Vancouver park board chair Constance Barnes considers run for legislature

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      She has topped the election for Vancouver park board twice in a row. She is also involved in many worthy causes: women’s rights, childcare, social equality, arts, and the environment.

      It’s not a stretch to imagine that Constance Barnes may eventually enter provincial politics, like her late father, Emery. She hasn’t decided, but she said she’s considering.

      “There’s a lot of support for me to follow in my father’s footsteps,” Barnes told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview.

      The single mom heard suggestions that she seek an NDP nomination about the time New Democrat MLA Jagrup Brar accepted a challenge to live on a welfare cheque. Barnes’s father first did that in 1996.

      “The raise-the-[social-assistance]-rates [campaign] was very much where a lot of people said, ‘When are you going to run, Constance?…We need your voice,’ ” Barnes said. “And I’m thinking about it.”

      Barnes is a resident of Vancouver–False Creek, an electoral district held by the B.C. Liberals. She may decide to go for the NDP’s nomination there.

      Her father left a big legacy. He was elected Speaker of the B.C. legislative assembly in 1994, the first black person to hold such a position in Canada.

      Barnes noted that it would be difficult to fill her father’s “big, big shoes”. But she also said that she’s been receiving a lot of encouragement.

      There’s no doubt that the memory of her late father will continue to be a factor in her political career. “To this day, I run into people that remember my father’s work,” Barnes wrote in an open letter when Brar was trying to survive on a welfare allowance of $610 in January this year. “But most of all they remember when he went on welfare and fought for the people.”

      Her drunk-driving charge in 2009, to which she pleaded guilty in court, is a thing of the past. She said she has been sober since.

      To make the shift to the provincial sphere, Barnes has yet to go through some hoops. For one, she may need the blessing of her municipal party, Vision Vancouver. That’s partly because she’s not the only elected Vision politician contemplating such a turn, which raises the spectre of municipal by-elections.

      Even during his eventually successful campaign for reelection in the November 2011 civic election, Coun. Geoff Meggs refused to renounce an interest in becoming the NDP candidate for Vancouver-Fairview.

      This has complicated the plan by former labour leader and now Sierra Club B.C. executive director George Heyman to secure the NDP nomination in that constituency.

      Heyman remains the only declared candidate so far. “There’s been lots of speculation about whether Mr. Meggs will run,” Heyman told the Straight by phone. “He’s indicated he’s considering it. Certainly, he’s a serious contender. I’m not aware of anyone else who has indicated that they’re definitely stepping into the race.”

      According to Heyman, the NDP provincial executive has asked the constituency association to choose a nomination date in the fall.

      Comments

      6 Comments

      Smart Observer

      Mar 15, 2012 at 11:26am

      Coinstance Barnes is the Peter Principle personified! How sad for the voters of Vancouver.

      Stephen

      Mar 15, 2012 at 12:46pm

      I wish the Vision-controlled Park Board hadn't closed the Stanley Park petting zoo. It was a great place for city-dwelling children to observe and develop empathy for barnyard animals. Such a short-sighted move.

      election

      Mar 15, 2012 at 2:47pm

      watch out Mary Mcneil is spying on all your facebook pages

      Dave Skander

      Mar 15, 2012 at 3:18pm

      Meggs will tell her that she must resign from Parks Board before running.

      And then who will the Chinese Garden, her only other job, do?

      GZLFB

      Mar 17, 2012 at 6:53pm

      May seem dynastic which gets criticized to left parties, it falls in the social conservative in the glory hole category. They could still do worse, although I'd support the BCC Candidate unless it is really bad enough not to.

      GZLFB

      Mar 17, 2012 at 6:54pm

      Stephen they just moved the petting zoo to the back yards.