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CITY OF VANCOUVER ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT | |||
Date: |
November 17, 2004 | |||
Author: |
Marg Coulson | |||
Phone No.: |
604.871.6586 | |||
RTS No.: |
04393 | |||
CC File No.: |
1102 | |||
Meeting Date: |
November 30, 2004 | |||
TO: |
Vancouver City Council |
FROM: |
City Clerk |
SUBJECT: |
Vancouver Electoral Reform Commission Recommendations |
FOR CONSIDERATION:
A. THAT City Council request the Government of British Columbia to proceed expeditiously to review the requests adopted by Council as a result of consideration of this report and, if necessary, commence a consultation with the City of Vancouver and other municipalities in the province about desirable changes to local election law in British Columbia.
B. THAT City Council request the Government of British Columbia to amend the Vancouver Charter to permit, at City Council's choice, a system of proportional representation.
C. THAT City Council request the Government of British Columbia to amend the Vancouver Charter by repealing the sections extending the franchise to non-resident electors.
D. THAT the Chief Election Officer institute a voluntary system of candidate profile statements for the 2005 civic election.
E1. THAT the candidate profiles be distributed to households in the City at an approximate cost of $147,000, and that the necessary funds be added to City Clerk's Election Operating Budget commencing with the 2005 budget and recurring every third year;
OR
E2. THAT the candidate profiles be made available on the City's website and at community centres and libraries at an approximate cost of $36,000 and that the necessary funds be added to City Clerk's Election Operating Budget commencing with the 2005 budget and recurring every third year.
F. THAT City Council request the Government of British Columbia to amend the Vancouver Charter to require the provision of candidate profiles in local elections.
G. THAT City Council request the Government of British Columbia to amend the Vancouver Charter to require that, if a party goes into debt in the course of a campaign, every contribution to that party made until the debt is fully retired must be reported as a campaign contribution.
H. THAT City Council request the Government of British Columbia to consult with Vancouver and other interested municipalities to design a system of restrictions on campaign contributions for municipal elections.
I. THAT City Council request the Government of British Columbia to consult with Vancouver and other interested municipalities to design a system of restrictions on campaign spending during municipal elections.
J. THAT City Council request the Government of British Columbia and the Government of Canada to institute a program of tax credits for municipal campaign or political contributions.
K. THAT City Council request the Government of British Columbia to amend the Vancouver Charter to permit multiple versions of randomized ballots.
L. THAT City Council request the Government of British Columbia to amend the Vancouver Charter to make it clear that the Park Board may be elected at large whether or not Council is elected from wards.
CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The City Manager presents the foregoing for Council's CONSIDERATION.
COUNCIL POLICY
At the June 24, 2004 meeting of the Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets, Council passed the following resolutions in response to the June 8, 2004 report of the Vancouver Electoral Reform Commission (VERC):
"...THAT City Council ask the City Manager to report at the next meeting on the necessary steps, including a budget to improve voter outreach and access programs, to hold the referendum as proposed by the Berger Commission"; and
"...THAT the City Manager report by September on steps necessary to implement the remaining recommendations, including the legislative changes proposed by the Berger Commission to the Vancouver Charter."
Council was advised in a September 7, 2004 memo from the City Clerk on wards implementation costs, that due to workload related to conducting the October 16 plebiscite, the report back on the remaining Commission recommendations would be submitted later in the fall.
PURPOSE
This report will describe the steps necessary to implement the recommendations proposed by the VERC, excluding the recommendations related to holding a plebiscite and implementing a ward system.
BACKGROUND
With the passing of By-law 8914 on July 29, 2004, the first recommendation to be implemented from the VERC was Recommendation 23: "That Council pass a by-law to conduct a referendum on the adoption of a ward system for Council, and that this referendum be held on or about October 16, 2004." The plebiscite was held on October 16, 2004, with 54% of voters opting to retain the current at-large system.
Commission recommendations 1 through 11 will not be considered in this report, as they relate to implementation of a ward system:
Recommendation 1: That the at-large system of electing Vancouver City Councillors should be abolished, and Councillors should be elected from wards.
Recommendation 2: That the Park Board continue to be elected at large.
Recommendation 3: That Councillors in a ward system should not be required to live in their respective wards.
Recommendation 4: That Councillors swear an oath or solemn affirmation that they will "work together for goodwill and the common good."
Recommendation 5: Council should consider an increase in the staff support provided to Council. Staff should continue to provide strictly professional, and not political, assistance to Councillors.
Recommendation 6: There should be no public funding provided in the ward system for local ward offices or staff.
Recommendation 7: That the size of City Council be expanded to 14 Councillors from 10.
Recommendation 8: That for the purposes of Council elections, Vancouver should be divided into 14 wards, each electing a single Councillor.
