Vancouver Magazine’s December cover story is its 10th Annual Power 50: Who Really Runs this City. Before turning to the feature to see who was selected, I wondered what the magazine’s definition of power would be. Because in the age of social media in particular, we’ve come to understand that informal influence often packs a punch as hefty as formal power.
Gary Stephen Ross, in his editor’s note, states the magazine’s thesis: “…Power can be construed as the ability to effect change — by political mechanism, financial might, or compelling example.” Really? My definition says “Power is the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behaviour of others or the course of events.” I like mine better. Makes for a more interesting list. Too bad they didn’t use it.
According to VanMag, Vancouver’s power elite are mostly men — no surprise there, with a ratio of 5 to 1. They’re mostly white, but this time just under 3 to 1. If you’re powerful and a minority in Vancouver, you’re most likely to be of Asian decent (7) or Aboriginal (3) — which will likely come as a surprise to them, and less likely to be Indo Canadian (1).
The most powerful person in the city is Gregor Robertson, so if you don’t ride a bike you could be hooped. Powerful, but coming in at #50, is Richard Peck, a criminal lawyer best known for his involvement in the Air India trial and the Bountiful polygamy file. And in between are the usual suspects: Jim Pattison, David Suzuki, Bob Rennie, Frank Guistra, Terry Hui.
Perhaps because he’s a client, but probably because he’s more influential than anyone else I know, the inclusion of Dr. Julio Montaner, President of the International AIDS Society, and closer to home, head of the BC Centre for excellence in HIV/AIDS, is apt at #20, and would certainly make my list.
Overall, elected politicians are most likely to be powerful with more than 20 percent on the list coming from municipal, provincial, First Nations or Federal politics, and if you add the chiefs of staff that made the list– the percentage rises even more.
When it comes to power, money talks, and guys in the private corporate sector (with the exception of one or two women) are almost as likely to be powerful as the elected officials — coming in at around 20 percent. Then there’s the big cheeses at crown corporations or universities — at just over 10 percent, matched by the littler cheeses heading up non-profits and ENGOs.
Not surprisingly, the arts are hardly represented and media, which today has no real power, has a single representative — Kevin Bent #47, Executive VP of Postmedia.
Who’s not on the list is just as interesting. Carole Taylor didn’t make the list — even though many politicians that made the list begged her to run for the leadership of the Liberal party to replace the current leader and Premier of BC, Gordon Campbell, #5 on the list.
Darren Entwistle didn’t make the list, even though he heads up Telus, arguably one of the largest employers in the province and a company that has some measure of power over, if not your life, your phone bill for sure.
Guess the unions aren’t powerful anymore because no one from that sector made the list — although the next time there’s a big strike, we might take a second, more sober view.
With the exception of Don Mattrick, President of Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft, the corporate sector is largely represented by companies in the construction and resource sectors — with the knowledge industries nowhere to be found. If they can’t effect change, not sure who can.
And pretty sure, no one on the list is active in social media.
It might just be time to look at power differently, separating formal and informal authority, power and influence. Who would you add to the list?