This is nothing but sour grapes from the "Gibson" clan. Gordon Gibson is bitterly disappointed he won't be able to secure a spot in the Senate for himself, boo hoo for you!!

"SURELY"

For people in this line of work, you'd think y'all could spell!

Wow!

So just who was it that phoned Mr. Mair and asked him to go hard for Mr. Sullivan anyhow?

"This is nothing but sour grapes from the "Gibson" clan"

Maybe sour grapes, but can you refute anything he has to say about Clark or Sullivan?

Didn't think so.

N:

I can. Just because soemone has excelled at middle management doesn't mean they will at the top job. Larry Campbell never sat on Council. He had some high profile jobs in the city, but so what? Did anyone know if he's make a good mayor? No. but people were willing to take a flyer on him because he was compelling and charismatic and had a vision for the city.

I think Sam Sullivan is a career councillor and I think if he wins the nomiantion he will lose to Jim Green. Every time somebody sticks a microphone in Jiom Green's face he is falling all over himself to say how he thinks Sam would be a tougher opponent. Does ANYBODY think he's telling the truth about that? Come on! Of course he isn't. That's his spin to try and push as much exisiting NPA vote to Sullivan as possible.

I mean that's politics 101 folks.

Well...Welcome to politics in the new age of "citizen journalist".

(No.. this isn't a swipe at Sean Holman, but of the creeps who anonymously "outed" Mrs.Gibson and their daughter and brought them into the discussion for no other reason apparently, than to try and discredit Mr.Gibson, and as such keep people from considering what it was that he had to say... Sean actually does a pretty good job of keeping things professional)

It's just amazing to me how these days, if somebody writes something, anything, anywhere... and the substance of the issues raised can't be addressed the FIRST line of attack is to bring somebody's family into it.

Oh wait.. first there's usually the rudimentary swipes about somebody's physical appearance...
Are they short, fat, bald, ugly, or blond? Well then... that's worthy of a few zingers as well...Then naturally there'll be the discussion about their family, and after that... well maybe it will be detailed account of their employment history...and if that's not good enough the jobs of their family members... but the fun doesn't stop there... Why heavens no... if that hasn't worked, there's always somebody's marital history, or medical history.

I can see it now... in a few years time, after every byline by any writer appears on the internet.. supplementary pages will pop up with detailed credit history reports, divorce papers, and tax returns. Not only that but such details will also be available about their children, or parents, or in-laws, with contact information. Oh.. but the fun won't have to stop there. Next it will be the times and dates and locations where their children attend schools.

In better and more rational times... the issue being raised of Mr.Gibson's wife's employment, or his daughters political affiliation, would be properly called "ad-hominem" and dismissed as irrelevant by reasoned people.

Seriously... what does Mr.Gibson's daughter... or his wife have to do with a single thing that he's written or even the substance of his current column?

Nothing.

Irrelevant.

Yeah - well why does Gordon Gibson bring Christy's family into it then? Is he suggesting that the only reason why people signed up to support Christy was because of her husband.

Christy is an excellent politician in her own right.

Gordon Gibson is a has-been, and he pretends to be a Liberal, while he is really a right-wing nut who is wedded to the Fraser Institute, an enemy of the Liberal Party of Canada.

mwww, are you serious,, any person who enters the public domain is free game.
thats the price,, ohh poor gibson family,,we must only say nice things o.k.

go back to your fantasy life..the perfect world.

nic

OK, now I understand. Mr. Gibson is to be disregarded because he's a Liberal...er because he's not a Liberal.

Actually, I would like to know exactly what Gordon Gibson has done that is so terrible, other than stating the obvious - always a risky venture in this country.

Why does Gordon Gibson go after Christy for being a "carpetbagger" when he ran for the federal Liberals in Vancouver South and North Vancouver, while not living there?

Pot calling the kettle black?

who out there gives ashit what gordon gibson has to say. his comments mean squat,, he,s nothing but a failed wannabee politician,,,

annoying would be an understatement,,,,

nic

Nic-
Yes, MWW was serious. A politician's family is NOT free game. If that were so, then who in their right mind would ever want to enter public life/become involved with a politician?

