Three Vancouver School Board trustees quit NPA after ‘months of controversy’
Posted April 23, 2021 1:21 pm.
Last Updated April 23, 2021 4:06 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Three Vancouver school board trustees have quit the Non-Partisan Association, following the lead of three city councillors who left over what they called a “backroom deal” and “old boys club.”
Trustees Carmen Cho, Oliver Hanson, and Fraser Ballantyne announced they will sit as independents effective immediately “following months of controversy surrounding the NPA Board.”
“As independents, we remain committed to the students, families and communities of Vancouver, and to working to ensure a safe, inclusive and engaging school environment that supports student learning and well-being,” a statement from the trustees reads.
“We are proud to serve the residents of Vancouver, and we will continue to work faithfully and diligently with our fellow trustees to advance the work of the Board in the cause of public education.”
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On Wednesday, city councillors Colleen Hardwick, Lisa Dominato, and Sarah Kirby-Yung quit the party, saying they were unhappy with the way John Coupar was nominated to be the party’s Vancouver mayoral candidate for the 2022 civic election.
“NPA supporters and Vancouverites deserve better, which is why the three of us are stepping away from the NPA to sit as a group of independents,” Hardwick said Wednesday. “Instead of a fair and democratic process to select the best mayoral candidate, the NPA Board and John Coupar sidelined the elected members of the NPA.”
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.”
However, in a statement from the NPA following the councillors’ departures, the association said a majority of candidates have been appointed the way Coupar has in the past.
The next civic election is a year and a half away.
