Candidate for NPA council nomination makes ‘urgent’ appeal on ‘no cash’ rule
New membership rules at Vancouver’s oldest political party have caused concern for at least one council nomination candidate, who called the measures “exclusionary” in a private message this week to party leadership.
Wade Grant, a former Musqueam First Nation councillor seeking the Non-Partisan Association’s nomination for Vancouver city council in this year’s election, sent an email Thursday to the NPA board and caucus. The subject line read: “Urgent Request to NPA Board and Caucus for membership inclusivity.”
Grant’s request concerned the NPA’s new membership rules, which, he wrote, he believed could create obstacles for young Musqueam people seeking to support the party. The NPA changed its membership sign-up rules in January, no longer accepting cash or paper membership forms and, according to the party’s website, requiring all membership applications to be submitted online.
In Grant’s Thursday email, which was reviewed by Postmedia, he wrote: “Further to my earlier correspondence regarding the particular financial situation of Musqueam persons, I am writing to appeal to the board and caucus to open their hearts to a new generation wishing to participate in the political process in Vancouver for the very first time.”
Postmedia contacted Grant on Friday to discuss his appeal to NPA leadership, but he said it was a private email to the board and caucus, and he had no comment.
In Grant’s Thursday email to NPA leadership, he wrote: “As a general rule, many Musqueam persons, particularly younger persons who wish to support my candidacy for the NPA council nomination, do not have bank accounts. They do not have chequebooks. They do not own Visa cards. These are persons who are not wealthy. They live day-to-day. And they are open to supporting the NPA and my candidacy.”
“Given this unique set of circumstances, the NPA practice of requiring only online or Visa or personal cheques is, in my view, exclusionary,” Grant wrote.
He then made a proposal, suggesting an NPA board member attend the Musqueam Band office on Saturday or Sunday, while interested applicants attend in person, with identification, to fill out the forms and pay the membership fee.
Grant signed off with: “I am hopeful that you will be able to see the importance of this gesture, in the spirit of inclusivity that is prevailing throughout our country.”
Later that day, Grant received a reply from NPA president Gregory Baker, also copying the board and caucus, explaining the reasons for the new rules.
Baker concluded his reply to Grant: “Regrettably, we are not able to make any exceptions to our policy.”
In an interview, Baker told Postmedia the new membership rules represent “a series of checks, because we want to have a legitimate membership.”
“What we wanted to avoid by doing this is the bulk sign-ups, where we get 500 memberships and it’s cash and we have no way of tracking those members to find out if they in fact paid,” said Baker, adding any potential members who find the online process challenging can visit a temporary NPA sign-up office at 2742 West 4th Ave.
Bulk political membership signups have been controversial in the past, particularly at the provincial level.
Baker pointed to the 2011 example of a B.C. NDP MLA caught in a cellphone video apparently stapling $10 bills to a stack of membership forms, calling that story “an example of why we put the ‘no cash’ rule in place. We want the process to be fair.”
Jim Kew, a Musqueam First Nation representative, said Friday that it would be inappropriate to comment on the rules of the NPA or any other political party.
NPA Coun. Melissa De Genova, who plans to run again for council this year, was copied on Grant’s Thursday message. While she said she didn’t have enough information about Grant’s request to discuss that issue, she said she’s observed the party’s new rules this year have made it more difficult, in some cases, for both new member sign-ups and renewals of existing ones.
While De Genova said she wasn’t criticizing the NPA’s decision, she said: “Myself, I’ve found it more difficult to sign people up, and I’m finding that especially with senior citizens who, although they may have the internet, they would prefer to sign a piece of paper as they have in the past.”
The NPA’s main political rival for the past decade, Vision Vancouver, has not changed its membership rules and still allows sign-ups and renewals online or by paper applications, with payments by cash or credit card.
Vision co-chair Michael Haack declined to comment Friday on the NPA’s situation, but said: “I think it’s important to have political parties remain accessible. Whether that’s allowing these paper memberships for people who don’t have ready access to the internet or a computer or credit cards, they shouldn’t be excluded from the political process.”