You are seriously off your rocker.

...so, with all of Vancouver's future at stake, the choice comes down to Door #1, behind which we have the federal Martinis on strings, and an obedient choir of new B-Boys' recruits providing voting muscle by the busload, vs. Door #2, which reveals federal Tories pulling strings and supporting voting vocals provided by a resurrected NPA old guard of indignant Waspy Westsiders.

We should be flattered that all these big important people think we're so important! What I'd really like to know is where do the rival NPA factions stand on the parking issues facing my street? What does Mr. Harper think about offering a choice of colours in those new garbage bins? Does Paul Martin have a position vis a vis the city's worm composting program? Will all those new NPA members support the fight to save Mount Pleasant pool? Would the backroom boys consider sponsoring an initiative to introduce easier-to-read property tax notices? And do the provincial Liberal backers approve of more bus bulges on Main as a good fit for Mr Falcon's highway expansion plans for Surrey?

Name - you have a good point.

But you should also remember that political activists are often interested in all levels of government. Nothing wrong with that. If people support Paul Martin or Stephen Harper or Jack Layton on the federal scene, and support someone they like on the civic scene, it doesn't mean that Paul Martin or Stephen Harper or Jack Layton are telling them what to do. It just means that they chose to get involved.

No one is being held at gunpoint to join a political cause. Everyone does so voluntarily.

of course, people signed up to support Christy was because of her husband., just to take a look the people running her campaign, should I list the names here?

nob - has it possibly occured to you that Christy and her husband share friends, and that Christy may actually be part of the reason for the fact that they, as a couple, have a lot of friends?

Wow!

What Name (@ 4:02pm) said.

And as far as namer's points go - I'm not sure I see any 'activists' who are specifically interested in local issues that actually matter to the average Vancouverite on that list - which is precisely Name's point, I believe.

.

What list are you referring to, RossK? And who gives you the right to determine what the average Vancouverite cares about in terms of local issues? I am an average Vancouverite, and I want a good mayor. Isn't that a pretty simple local issue? Christy Clark will make sure that Vancouver is really on the map. She's dynamic, intelligent and fun. Larry Campbell, but with a better attitude.

I really don't understand how all the Christy Clark promoters can be so blind to the fact that as a Port Moody resident she is unelectable as Mayor of Vancouver. Or as a councillor for that matter.

I wonder it this silly cheerleading isn't part of the plot to lure Christy forward into a race where she will be badly humiliated by Sam Sullivan. Punishment for her open disloyalty to Premier Gordon Campbell.

namer@hotmail.com: Christy & Mark have friends? Give your head a shake. What they have are the people looking for political brown envelop stacking with cash from FedLib !!

did gibson tell the opinion editor that he was actually an activist for Sam Sullivan when he submitted the piece? did he tell him that he was angling for the senate seat that larry got? why isn't the sam sullivan campaign paying for gibson's advertisement/drive-by shooting?

Where Christy has lived in the past is totally irrelevant to what type of a mayor she would be. I am more interested in her ideas about how to fix the property crime problem in Vancouver, something that Jim Green and COPE have totally ignored. The people who are critical of her for having lived in PM sound alot like a bunch of "good ol' boys" who are jealously guarding the local government of some back water county in Alabama. Vancouver is a sophisticated cosmopolitan cty that is the envy of the world. People are moving their families here every day. If Christy wants to move here and run for office, that is fine with me.

Surely Vancouver is mature enough to elect the very best person for the job, with the best ideas, even if they have previously lived a short car ride away.

Thanks for the inside scoop on CC, Namer: "...intelligent, dynamic & fun", huh? Well, that sure put all my questions to bed.

And I take it you're saying that SS has demonstrated deficits in these critical abilities, and thus won't be any help in resolving important civic issues like crime -- thanks for the reminder, Kate! This actually explains a lot. I mean, no wonder Police Chief Graham has been useless in tackling crime -- isn't he the very antithesis of "dynamic & fun"!?)

