Login / RegisterNDP won't give Gabriel Yiu "shortcut" nomination in Vancouver-Fraserview
Gabriel Yiu reluctantly admits that he’s "a little disappointed" that NDP officials in Vancouver-Fraserview have denied him the privilege of being acclaimed as the party’s candidate in the next provincial election.
The Chinese media commentator lost to B.C. Liberal star candidate Kash Heed in the 2009 election. Heed was later hounded by investigations into the conduct of his campaign, particularly the printing and distribution of unauthorized pamphlets.
Last month, special prosecutor Peter Wilson cleared Heed of allegations of wrongdoing but approved criminal charges against two individuals, one of whom was the former police officer’s campaign manager.
"I’m in no rush," Yiu responded when asked by the Georgia Straight in a phone interview about his plans. The floral entrepreneur has a few options. He can either fight a nomination battle, run as an independent, or just stay away from provincial politics.
Ian Mass, president of the NDP’s Vancouver-Fraserview constituency association, confirmed that a candidate-search committee has been formed by the group.
"If other candidates throw their hats in the ring, and we’ve certainly had interest, then they’ve got the right to organize and be part of the nomination meeting," Mass told the Straight in a phone interview. "We believe that Gabriel was cheated out of the last election but that doesn’t mean that we will shortcut our democratic nomination process."
Mass noted that "at least two" other individuals have indicated that they want to run as the NDP candidate in Vancouver-Fraserview.
"We’ve contacted a number of elected and nonelected folks, so we’ve cast the net fairly wide, which was not an indication to Gabriel that we didn’t have confidence in his candidacy," Mass said. "It’s just that we felt that that would be the obligation of the constituency association to do that, and present the members with the best potential candidate or candidates."
Vision Vancouver councillors Raymond Louie and Kerry Jang told the Straight on separate occasions that they’re not interested in running in Vancouver-Fraserview.
But another elected Vision municipal politician may make a run for it. Park board commissioner Raj Hundal told the Straight in a phone interview that he has been "approached by residents in the neighbourhood if I would be interested".
"I haven’t decided yet," added Hundal, who was a key lieutenant of Vancouver-Kingsway MLA Adrian Dix in the latter’s successful campaign for the leadership of the NDP.
Yiu, on the other hand, is associated with NDP stalwart and Vancouver–Mount Pleasant MLA Jenny Kwan, who supported Dix’s rival, Mike Farnworth, in the leadership race.
According to Mass, Vancouver-Fraserview is a "barometer riding" that reflects the strength of a governing party.
The electoral district was won by New Democrats Bernie Simpson and Ian Waddell in the 1991 and 1996 elections, in which the NDP won successive governments.
The NDP lost the riding to Ken Johnston in the 2001 election that was dominated by the B.C. Liberal Party. It has since remained in B.C. Liberal hands, with Heed being preceded by Wally Oppal, winner of the 2005 election.
According to 2006 Census data cited by B.C. Stats, visible minorities comprise 75 percent of the 56,660 population of Vancouver-Fraserview. Predominant among the "minorities" are people of Chinese descent.
Either or both of Yiu and Hundal could find stiff competition from Meena Wong, who placed third in Vancouver South in the May 2 federal election. The federal riding covers the Vancouver-Fraserview district.
Fluent in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Shanghainese, Wong finished behind winner Wai Young of the Conservatives and second-place finisher Ujjal Dosanjh of the federal Liberal party.
Wong isn’t ruling out the prospect of running for the NDP in Vancouver-Fraserview. "I’ll sit down and talk to people, and see what the next move would be," Wong told the Straight by phone.
Now, with the Fraserview nomination holding for Hundal and the massive members his family has signed up. No wonder Gabriel Yiu is not happy and considering his options.
This is absolutely unfair to Yiu. He went a great campaign in the last election. He was robbed by Kash Heed's campaign and looks like he is going to be robbed again.
But the ultimate question is, with Ujjal Dosanjh badly defeated by Wai Young, do you think Hundal has a chance to win in a riding with 15% South Asian and 45% Chinese population?
Yiu has written countless articles to promote and support NDP's ideology and spirit in English and Chinese media. It looks like his dedication to the NDP is being trashed shamelessly by his own party.
I would support the idea of running independently, Gabriel.
My friends, my family and I were B.C. Liberal supporters, but not anymore, as you know why. We are hoping that the B.C. NDP will be a better government if they win the next election.
Here are my thoughts after reading Carlito Pablo's article: once again, the article sent out a very strong message to the public that all party leaders are the same. Once they are in power, they only look out for their best interests, not for us, the genuine hard working people. The party leaders return favours to their principal supporters and friends. The promises made by party leaders to the voters during their campaign seldom come true. Their promises are just empty words.
We are watching how Adrian Dix is going to handle the electoral candidate for Fraserview. Is he going to play favourites and appoint his organizer Raj Hundel, who has signed up thousands of new members to elect Dix as leader? Or will he give Gabriel Yiu, the NDP candidate who was suppose to win in the last election, full endorsement to run again? Dix's decision will reflect whether he is a qualified leader with integrity and intelligence.
I guess the Liberals would be more than happy to see Hundel run in Fraserview.
As the provincial election is approaching, the party leaders must know that the voters are not blind.
He is always out there, defending the Party's policy is explained to the Chinese populations.
Gabriel just tried to down played it saying that he was a little disappointed with the Party.
I tell you, if it was me; I will definitely feel betrayed by the part.
I supported Adrian Dix in in his Leadership campaign because he knew the health care issues inside out and I thought he would be a descent leader for the party.
I will be disappointed with him if he delayed the nomination in Fraserview so Raj Hundal does not to resign from his job at Park Board. Why the Party allowed a nomination at Green Timber and yet denied the one for Fraserview at the same time? It's clear favoritism. Adrian, if that's your intention, I regretted I supported you as our leader.
I don't blame Gabriel one bit if he decided to run as independent; it makes NDP Party looked terribly bad especially the for newly elected Party Leader. I know he really let the Chinese communities voter down in this riding.
Mina, if I was you, I would run in another riding; or just don't even run under Adrian's Leadership.