If previous revelations of infiltration by the alt-right into the NPA board of directors weren’t enough to sink the ship, this week two more icebergs closed in on it — one small, the other larger and much more destructive.
COVID-19 has been a public health crisis for over a year. Now, unfortunately, things are taking a grim turn for the worse with variants spreading amongst us. So hats off to provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry for her nimble decision last week to ban indoor service at certain businesses, including BC’s restaurants and bars.(BTW, negatively impacted hospitality and fitness businesses can apply to the province for “circuit breaker” grants.)
But right after Dr. Henry’s announcement, we were all shocked to hear about two Vancouver restaurants deliberately flouting this new directive and staying open to indoor dining.
How is all this connected to the NPA? One of the two offending restaurants, Gusto, is owned by Federico Fuoco, who obviously has political aspirations. You may remember Fuoco for his futile fight against Car Free Day, the popular institution which later paved the way for the Italian Day Festival. In more recent years, he bitterly opposed campaigns for making Commercial Drive more accessible by widening sidewalks, and installing street furniture and bike lanes. In 2014, Fuoco ran for city council; not surprisingly, he placed a dismal 31st. Now he’s a director on the floundering NPA board.
Can you imagine pulling off such a dangerous, defiant stunt with your business while holding what’s supposed to be a position of civic respect and public trust?
Also, check out this article by Charlie Smith in the Georgia Straight. It explains how Fuoco is one of seven NPA directors suing Mayor Kennedy Stewart and the City of Vancouver for defamation because of comments the mayor made earlier this year about the extremism of some NPA board members. You’ll see other names in that list of plaintiffs that might ring a bell — a very alarming bell I’ve been sounding about the alt-right NPA board on my blog. (I stand by my earlier prediction that this lawsuit will go nowhere.)
That’s the small iceberg. Now for the more destructive one.
According to another great piece of reporting, this time by Mike Howell in Vancouver is Awesome, the NPA board of directors has decided that, for the first time in the history of this venerable organization, party membership would have absolutely no say in the selection of its mayoral candidate for the November 2022 election. (Before you call me out for the word “venerable” let me say this: I don’t come close to sharing the politics of the NPA, the oldest political party in Vancouver. But I still respect the party — or at least I did before it morphed into its current iteration.)
So there will be no nomination meetings for the next municipal election for the NPA’s candidate for mayor! Individuals wishing to throw their hat into the ring simply can’t since it’s a done deal.
In a closed-door meeting populated by what seems like an ever-expanding list of alt-right snakes in the grass — like the odious Christopher Wilson (formerly of the extremist Rebel News, known for its racist stance) and his equally deplorable colleagues, Wes Mussio and Angelo Isidorou — this “new” NPA board decided that current park board commissioner John Coupar is the party’s mayoral candidate for 2022.
Of course, all of the above reflects very poorly on John Coupar, too. Anyone who would be prepared to be nominated by their party in such a Machiavellian way would be a totally unacceptable choice for mayor, to say nothing of the serious questions now raised about Mr. Coupar’s relationship with the reptilian alt-right directors he no doubt had to cut a deal with.
Also note, as Mike Howell describes in his article, right after this unbelievable manoeuvre, three of the four current NPA city councillors — Lisa Dominato, Colleen Hardwick and Sarah Kirby-Yung — issued a statement describing how taken aback and disappointed they were by it.
It’s no secret that Sarah Kirby-Yung and Colleen Hardwick — daughter of the highly regarded Walter Hardwick, who taught geography for decades at UBC and did much to shape Canada’s urban landscape — have both expressed interest in taking a run at the mayor’s chair.
Not only is this unprecedented decision by the NPA board incredibly undemocratic, it’s also highly sexist. It closes the door to any possibility of any one, or more, of the current women who represent the NPA on council from seeking the mayoral nomination for next year. (Melissa de Genova is the fourth female NPA city councillor.)
But even more cracks in the NPA Titanic are evident.
How will the three councillors ever manage to get behind their party’s mayoral candidate on the campaign trail now that they’ve issued their statement?
Are we witnessing the beginnings of a new centre-right political party in Vancouver that will fill the political hole the old NPA once occupied?
And what else will this reveal about John Coupar?
Daily atmospheric CO2 [Courtesy of CO2.Earth]
Latest daily total (Apr. 11, 2021): 419.90 ppm
One year ago (Apr. 2, 2020): 416.33 ppm
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In terms of connecting the dots, I think you nailed this one, Tim.
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