Candidate still seeking answers on process as deadline for NPA mayoral hopefuls looms
Days before the deadline to apply for the Non-Partisan Association’s mayoral nomination, at least one candidate is still seeking clarity on the process, while simultaneously facing attacks seemingly from within his own party.
The team behind NPA mayoral hopeful Coun. Hector Bremner, who won a seat in October’s byelection, has been seeking details on membership rules and how the “green-light” process will work. But as of Thursday, NPA president Gregory Baker said the party hasn’t yet supplied answers to some of those questions. This Sunday marks the deadline for signing up new members for the party and applying for its mayoral nomination.
At the same time, Bremner has been the subject of two complaints filed with the City of Vancouver in the last two weeks by self-described NPA members.
Bremner has said the complaints are baseless and that opponents are “throwing out whatever they can in an attempt to slow us down.”
Bremner is one of five candidates expected to vie for the NPA mayoral nomination. Once candidates have applied by this Sunday’s deadline, the applications will be reviewed by a fivemember “green-light committee” before they can proceed to the NPA’s mayoral nomination meeting on May 29.
But Bremner’s camp wants more details about that “greenlight” process, according to correspondence reviewed by Postmedia.
In a letter dated March 24 and copied to the NPA president, board and caucus, Bremner’s campaign manager Mike Wilson wrote: “Over the past year, the NPA had assured all of us that the nomination process would be open, fair and transparent. Given that the nomination process is now fully ramping up, we thought that this would be a good opportunity to gain clarity on the many issues associated with this process.”
“We are formally requesting clarity and consultation on the following,” Wilson wrote, listing a series of 16 questions, seeking, among other things, clarification on the rules around signing up members and details of how the NPA’s green-light process will work.
Reached this week, Wilson declined to discuss the letter, saying it was a private communication, not intended for the public. But when asked if he had yet received answers to the questions posed in his letter, Wilson replied: “some of the questions remain unanswered, but we do think the process is moving forward.”
On Thursday, when Postmedia asked Baker, the NPA president, if the party’s mayoral hopefuls had received answers yet to the questions in Wilson’s March letter, he replied: “In terms of the process for vetting candidates, no, to be honest with you. We’re almost there.”
Bremner went through a green-light process last year before becoming the NPA’s council nominee in the October byelection, Baker said, adding: “I wasn’t part of that process, so I don’t know the extent of it … The (guidelines) we’ve created for our nomination meeting now for our mayor and council will be different from the one, if any, that was used in the byelection.”
Meanwhile, two housing activists identifying as NPA members have filed formal complaints with city hall. Both complaints concern Bremner’s day job with the Pace Group, a Vancouver-based public relations and lobbying firm, where he provides services for clients “with goals that include government approvals,” according to his LinkedIn profile.
The complainants, Raza Mirza and Justin Fung, are both spokespersons for local activist group Housing Action for Local Taxpayers, and have publicly identified as NPA members. In interviews this week, Mirza said he’s been an NPA member since last year, while Fung said he signed up within the last month. Mirza also holds a position with the B.C. NDP.
On Thursday (two weeks after Baker was quoted on the news website theBreaker discussing Mirza’s complaint about Bremner) the NPA president said he didn’t know whether Mirza and Fung were actually NPA members. And when asked what he thought about two NPA members filing — and publicizing — complaints about their own party’s sitting caucus member, Baker said: “I don’t think it shows internal strife (within the party), but it is concerning. Conflict of interest is very concerning.”
Bremner declined an interview this week to discuss the complaints, or his campaign manager’s letter to the NPA, saying in an email: “All I can really say is that I am solely focused this week on signing up as many people as possible to the party.
“Clearly our campaign has momentum and there are many people and special interests ... that are throwing out whatever they can in an attempt to slow us down,” Bremner said.
Leadership within the city’s oldest political party says there’s no internal strife. But from the outside, it seems like tensions within the NPA are escalating.