, the Vancouver Sun and the National Post are all owned   
   by the same company, Postmedia Network Canada Corp. Mr. LaPointe has worked as   
   an editor for both the Vancouver Sun and the National Post, when they had   
   different owners.)   
      
   His party, the NPA, is making hay over a leaked audio recording made when   
   councillor Meggs and other party candidates met with local members of the   
   Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).  Mr. Meggs was asking for their   
   campaign support.  At one point in the meeting, he assured CUPE members that   
   Mayor Robertson would not contract out more city services to non-unionized   
   workers.  Mr. Meggs and Mayor Robertson share the same left-leaning municipal   
   slate, Vision Vancouver.   
      
   “We know that without your contribution, the city would function very poorly,   
   if at all,” Mr. Meggs told them.   
      
   At the same meeting, CUPE members directed their chapter to make a $34,000   
   campaign contribution to Vision Vancouver. That’s about one-tenth of the   
   total   
   campaign contributions that Mayor Robertson’s party has received from labour   
   groups this year, according to its records.   
      
   Speaking later to reporters, Mr. LaPointe characterized Mr. Meggs’   
   interaction   
   with the union as “a horrible act and I believe that our community   
   understands   
   that it was buying votes,” according to the lawsuit filed Thursday. It notes   
   that in his op-ed column, Mr. LaPointe wrote that “the brazen commitment   
   raises   
   questions of ethical conduct that require investigation by authorities.”   
      
   In advertisements it placed in local media this week, the NPA said that “In   
   turn for cutting a secret deal with CUPE to stop outsourcing, the union cut a   
   cheque to support Gregor Robertson’s party. That’s not a payday but a   
   pay-off   
   that puts Vision Vancouver’s interests ahead of the taxpayer.”   
      
   Mr. Robertson and Mr. Meggs claim that these and other, similar comments amount   
   to false allegations of corruption, and that as a result, the two politicians   
   have “been greatly injured in their character, credit and political   
   reputation   
   and have suffered damage.” The suit filed Thursday asks for a court   
   injunction   
   that would prevent Mr. LaPointe from continuing to make such allegations.   
      
   No coincidence, perhaps, that Thursday also brought reports about a new public   
   opinion poll, conducted on behalf of Vision Vancouver. Apparently, the leaked   
   results show the mayor’s once-commanding lead has dwindled to just four   
   percentage points.   
      
   The ground really began to shift about two weeks ago, Mr. LaPointe told   
   reporters at a press conference Friday morning. That’s when NPA campaign   
   volunteers working the hustings noticed that something had changed, that voters   
   were expressing doubts about Mr. Robertson and his leadership.   
      
   The mayor does seem rattled, unsure where to step; he practically disowned Mr.   
   Meggs at a mayoral debate late last month.  He certainly hasn’t experienced   
   such hard-hitting attacks in campaigns past.   
      
   When the race began, Mr. LaPointe promised he would not resort to mudslinging   
   and gutter politics. He’s been professional, if curt, although any pretense   
   of   
   kindness has been dropped.   
      
   Mr. LaPointe made no apologies for that Friday, telling reporters that   
   “Vision   
   Vancouver plays a nasty, vindictive game,” and has “fabricated from whole   
   cloth   
   attacks on me.” He said Vision has alleged he’s “a homophobe” who   
   would “hurt   
   the needy”  and “cut police services,” all of which, he added, is false.   
      
   He said he would not retract his comments about Vision’s “two bit deal”   
   with   
   union members, because he “did not defame the mayor. The mayor’s deal   
   defamed   
   Vancouver … The bullying stops now,” declared Mr. LaPointe. “I will not   
   back down.”   
      
   Neither will Mr. Robertson, nor Mr. Meggs. This is now a very bitter fight.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)