Thursday, October 1
7:00pm
York Theatre, 639 Commercial Drive

The coming municipal election is an especially important one for the city – but who says we need to default to the usual debates full of focus-group polished talking points, specially-selected attendees and choregraphed exchanges?

Part Price Is Right, part Survivor, and all in the service of local democracy, Last Candidate Standing turns the usual debate formula on its head! This is Vancouver’s only ALL candidates’ exchange – meaning everyone running for Mayor or Council is invited to participate.

The discussions and topics are randomized, the exchanges are fast-paced, and the results are revealing. And did we mention that the future of the city is at stake? If local politics is your jam, you won’t want to miss this. You can be guaranteed a lively evening of civic affairs, an diversity of opinions on the future of the city, and a chance to meet independent and party-affiliated candidates alike.

This is not your typical election event. So don’t miss out!

Tickets

Tickets are available through the Cultch/York Theatre website at a cost of $18.70 plus applicable service charges.

The VPSN is an all-volunteer organization. We receive no grants or funding support for our work, so the price of your ticket helps us to cover the not-insignificant expenses associated with organizing a large-format event like this. Thank you in advance for your part in helping to stage this important event!

Scholarship Tickets

We don’t want ticket costs to be a barrier to attendance. A limited number of pay-what-you-can scholarship tickets are available. To apply, please contact the VPSN team directly at vpsn.election.team [at] gmail.com.

Sponsors

Last Candidate Standing is produced by the Vancouver Public Space Network with generous support from The Tyee, Creative Mornings Vancouver, and the SFU City Program.

More information

vpsn.election.team [at] gmail.com

The organizers — Trina Isakson, Casey Leung and Tylor Sherman — did a good job of assembling a trio of discussants on the subject, each of whom touched upon key dimensions of public space, it’s use, regulations and impact on city life. The three – Gordon Price, Samantha Jo Simmonds and John Richardson – took turns making some initial remarks. After that, the organizers split us up into a series of small discussion groups.

First up was Gordon Price, former City Councillor and Director of SFU’s City Program – who started off by posing a two-part question: how do we shape public space, and how does it shape us? He then noted some of the great definitional challenges that come from understanding what is meant by “public space.” Price then zeroed in on the SeaWall – a public space that he feels defined Vancouver: “It’s our identity… it’s the postcard.” In an urban culture that “uses the city as a workout”, the Seawall has become our pre-eminent promenade… but one that, ironically, would probably never get built if it was proposed today.

Next came Samantha Jo Simmonds, the Creative Director at Public Dreams – the organization behind the fabulous ‘Illuminares Festival (among other things!). Simmonds moved the discussion towards public art, and in particular, the use of public space for active participation in art and culture-making activities. She noted a distinction between the type of experience that viewers of the Celebration of Light (fireworks festival) might have compared to those engaging in an event like Parade of Lost Souls — where the former is an example of a more passive consumption of art, versus the latter which requires participants to formally engage with the process. What then comes from this, she posed, if not a broader, richer sense of engagement with the community.

John Richardson, founder of Pivot Legal, wrapped up the introductory remarks by taking the discussion in yet another direction, zeroing in on the use of public space as a form of expression, or a “canvas.” Using the example of low income individuals panhandling, he noted how the use of public space has been legally entrenched as a forum for communicating social issues.

Richardson then talked about the stratification of uses of public space that come from competing economic classes… and how that leads to one element of spaces being contested (for example, the ‘conflict’ that might emerge between homeless people sleeping in parks versus people engaging in a recreational activity. Finally, he noted the increasing role of security firms as vehicles for controlling public space,” policing its use on behalf of private interests.

The three put an interesting set of ideas in circulation, and the ensuing small group discussions were lively and energized. There was lots to discuss and debate — everything from bike lanes to advertising in public space, to crime prevention design, to the notion of ownership, “turf” and more. Too much to get into here!

All of which made the dialogue space itself and pretty decent gathering place in its own right. We need more of these sorts of spaces for discussion. These sorts of events provide a helpful antidote to the all-too-often caustic exchanges you see onthe web.

Good work Change Through___ folks – I’m looking forward to more of these sessions!

For more on the Change Through ____ series, check out their MeetUp Page.