Advocate who lobbied for official language signs is running for Richmond council seat
Richmond activist Kerry Starchuk, who has been calling for mandatory English-language signs on businesses and an end to birth tourism, is running for council in October’s election.
Starchuk, a fourth-generation Richmond resident, has spent the past eight years lobbying politicians on some of Richmond’s most controversial issues, but feels she has been ignored.
“I’ve been at it for a long time. I know what the issues are, and I’ve been dismissed,” she said.
Now Starchuk wants to make a difference from the inside. How she fares on the ballot could give an indication of the electorate’s views on the hot-button issues, which have stirred up heated debate and drawn international media attention.
In 2013, Starchuk, who believes the proliferation of Chinese-only signs in Richmond posed a threat to community cohesiveness, started a campaign to require one of Canada’s official languages on storefronts, real-estate ads, and other signs. That will be the first issue she’ll tackle if she’s elected, she said, and she would campaign to get the provincial government to pass a language law.
Starchuk has also been a vocal critic of the growing practice of birth tourism, in which pregnant women come to Canada to give birth, thus conferring automatic Canadian citizenship to their child.
An electronic petition that Starchuk started has been signed by more than 10,800 people. Richmond MP Joe Peschisolido is expected to submit it to Parliament next week.
Starchuk said running for public office was a difficult decision, but she was bolstered by the support she has received from people who agree with her views.
“I’ve been an advocate and activist. … I got my Richmond’s Changing Neighbourhood group on Facebook. I got my following.
“I will have people who do not agree with me, but what I’m trying to do is to have better understanding and make a better Richmond.”
Starchuk is one of 24 people, including five independents, running for council in Richmond.
The nomination period ends Friday at 4 p.m.