Shameless political advertising or serving in the job that he was elected to?
There was once a time where famed blogger and potential future NPA City Council candidate Mike Klassen thought that promoting the Olympics and Paralympics, and more specifically the free activities and events that populated the city during those periods, was a top priority:
“The Vision Vancouver Council seem to have had an aversion to promoting the Games since they were elected, so as to not upset part of their base who oppose the event.” – August 18, 2009
“Dwindling public dollars needn’t be the stumbling block for BC and Vancouver to sell itself to the world. Any savvy marketer knows there are a million opportunities to generate international buzz, and we only have to exploit them — NOW!” – August 18, 2009
“It wasn’t rocket science to understand that most of us can’t afford to attend Olympic events, but want to enjoy the party. How come bloggers are the ones making things happen?” – Jan 26, 2010
“Perhaps the best way that we get good value for our investment is to partake of the dozens of free events being staged during the Games. Think of the message we’d send to the world when thousands of us show up to celebrate in our own cities.” – February 23, 2010
“Then, almost as if the light went on, Canadians fell in love with hosting the Olympic & Paralympic Games. The change in mood was so sudden and so ebullient, that it came as a complete surprise to Games veterans. Even Jacques Rogge described Vancouver’s enthusiastic embrace as unprecedented.
Many theories exist now on why it worked so well, but there is no doubt in our minds that the key ingredient was the numerous free activities.” April 13, 2010
Klassen was also a supporter and web designer for Mayor Sam Sullivan around the time that the former Mayor appeared in the ad pictured above, designed to promote businesses who were facing disruption due to the Canada Line construction.
Yet from that point until the present, Klassen has had some political setbacks. First, Klassen witnessed his own brethren within the NPA turn on their former fearless leader, supporting an adversary who at the time claimed that “a lot of people have lost confidence in Sam” and that there was “concern within the party that Sam may have been taking money for one purpose and using it for another” with regards to fundraising.
And then of course came Vision Vancouver’s Gregor Robertson, whose emergence on the municipal political scene rankled Klassen to no end, turning him and his writing partner into the new Mayor’s “biggest critics.”
Along this bumpy political journey in recent years, Klassen has developed a condition where he often forgets what he once advocated for. Mike’s Mother’s Day post (linked to in the last paragraph) is a perfect example of this unfortunate syndrome.
