Vancouver School Board chair resigns from ABC citing integrity commissioner turmoil

The chair of the Vancouver School Board has resigned from the ruling ABC Vancouver party, and will now sit on the board as an independent member.

Trustee Victoria Jung took to social media Wednesday morning, announcing her decision, citing the “recent events questioning the office of the Vancouver Integrity Commissioner.”

Jung stated the ongoing turmoil has “given me pause to reflect on my core values.”

“The trust the people of Vancouver placed in me during the 2022 municipal election is not taken lightly. And while differences do indeed come and go for elected officials, the imperative to serve in the public interest — versus private interest — is one that is not negotiable,” she continued.

“And so at this juncture, I feel I need to make a change, and serve as an Independent School Trustee. What is not changing, is my commitment to the principals that brought me to the ballot.”

While she did not directly name Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim or other city councillors, Jung’s resignation from ABC comes just days after Integrity Commissioner Lisa Southern released two reports spotlighting the rocky relationship between Sim’s office and the Vancouver Park Board, which has led to integrity complaints from both sides.

Jung’s announcement also came a day after council voted to postpone a vote on the future of the integrity commissioner, after Sim said Coun. Pete Fry had “broken the expected confidentiality of the process” by emailing his colleagues to notify them of a complaint he was launching a day prior.

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Council voted last month to freeze the work of the Office of the Integrity Commissioner and launch an independent review, citing Southern’s annual report in which she said the scope of her office and its oversight over council are not always clear.

As that vote was made, Southern was in the midst of investigating two integrity complaints involving the mayor’s office and the park board — one from each side — including accusations of political interference and breach of trust.

Those reports were released Friday, ultimately dismissing the complaints, but highlighting the acrimonious relationship between the two sides as Sim and his ABC Vancouver-dominated council work to dissolve the Vancouver Park Board.

Jung explained that she considers her position as a trustee an “honour and a privilege” and will continue to honour the trust the people of Vancouver have placed in her.

Stewart Prest, a political science lecturer at the University of British Columbia, tells 1130 NewsRadio that Jung’s move strikes him as a “lack of organization” on ABC’s part.

“You could kind of describe it as the party stepping on a rake of their own creation,” said Prest.

He says it raises questions about just how united ABC is around this issue of the Integrity Commission, adding that those questions are only heightened by the departure of another park board member.

Prest says the ability to maintain a cohesive direction is really crucial to the success of any majority on city council. 

“It’s not enough to win the majority; you have to really maintain it over time. [Municipal government doesn’t] have the same tool to whip up a majority, as we see at the provincial or federal level. And so, it seems like one possible interpretation is that Mr. Sim, with his experience in business, has not fully wrapped his head around the need to continue to maintain the support of other members of the ABC coalition,” he said.

Prest says the party is likely at a “decision point” after Sim adjourned the Integrity Commissioner special meeting until later in the summer. 

“In that time we’re going to see either, I think, a coming together: a recommitment of ABC members to an agenda that they all agree to, or potentially we can see a further fragmentation of this majority on council and see the ABC party turning into a rump majority, with the departure of others.”

He says Sim should look at adjusting the way he governs if he wants to maintain a strong majority caucus.

“Building a structure of internal consultation and coalition-building and decision-making rather than a top-down, hierarchical structure of decision-making that may leave those who disagree out in the cold is really going to be integral to any long-term success for this — still new — ABC party.”