Three female Vancouver city councillors leave NPA, call it an ‘old boys club’

Three female #Vancouver city councillors will sit as independents after announcing they're leaving the NPA after, what they say, was a "backroom" deal to choose a mayoral candidate for an election that's 18 months away. "It was about as old-boys-club as it gets," says one coun. pic.twitter.com/ohVfjGr4Fu

— Sonia Aslam (@SoniaSAslam) April 21, 2021

The trio has written a strongly-worded open letter to the party membership, in which they say they have “lost confidence in the NPA’s ability to govern fairly and responsibly.”

“In the past, when the NPA has chosen to do appointments, it’s been a very robust process. Usually, there’s an application form that’s quite comprehensive: a criminal record check, a written statement to bring forward your qualifications to why you think you would be a good candidate, provision of references, work to sign up members, an interview, and an open process for people to indicate their interest and participate if they want to do that. None of that happened here,” Kirby-Yung added.

In a statement from the NPA, the association says a majority of candidates have been appointed the way Coupar has in the past.

“The NPA would like to remind our members and the public that each of the three departing councillors were appointed to their role as candidates for the NPA in the exact same manner as our current Mayoral candidate, Mr. John Coupar. Mr. Coupar had been thoroughly vetted for this appointment by the previous NPA board less than three years ago.”

We thank the departing City Councillors for their service. We also remind everyone that each of the three departing Councillors were appointed in the exact same manner as Mr. Coupar.

We look forward to fielding a slate filled with diverse voices who will represent Vancouver. pic.twitter.com/mweqKEZyTo

— NPA Vancouver (@NPAVancouver) April 22, 2021

Dominato adds the patten like they recently saw with Coupar, “seems to be cumulative.”

“We lost a caucus member, as counsellor Bly resigned over a year ago. And then subsequently, we’ve been responding to various concerns in the media, around the position of the NPA board on various issues. And we’ve been very clear that we support an inclusive and diverse city. However, it’s taken away and distracted from the work that we need to be doing.”

John Coupar was appointed as the NPA’s Mayoral Candidate earlier this month and spoke about the three councillors and their decision Wednesday afternoon.

He says we wished the councillors gave him “a little more time,” adding he thought their recent conversation when went.

“I was upset the last time when I didn’t get the nomination. And I stayed within the party and worked for the election of our team. And to me, we need to stick together. It’s a long game. I think we need to focus on defeating Kennedy Stewart in 2022. And that’s what I plan to do. I will attract a diverse group of candidates and look forward to the residents of Vancouver, making their choice at the next civic election,” he says.

Melissa DeGenova is the sole remaining NPA councillor.

“The reality is, little will change for me. As a caucus, sometimes we would vote together, sometimes not. I expect that to continue,” a statement from DeGenova reads.

George Affleck served two terms on city council with the NPA and says in the end voters will decide if the party made the right call.

“The NPA’s decision process is the NPA’s decision process. The election is when you get to be chosen democratically. I’m not saying I’m supporting it – that’s their process. They have to go to the electorate with that process in mind.”

The next civic election is a year and a half away.