Namer, d'you expect that when CC puts us on the map, there will be room for my worm composter? Or the old Mount Pleasant pool?

I must admit to a few nagging doubts, though. Exactly how many signatures will it take to get Her Mayorship's ear on something like designer garbage cans, do you figure? I understand 14,000 letters weren't enough to even get a foot in the door when she was busy putting Vancouver's education system on the map with record budget cuts.

Name:

Record budget cuts? Strange that happened at the same time that enrollment dropped and education funding went up. Also, if my limited understanding of how governemt functions is correct, Clark didn't set the budget for her own ministry. I think the Finance minister does that.

Clark refused to meet with some folks? Good God! That's almost as bad as Larry Campbell telling anti-poverty protestors to "get a job". Campbell was the most colourful and confrontational Mayor in the history of the city and people loves him for it. He wasn't full of shit. Clark isn't full of shit either. She's strong and she speaks her mind. Great qualities in a man, but apparently many are still uncomfortable with them in a woman,

Everyone against Christy have no sense of humour.

They are all angry -- either angry right-wingers that can't stand to see a woman succeed, or angry left-wingers who don't really want to see anyone succeed.

Sounds like just the person we need for the job!

Name -- last time i checked the Mt Pleasant pool was still in the same place and the way the city is progressing with the new Mt Pleasant Community Center we may have two or three more civic elections before it opens - anyone want to guess how many millions $$$ this project is over budget and what more they will cut to make it viable.

Gee, golly, whiz! With Jerry, "Sense of Humour" and "Politics 101" marching for the CC campaign, all the citizens can just sleep deeply at night with unfurrowed brows, knowing that democracy is safe and all our troubles are gone (if indeed they ever existed at all).

Thanks for pointing out that there weren't actually any school funding cuts for Vancouver, Jerry. Silly me, it must have been a figment of the imagination of those silly NPA trustees and about 14,000 hysterical soccer moms with nothing better to do! And you're right, those 14,000 whiners should just go out and vote for CC and then go away and shut up. They're probably just a bunch of angry left/right wingers anyway, huh, Sense of Humour?... (Hey, isn't that exactly what CC told them?!) As for Mount Pleasant pool, worm composters and designer garbage cans, Politics 101, what would those dumb plebs know about what they want or what's good for them anyway?! They should just support CC (who does know what's good for them) and then get lost and quit whining!

Yup, shurely, it's the whole left/right wingin' hysterical, no-fun whining thing that's the whole problem here. If we could just collect their ballots and then shut them all up for good, we could get on with the whole fun, dynamic world class city thing, couldn't we?! What a bunch of losers!

colin metcalfe, sam's campaign manager, was the former prez of the young americans for freedom at the University of California. he did this as a student, even though he is a canadian citizen. It is a far right-wing campus republican organization. website - http://www.yaf.com/

maybe colin met gordon gibson through the far-right wing fraser institute. webswite http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/

wonder what the yaf members think of sullivan's support for harm reduction strategies

I wish everyone would stop complaining and simply accept the fact that Chrsityu Clark is going to get the nomination and she is going to be the next Mayor of Vancouver.

Mark Marissen meanwhile will get appointed to the Senate and then Christy will replace Gordon Campbell in a few years time as the Premier of BC and govern for two or three terms.

Then Christy will then move onto federal politics where she will then become Prime Minister of Canada. She will stay long enough so that wee Hamish, who will by then have graduated from university, can then follow in her parents' footsteps and take over running the country.

Just because these people have no vision beyond their own quest for power is no reason to criticise them. All the people with vision got drummed out of Canadian politics a long time ago.

Re: Education "budget cuts"

Funny how if you repeat a LIE (and I mean this, because this is a testable assertion) often enough, people will start to believe it...

Same thing for health care in this province: most people truly believe that less is being spent on it than before the BC Libs got into power.

Was it Marx who exhorted his followers to use this bit of psychological warfare? Because it sure seems to be working here, and it IS the Leftists doing it.