Broadcaster and Langara College community liaison officer David Berner has a problem with ethnic voters being “shepherded” in “school buses” to civic nomination contests, handed “fake ballots”, and told who to vote for.

Berner said so while moderating the first public debate between mayoral candidates councillor Peter Ladner of the Non-Partisan Association and Gregor Robertson of Vision Vancouver that was held at the city’s central library Wednesday evening (October 1).

Not only that, Berner also said that both parties are guilty of this practice of herding ethnic voters, whom he claimed don’t actually know what are the issues facing the city.

Berner's statement was immediately greeted by yells of protests from the audience, which had Chinese, South Asian, and Filipino candidates and supporters in attendance.

As it turned out, the loudest objection came from UBC medical professor Kerry Jang, a Chinese Canadian who is running for councillor  with Vision Vancouver.

After the debate, Jang told the Straight and 24 Hours city reporter Irwin Loy that he found Berner’s statement “offensive”.

“What I’m upset about is the assumption that ”¦ these people don’t know who they’re voting for,” Jang said. “And that’s an absolutely false assumption.

“We all work in the communities because we’re community activists. We’ve been there for many many years, and when they say that they’re not informed, that’s just not true. Yes it is offensive because it’s really disrespectful to a lot of the work that a lot of activists have done for many years.

“I’ve been in the Chinese community, [and] South Asian, [and] Filipino communities for many years. They know the issues,” Jang added.

So why do many ethnic voters come in buses?

“Well a lot of them cannot drive,” Jang said. “My dad, he was born and raised in Canada, he can speak English, you know all that kind of stuff. He says, ”˜I can’t find parking, somebody give me a ride’. It’s a lot easier. That’s all it is to it.”

In an interview after the debate, Berner told the Straight that his concern is that “it’s possible that there are people who may not understand what the issues are.”

Berner said that he was asked by both the NPA and Vision to run for council under their respective parties, and he declined.

“But one of the questions I asked myself [is] if I run, will I go straight to the synagogues and to the Jewish community centre?” Berner said. “And the answer is no.   I wouldn’t. I’m a Jew but I wouldn’t go and go out of my way to get all the Jewish votes. Maybe that’s not very bright on my part. Maybe that’s what people do.

“Maybe if you’re Filipino, you go to the Filipino community. Maybe if you’re Chinese, you go to the Chinese community. I guess I’m not very astute politically,” he also said.

Asked whether there should be concerns about perceived block voting practices by ethnic minorities, Berner said: “I think so. I think we have to recognize that there’s all kinds of people here, and everybody is welcome as a citizen. But taking people who at least appear to not really know what the issues and say. ”˜We're all gonna vote because we’re along [the same] ethnicity’, I don’t think that’s healthy.”

Asked why declined offers from the NPA and Vision to run for council, Berner responded: “I’m too old and tired. And also I don’t like the company.”

Langara College is hosting another Vancouver debate on October 29 at the central library.