Recommendation 9: That the boundaries for the wards be established according to the maps accompanying this Report.
Recommendation 10: That Council should establish an independent commission to review ward boundaries following each 10-year federal census.
Recommendation 11: That Council should not adopt a partial ward or mixed system in which some Councillors are elected at-large and some from wards and that GVRD and TransLink representatives continue to be selected in the current manner.
DISCUSSION
Most of the recommendations from the Commission that are unrelated to wards implementation require amendments to Part I (Electors and Elections) and Part II (Other Voting) of the Vancouver Charter. It is important to note that the election sections of the Vancouver Charter are parallel to Part 3 (Electors and Elections) and Part 4 (Other Voting) of the Local Government Act, which are applicable to voting in all other municipalities in the province.
It is most probable that the provincial government will wish to continue to have parallel election law in Vancouver and the rest of the province. In some instances, the Vancouver Charter and the Local Government Act could be amended to be permissive, i.e. a municipality could have options it may choose that are not universally mandatory. Regardless, changes to local election law will not be made without wide consultation in the province. Neither is it likely, or desirable for operational reasons, that significant changes be made to the legislation before the 2005 local elections. The following consideration is forwarded as an overarching action toward implementing the VERC recommendations requiring provincial government approval or involvement:
Consideration A: THAT City Council request the Government of British Columbia to proceed expeditiously to review the requests adopted by Council as a result of consideration of this report and, if necessary, commence a consultation with the City of Vancouver and other municipalities in the province about desirable changes to local election law in British Columbia.
Each of the remaining recommendations from the VERC report will be examined individually, laying out options for Council's consideration where appropriate. The consideration items that are approved by Council will form the initial scope of Consideration A above. Further administrative changes may be requested by Vancouver or other municipalities during the consultation process.
VERC Recommendation 12 (VERC report page 105): That Council seek amendment of the Vancouver Charter to permit elections to be conducted using systems of proportional representation.
Commissioner Berger, while not recommending alternative methods of election at this time, recommended that Council be given the authority to implement such a system in the future. While Council might request such amendments to the Vancouver Charter, it will lead to a question about which system Council is seeking to have the authority to implement, if it were to do so. It is unlikely that broad amendments would be made to allow the City to adopt any system of election that it might devise.
Consideration B: THAT City Council request the Government of British Columbia to amend the Vancouver Charter to permit, at City Council's choice, a system of proportional representation.
VERC Recommendation 13 (VERC report page 106): That Council seek repeal of non-resident elector provisions of the Vancouver Charter.
This is a policy question for Council. The Commissioner lays out the arguments in his report, pages 105 to 106.
Consideration C: THAT City Council request the Government of British Columbia to amend the Vancouver Charter by repealing the sections extending the franchise to non-resident electors.
VERC Recommendation 14 (VERC report page 111): That Council not resume door-to-door enumerations, but rather explore integration of municipal voters' lists with their federal and provincial counterparts.
Vancouver currently uses an excerpt from the provincial voters list to prepare the Vancouver voters list, so integration between the municipal and provincial levels is implicit. The Geographic and Voter Data Services for Elections B.C. reports that provincial excerpts are received from the national list of electors annually, including information updates voluntarily provided by electors through income tax returns. Elections B.C. indicates that significant resources are devoted to validating and updating the provincial list, and aligning it with the national list. Considerable work is being done by Elections B.C. in preparation for the 2005 Provincial election. This should improve greatly the quality of the list for the 2005 local election. The spirit of the Commission's Recommendation 14 has been accomplished.
VERC Recommendation 15 (VERC report page 112): That Council seek ways to improve the voter outreach and access programs used in the 2002 civic election and 2003 Olympics Referendum.
Implementation of this recommendation commenced with the improved voter outreach program conducted for the October 16, 2004 plebiscite. Council received a October 13, 2004 memorandum providing detailed activities involved in that outreach program. A core group of eight outreach staff, accompanied by many community volunteers, attended hundreds of locations in the weeks preceding the plebiscite disseminating information about the vote and encouraging voter participation. It is recommended that voter outreach be sustained at the level provided for the October 16 plebiscite and, to the degree possible within existing budget, improved and expanded upon.
VERC Recommendation 16 (VERC report page 116): That Council should enact a by-law under which candidate profile statements may be collected and distributed during elections, and that Council should petition the provincial government to amend the Charter to implement such a program on the New Zealand model, with such modifications as may be considered advisable.
Council has the ability to move forward on Recommendation 16 regarding candidate profile statements. As noted on page 115, footnote 149, in the VERC report, legislation is not necessary to institute the collection and dissemination of candidate profile information. A voluntary system of candidate profiles could be instituted, commencing with the 2005 civic election. Staff feel that it is unnecessary to enact a by-law for the voluntary program.
