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But if you had spoken...
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Dear Republic:
Re: "Elected NDP officials oversee COPE's surrender,” issue 198.
Reed Eurchuk is entitled to his deluded opinions about COPE and municipal politics. What he isn’t entitled to is misinforming your readers.
Among the many incorrect assertions in his article are the following:
At the recent COPE meeting Margaret Mitchell spoke in favour of the agreement with Vision. Wrong.
David Chudnovsky argued for the agreement. Wrong.
George Heyman spoke for the agreement. Wrong.
None of the above spoke at the meeting.
Journalists actually check their facts before publishing stories in the media. Eurchuk, it appears, doesn’t have the energy to make a phone call or two.
Eurchuk says a group “organized a putsch” at the 2007 COPE annual general meeting. Wrong.
The members of COPE elected their executive. “Putsch” for Eurchuk seems to be a synonym for electing a leadership group he doesn’t agree with.
What Eurchuk doesn’t bother to tell your readers is that the COPE executive elected in 2007 was substantially the same group who were elected in 2006, and that in both cases they ran on the promise that they would pursue an agreement with progressive groups and individuals in our community to work together to defeat the NPA. And then the COPE members elected them. Twice. Some putsch.
Eurchuk also forgets to mention that at the September 14 meeting 400 COPE members voted more than 90% in favour of working with Vision and others to oust the NPA. And he carefully avoids telling your readers that this same agreement acknowledges there are important differences between COPE and Vision, that each is free to run an independent campaign which will inevitably include these differences, and that they commit to expressing these differences in a respectful way both before and after the election.
Eurchuk bemoans the fact that some people have been elected to serve the people of the city as NDP MPs or MLAs. Fair enough. Let him run for office against Jenny Kwan or Libby Davies and put his loony ideas forward and the people will choose.
He’s also upset, it seems, that workers get to elect union leaders, and that these union leaders express those workers’ views and interests regarding municipal politics. Eurchuk represents no one, is accountable to no one, but has no trouble expressing his silly opinions—to which he is certainly entitled. But if an elected representative of unionized workers expresses an opinion he becomes apoplectic.
The agreement between COPE and Vision is far from perfect. But it provides the best chance for the people of our city to get rid of the NPA. And it provides the best opportunity for COPE to give vital and progressive leadership as it has for more than 40 years. I urge your readers to support all of the COPE candidates in the coming municipal election—and to vote as well for Gregor Robertson for mayor and the rest of the Vision slate.
The COPE members who Eurchuk castigates in his article—Margaret Mitchell, Libby Davies, Jenny Kwan, David Chudnovsky, George Heyman, and Spencer Herbert—have a combined history of more than 150 years of loyal work and commitment to COPE and the people of Vancouver. If Reed Eurchuk thinks he has a better idea let him come to a COPE meeting and put it forward.
In the meantime, it would be a good idea if he checked his facts before publishing his articles.
—David Chudnovsky, Vancouver-Kensington MLA
Eurchuk responds: Did the people that Georgia Straight editor and writer Charlie Smith list as having spoke at the September meeting at St James Community Square actually speak there? Here is the quote from Smith, one of the best reporters in the city, posted on September 14, 2008 on Straight.com: "Those speaking in favour of the deal (with Vision) included Vancouver-Kensington NDP MLA David Chudnovsky, Vancouver East NDP MP Libby Davies, former NDP MP Margaret Mitchell, and BC Government and Service Employees' Union president George Heyman." Perhaps I should have checked the source, but Smith is (almost) always reliable. (I did note that the quote cited Heyman as president of BCGEU, and I changed it to ex-president). I cited my source front and centre in the quote. I did not claim to have attended the meeting. That Chudnovsky's letter does not mention the cited source, and implies that I drew the speakers list from a hat, is deceitful.
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