 'The NPA has not imploded,' says leader of party that continues to lose candidates | | |  | | | There are four political parties hoping to unseat Kennedy Stewart’s leadership in Vancouver next month, and this week three of them made campaign promises or kept the public’s focus on their core message.
And then there was the NPA.
“I’m going to say this and I’m going to say it very clearly: the NPA has not imploded,” said NPA mayoral candidate Fred Harding.
They’re not ideal words to say, especially when they’re the first words in response to the first question at the event unveiling him as the NPA’s new leader, a month after John Coupar abruptly ended his campaign. Then, two days later, the party lost another two of their candidates, as park board contenders Tricia Barker and Kumi Kimura announced they were leaving for TEAM Vancouver, a rival party started by another former NPA member, councillor Colleen Hardwick.
In the midst of all that, the party faced criticism due to Harding’s opposition of B.C.’s sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) curriculum in 2018.
One can debate whether this constitutes an implosion.
But it’s not exactly the press a party wants to receive six weeks away from an election. After all, of the 10 people elected under the NPA banner four years ago, eight have left the party and just one is seeking re-election.
That person is Melissa De Genova, and Metro Matters asked her on Friday what she says to those wondering about everyone leaving the NPA, and why they are a superior choice to ABC and TEAM for people upset with Kennedy Stewart’s agenda.
“Our city is no longer safe,” she wrote. “When I look at the other parties I do not see the bold leadership needed to turn our city around. That’s why I believe we at the NPA are doing the right thing by running boldly on our convictions around public safety.
“I have been the only council member to consistently vote in support of public safety. I believe in this team. Fred and the NPA team are fully united and the safety of everyone in Vancouver is our priority.”
It’s a forward-looking message.
But given everything that transpired in the last year, one wonders how safe the NPA’s own future is. | | | Better know a local election: Coquitlam | | | | | | | | | | |  | | | Four years ago, longtime Coquitlam mayor Richard Stewart ran for re-election saying it would be his final term, and faced Adel Gamar, the chair of Douglas College and a business management consultant.
Today, Stewart is running for re-election of Mayor of Coquitlam, saying it will be his final term, and Gamar is once again challenging him.
The deja vu nature of this year’s election is one of the reasons Coquitlam — the sixth-largest city in the province — has received relatively little attention, but Gamar is hoping enough has changed since 2018 so that voters give him a second look.
“Mr. Stewart has served his community for 21 years. A lot are grateful for that. But given the current challenges that we have, there’s … a desire for real change in leadership,” said Gamar.
He said if elected, Coquitlam would become a living-wage employer, focus more on affordable rental housing, and addressing affordability and equitability issues.
It could be an uphill battle.
“In contrast to some of our neighboring communities, we get along and we advance the public good with each one of our decisions,” said Stewart, who said he was running for another term because the pandemic delayed many of the initiatives he wanted to work on, including a “Mayors for Mental Health” group.
And while one can argue what “the public good” is, it’s undeniably true that Coquitlam meetings are efficient and that council is free of the controversy and attacks that dominate many other cities.
However, Gamar argues that’s not necessarily a good thing.
“Anytime there's consensus on every single decision, I believe that that does not necessarily mean it's a healthy, collaborative group. Rather, there might be an element of groupthink,” he said.
That being said, the same concerns were raised four years ago. Coquitlam residents then re-elected all six councillors seeking another term, and gave Stewart 69 per cent of the vote.
Gamar is betting the mood has changed. If he bets wrong, Coquitlam could have the most repetitive election campaign in the province this year. | | |  | | | 1. Vancouver | | | While there is still policy work happening (see: the city’s appeal of a Supreme Court ruling against their vacancy control bylaw), Vancouver and pretty much everywhere else is in full campaign mode now. Progress Vancouver made promises on bicycles and food trucks, ABC on drinking in parks, Vision Vancouver began outlining their platform, but the biggest kerfuffle was around the chances of the city implementing tolls around downtown — which, as we’ve mentioned before, seems to be quite unlikely for a variety of reasons.
Watch more | | |  | | | 2. Decision 2022 | We’re also at the point where it takes too long to name all the campaign announcements. But mayors in Nanaimo, Williams Lake, Parksville and Princeton announced their re-election bids, councillors in Surrey and Oliver announced they were running … in Penticton, and young councillors in Saanich and Victoria announced they were stepping aside. They join several older councillors in making that decision — including the two longest-serving ones in the province, Lois Jackson and Harold Steves.
Read more | | | |  | | | 3. Small town health care | But running a city doesn't just stop because a campaign is going on, and in smaller communities the realities of the current ambulance shortage and emergency room closures are causing plenty of issues — so many, in fact, that a number of mayors have teamed up to lobby the province on the issue, even threatening to withhold tax dollars if the issue isn’t resolved. Expect some fireworks at the upcoming Union of B.C. Municipalities convention, where they’ll all be in the same room with Health Minister Adrian Dix. Read more in CHEK News | | | | | |  | | | 4. Victoria | | | And just because campaigning has begun doesn’t mean marathon public hearings have come to a halt — Victoria council met until midnight on Thursday, and then for several more hours on Friday, as they discuss whether to enact land-use changes that would allow for the quicker redevelopment of single-family homes to multiplexes and townhomes. But a decision was put off for another week — that much closer to an election where any decision could be overturned.
Read more in CHEK News | | | Share this newsletter | | or subscribe if this was
forwarded to you. | | | | That's it for this week! In the meantime, check out the latest headlines at cbc.ca/bc and follow our municipal affairs reporter Justin McElroy on Twitter. And if you have any questions you might want answered in a future mailbag, drop Justin a line at metromatters@cbc.ca. | | | |
