Is the Canadian Union of Public Employees snubbing Vision Vancouver? That's the question some are asking after the union's British Columbia division invited Coalition of Progressive Electors Councillor David Cadman to speak at at their forty-third annual convention rather than a Vision representative. But, in an interview with your humble organ, union communications representative Daniel Gawthrop explained, "Obviously, we weren't going to ask the mayor" to deliver welcoming remarks from the City of Vancouver. "We don't agree with a lot of the stuff he's been doing. So it's a good old case of union seniority. Cadman's been (on city council) the longest. And there's only one person from the city we can invite. It wasn't a case of choosing one (party) over another. We didn't mean to piss anyone off." Mr. Gawthrop then added Councillor Cadman's credentials as a past member of the Vancouver Municipal Regional Union - the precursor of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 15 - also makes him an ideal speaker for the convention, which gets underway this evening.
A lack of Vision?
April 26, 2006
"So it's a good old case of union seniority. Cadman's been (on city council) the longest."
Not totally accurate, as Vision councillors Raymond Louie and Tim Stevenson have been on council for as long as Cadman, although I guess you could count Cadman's '99 mayoral campaign as additional "seniority". Anyway, I'd probably pick him as a speaker over Stevenson or Louie anyway.
Obscurantist, ... is this where you're making your presence felt in a post-babble, end of audra universe?
David Cadman is another of the anti-freeway, anti-commuter rail people in Vancouver and Burnaby who feel that outer suburbs exist to be either ignored completely or systematically suppressed and exploited. They're going to loose this one in the end because the rest of Canada is relying on BC to complete Gateway, including Port Mann and Hwy 1. But that doesn't mean that people like Cadman, and others like Chudnovsky and Shane Simpson, won't make a political mess of the left in the interim. They could well cost Carole James the next provincial election.
Why CUPE needs to hear from Cadman, I really don't know. Perhaps Cadman has been OKay on Vancouver City public sector labour issues and that's enough for them. But public sector workers need to think too of the interests of the wider public they serve, and in that regard, it's time for labour and other people on the left to get off the blinkers and start getting in touch with public opinion as opposed to politically correct opinion.
Seems to me that if CUPE wants someone to speak to them, they ask and the person would either accept or not. Is it such a difficlt thing to understand. I recall years ago, a Catholic Bishop being guest speaker at a Fed. Convention. Lots of members would statistically not be Roman Catholic He got a standing ovation and numerous requests for copies of his speech. Maybe the same will happen with Council member Cadman. Lets face it folks Cadman is an elected official endorsed by a lot of folks in Vancouver, like him or not.