Depending upon how the profiles are distributed, there will be increased operating costs for implementation. Placing these profiles on the election website and distributing them to public places such as libraries and community centres would cost approximately $36,000. However, if they are to be distributed to households the cost would be approximately $147,000. The volume of information would make it impractical to include the profiles in a media advertising strategy.
Consideration D: THAT the Chief Election Officer institute a voluntary system of candidate profile statements for the 2005 civic election.
Consideration E1: THAT the candidate profiles be distributed to households in the City at an approximate cost of $147,000, and that the necessary funds be added to City Clerk's Election Operating Budget commencing with the 2005 budget and recurring every third year;
OR
Consideration E2: THAT the candidate profiles be made available on the City's website and at community centres and libraries at an approximate cost of $36,000 and that the necessary funds be added to City Clerk's Election Operating Budget commencing with the 2005 budget and recurring every third year.
To achieve authorizing the candidate profiles by statute or regulation as described in the second part of VERC Recommendation 16 requires amendments to the Vancouver Charter. The additional feature that such amendments would provide over the voluntary system that Council may already adopt is that it would be mandatory for the municipality to provide the candidate profiles.
Consideration F: THAT City Council request the Government of British Columbia to amend the Vancouver Charter to require the provision of candidate profiles in local elections.
VERC Recommendation 17 (VERC report page 119): That Council petition the provincial government to amend the Charter to require that, if a party goes into debt in the course of a campaign, every contribution to that party made until the debt is fully retired must be reported as a campaign contribution.
This is a policy question for Council. The Commissioner lays out the rationale in his report on page 119.
Consideration G: THAT City Council request the Government of British Columbia to amend the Vancouver Charter to require that, if a party goes into debt in the course of a campaign, every contribution to that party made until the debt is fully retired must be reported as a campaign contribution.
VERC Recommendation 18 (VERC report page 120): That Council approach the provincial government to consult with Vancouver and other interested municipalities to design a system of restrictions on campaign contributions for municipal elections.
This is a policy question for Council. The Commissioner lays out the rationale in his report on page 120.
Consideration H: THAT City Council request the Government of British Columbia to consult with Vancouver and other interested municipalities to design a system of restrictions on campaign contributions for municipal elections.
VERC Recommendation 19 (VERC report page 121): That Council approach the provincial government to consult with Vancouver and other interested municipalities to design a system of restrictions on campaign spending during municipal elections.
This is a policy question for Council. The Commissioner lays out the rationale in his report on pages 120 to 121.
Consideration I: THAT City Council request the Government of British Columbia to consult with Vancouver and other interested municipalities to design a system of restrictions on campaign spending during municipal elections.
VERC Recommendation 20 (VERC report page 122): That Council petition the provincial and/or federal governments to institute a program of tax credits for municipal campaign or political contributions.
This is a policy question for Council. The Commissioner lays out the rationale in his report on pages 121 to 122.
Consideration J: THAT City Council request the Government of British Columbia and the Government of Canada to institute a program of tax credits for municipal campaign or political contributions.
VERC Recommendation 21 (VERC report page 124): That Council petition the provincial government to amend the Vancouver Charter to permit randomized ballots.
In his recommendation, the Commissioner is not recommending just the randomization of the candidates on the ballot - that is already within Council authority. Council can enact a by-law allowing the order of the names on the ballot to be drawn by lot, rather than continue to order names alphabetically by surname.
The Commissioner is recommending that ballots be randomized, allowing multiple versions of randomized ballots to be used during an election. While staff are not opposed to randomizing the order of names on the ballot, multiple versions of the same ballot are not recommended. Employing multiple versions of the ballot will introduce significant risks to election processes during the production and counting of ballots.
Consideration K: THAT City Council request the Government of British Columbia to amend the Vancouver Charter to permit multiple versions of randomized ballots.
VERC Recommendation 22 (VERC report page 131): That Council petition the provincial government to amend the Charter to make it clear that the Park Board may be elected at large whether or not Council is elected from wards.
While the implementation of wards is not currently before Council, it is useful to have this issue clarified. The Commissioner lays out the rationale in his report on pages 130 to 131.
Consideration L: THAT City Council request the Government of British Columbia to amend the Vancouver Charter to make it clear that the Park Board may be elected at large whether or not Council is elected from wards.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
The financial implications of adopting considerations E1 or E2 above are the addition of either $147,000 or $36,000 to the City Clerk's Election Operating Budget, commencing with the 2005 budget and recurring every third year.
CONCLUSION
The Vancouver Commission on Electoral Reform engaged in an extensive public consultation resulting in 23 recommendations to Council on ways to improve civic democracy. Though some of the recommendations are moot as a result of plebiscite, it is important that the remaining recommendations of the Commission receive consideration as outlined in this report, and that the City continue to seek ways of improving local democracy.
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