Lorne Mayencourt: Bad actor or comedian?

The image of MLA Lorne Mayencourt crouched at night and in the rain under a portable near Crab Park acting the part of a homeless man makes me laugh. He's so ill suited for the role. It's like Arnold Schwarzenegger acting the part of a brainy geneticist or Don Knotts playing the role of a macho, tight lipped Terminator.

For a couple of reasons Mayencourt has assumed the mantle as the BC Liberal's social welfare point man. One reason is his personal history fronting “Friends For Life,” a charity for people with AIDS. Also, he represents a constituency which has seen a huge expansion of homelessness and street life (drug dealing, sales of “found” items on the street, prostitution, and street socializing); an expansion, ironically, largely caused by his own Party's policies.

And what has this mighty social conscience sponsored in his term at the legislature? First, anti-bullying legislation, the Safe Streets Act, and a new Trespass Act. Each is a fear-based response to a symptom of social dislocation, and each gives more power to authorities (school districts, police, store owners, landlords) in managing the poor.

And now a word about the sponsors

But it's a mistake to imagine this law-and-order based social policy sprang from the mind of a mediocre comic player like Mayencourt. His proposals are part of a continent-wide move among large cities to control poor populations which have grown exponentially in tandem with rising economic polarisation over the last generation or so.

Locally, the real promoters of Mayencourt's proposals are among the most powerful interests in the city: the Vancouver Board of Trade, Tourism BC and the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association [DVBIA]. All three organizations' oversized clout is particularly strong in his West End riding.

These three groups share some of their leaders, members and goals in common through interlocking boards of directors and revolving chairs and presidencies. For example, according to DVBIA's 2002-2003 annual report, Stuart Swain of Cadillac Fairview property development firm was a past president of DVBIA. In 1998, Graeme Stamp of Cadillac Fairview was chair of Tourism Vancouver. For 2003-2004, Stamp is Senior Vice Chair of the Vancouver Board of Trade. Currently, Tourism BC is represented among DVBIA's directors by Ray Leblond. According to Tourism Vancouver's 2003 Sales, Marketing and Servicing Plan, Patrick Kelly, general manager of Fairmont Hotel in Vancouver was a past-chair of that group. Mr Kelly is currently listed as among the Board of Directors for Vancouver Board of Trade for 2003 – 2004. In an attempt to simulate a social movement, 30 business groups came together to create the “Safe Streets Coalition.” Kathi Thompson of Terasen Gas, and also past president of DVBIA, speaks for the group. One big, happy family.

Your municipal tax dollars at work: City-sanctioned DVBIA lobbies for right wing causes

DVBIA's authority derives from the Vancouver Charter, first passed by Vancouver City Council in 1990. The DVBIA's city-granted mandate forces some 8,000 businesses that own or lease property within its 90-block city-granted jurisdiction to pay DVBIA a $.32 levy per $1,000 of assessed value of its space. A smallish 1,000 square foot office tenant would pay less than $100 per year. A large business, the Bay, saw its bill more than double to $10,000 in 1999. For 2002-2003 fiscal year, DVBIA's total budget was $1,888,584, of which all but about $60,000 ($1,829,435) derived from this city sanctioned assessment levy. So you and me, through our city council, give an organization representing the interests of big business the right to collect a tax (a tax which is inevitably paid for by consumers who use those businesses). And how does DVBIA use that money?

DVBIA spends much of its time promoting a right wing political agenda. In particular, it promotes a law-and-order agenda which any US Republican would feel at home with. Its 2001 annual report brags that, “The association has studied and protested inadequacy of enforcement procedures whereby known criminals—often drug addicts—are released from custody after each apprehension, either on bail, probation, or after inconsequential sentences.”

These offenders “invariably steal again within hours of release,” claims the author. DVBIA has championed many right wing causes: stricter enforcement of our absurd drug laws, tougher sentences for petty criminals, and the RAV rapid transit line to the airport. This is a right-wing political lobby group masquerading as a neutral, public interest, city-beautiful organization.

Panhandling in the downtown shopping area has long been a concern for DVBIA. For example, their 2000-2001 Annual report states, “It is a fundamental role of DVBIA to be constructive partners in the evolution of public policy.” And to that end, “When court set-backs of anti-panhandling measures …prompted reconsideration of Vancouver's panhandling law, the DVBIA again got involved to ensure that the bylaw was not neutralized to the point of ineffectiveness.”

In the end, fears over court challenges did in fact emasculate the previous NPA council's proposed by-law. However, unbowed, DVBIA soldiered on. Their 2002-2003 Annual Report claimed to have “Partnered with the Robson Street Business Association, Tourism Vancouver and other groups to begin the process of advocating for a new BC Trespass Act, and an act to address aggressive panhandlers and squeegee people.” This advocacy appears a success.

The earliest mention I've found in the press about Mayencourt's latest proposed legislation came in March 2003 when the Courier's Mike Howell covered it. As mentioned above, DVBIA's obsession with panhandling predates this by a long while.

With the previous NPA-sponsored legislation watered down and lacking any bite, and with a new left-leaning COPE council elected in Vancouver who were not going to carry the torch, the downtown establishment have had their prayers answered when Lorne Mayencourt, mighty social conscience and urban camper, stepped up to the plate.

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