The NPA is as good as dead

It’s Vancouver’s oldest and some would call it the city’s most venerable political party, since it has dominated our local political scene for decades.

The Non-Partisan Association, or NPA, was founded in 1936 to claim the centre-right when Vancouver’s business class was petrified of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation or CCF — a socialist democratic party started in Calgary in the 1930s by various socialist, farm-based, co-operative and labour groups. Eventually, the CCF morphed into the NDP.

But however you brand the NPA, its founders would be rolling over in their graves right now.

In my blog back in August when I questioned if the NPA was on life support, we now know the answer: No! The NPA isn’t on life support. It’s as good as dead.

I was stunned and, apparently, so were members of the NPA elected caucus, to learn that not only does the despicable Christopher Wilson remain on the NPA board of directors. He’s now been quietly joined by Wes Mussio and Angelo Isidorou — two more contemptible characters who specialize in the alt-right. (Hats off to Dan Fumano for tracking all this in the Vancouver Sun.)

Before telling you more about these latest fringe elements who’ve made shocking inroads into the NPA, let me remind you of some of Wilson’s loathsome views and behaviour.

I described his hate speech in this earlier blog — how he advocates literally running Vancouver’s poor and addicted out of town. Wilson was also a commentator for Rebel Media, an odious far-right platform known for its racism and anti-Muslim stance. And he’s a proven sexist. He slagged our former federal environment minister, calling her a “Climate Barbie.”

As for Mussio, he’s a big fan of the serial lying, racist, misogynistic Donald J. Trump and his lax pandemic approaches. (No surprise: Mussio is looking to buy a house in Florida. Good riddance, I say. Perhaps he could take Wilson with him.)

Mussio supports anti-maskers, and had the gall to call Dr. Bonnie Henry, our universally respected provincial health officer, “Dumb Bonnie.” He’s also willing to risk the health and lives of people young and old, as he irresponsibly insists that our current public health restrictions have nothing to do with science. No doubt that’s out of pure self-interest — Mussio owns Nanaimo’s junior hockey team.

In another instance, he couldn’t figure out why an anti-masker got fined for organising an anti-mask protest. It has nothing to do with infringing on democracy or personal freedom. It has everything to do with breaking the law. As a fellow lawyer, I’m ashamed to admit that Mussio is a lawyer, too.

When it comes Isidorou, he says he’s “socially liberal.” But I’d call him one slick operator. He was active in the far-right, populist People’s Party of Canada, and an organiser with the alt-right so-called “Free Speech” Club, which, believe it or not, is based at UBC. (Shout out to The Ubyssey, the student paper, for exposing it.) The club, known for its antisemitism and homophobia, tried to bring pro-racist speakers to Vancouver. Now Isidorou has slunk over to the Conservative Party of Canada and somehow gotten onto the NPA board.

How on earth did these three reptiles ever get such influence in what was once a respected conservative political party?

Some NPA elected officials are obviously asking themselves the same thing as the party slips further and further into the alt-right abyss of intolerance and hate. It’s unheard of in municipal politics, especially in Vancouver, for a party’s elected representatives to publicly distance themselves from their own board. But that’s exactly what’s happening.

First, we saw NPA councillor Rebecca Bligh exit the party and sit as an independent soon after the mostly new board was elected November 2019. Six directors later quit in protest. Then all the elected NPA representatives denounced Wilson’s shaming of homeless people. Good for them. But surprisingly, they used their own @NPACaucus Twitter account, not the party’s usual @NPAVancouver account to do so. Unheard of!

Now the four remaining NPA city councillors continue to desperately try and insulate themselves from the potentially fatal actions of this appalling trio. I don’t blame them. For instance, after Mussio’s anti-mask nonsense went public, the four tweeted photos of themselves wearing masks and the message: “NPA councillors say #MaskUp.”

I clearly remember how much I respected the NPA’s councillor George Puil when I was on city council. Councillor Puil was a hardline conservative, but he was well-reasoned and well-respected. Even though I didn’t agree with his politics, he stood up for his constituents and his well-thought-out proposals even earned my vote on occasion.

By contrast, these three individuals must be thoroughly condemned — and hopefully denied their platforms — not just by folks on the left, like yours truly, but those on the right as well.

I’m now publicly calling on the four remaining NPA city councillors to do the right thing: Openly denounce these three alt-right amplifiers for what they are. It doesn’t take much for intolerance to take root.

As well, the entire elected NPA caucus needs to leave the party and found a new, moderate conservative party more in keeping with what the NPA used to be — a centre-right party that’s not an embarrassment to Vancouver.