Politics

NPA directors with ties to social conservatives and anti-SOGI 123 movement become members of party executive

by Charlie Smith on December 5th, 2019 at 6:05 PM
    1 of 2 2 of 2

      Some of the same political divisions within the federal Conservative party may be starting to crop up in the Vancouver NPA.

      That's because two new NPA directors with ties to social conservatives have risen to key positions on the party's board of directors.

      Ray Goldenchild, a long-time youth soccer volunteer, is the new NPA secretary on the executive.

      Phyllis Tang, a classical pianist, is the new treasurer, according to the party website.

      The NPA's new president is David Mawhinney, who's been in the nightclub business.

      In the 2018 election campaign while running for other parties, Goldenchild and Tang were each endorsed by the socially conservative Let's Vote Association.

      Its website was linked to the anti SOGI 123 website, bcsogi.ca, which opposes B.C. government efforts to make schools more welcoming to LGBT students.

      Goldenchild ran for Vancouver 1st, and Tang ran for Yes Vancouver. Tang attended a post-election party in 2018 in Surrey where several vocally anti-SOGI candidates were present.

      News 1130 reporter Lauren Boothby went in undercover and posted the photo below on her station's website.

      On the far right is Tang. Beside her is former Burnaby candidate candidate Alain Deng. Also a former People's Party of Canada candidate, Deng has previously described Islam as a "disgusting religion" and a "savage faith".

      To the left of Deng is Morning Li, a social conservative who ran for council with Coalition Vancouver. Beside him are two Surrey councillors, Steven Pettigrew and Laurie Geurra.

      To the left of Guerra is Jesse Johl, a long-time right-wing activist who sought election to the NPA board. Johl was also endorsed by Let's Vote Association in his run for council with Vancouver 1st.

      On the far left is Heather Leung, who was bounced off the federal Conservative slate in 2019 because of past homophobic statements. She was a Burnaby school board candidate in 2018.

      No other party has as many elected politicians in Vancouver as the NPA.

      It has five of the 10 seats on Vancouver city council, as well as three seats on the school board and two seats on the park board. 

      None of the NPA councillors has a history of being against the SOGI 123 approach for making school's more welcoming to LGBT students.

      In fact, the party has fielded many LGBT candidates over the years and one of them, Rebecca Bligh, is on council.

      The B.C. government has incorporated SOGI 123 into the education system—SOGI is an acronym for sexual orientation and gender identity. This ensures schooling aligns with the B.C. Human Rights Code and addresses bullying, inclusive extra-curricular activities, self-identification, and confidentiality.

      The bcsogi.ca website, on the other hand, vehemently objects to this.

      In addition to recommending Goldenchild and Tang, the Let's Vote Association also endorsed outspoken SOGI 123 critic Barry Neufeld in Chilliwack.

      Neufeld was the subject of a human rights complaint because of his controversial remarks on Facebook.

      Goldenchild and Tang were among several conservatives—including former Rebel Media writer Christopher Wilson and B.C. Conservative party president Ryan Warawa—who were recently elected to the NPA board.

      In the past, Rebel Media came under criticism internationally for its coverage of a white supremacists' gathering in Charlottesville, Virginia, not long after Donald Trump became president.

      Wilson, however, focused a great deal of his reporting on the carbon tax and resource issues.

      He employed the term "Climate Barbie" to describe former environment and climate change minister Catherine McKenna, resulting in a stinging rebuke from her at a news conference.

      Update

      Clarification: This story originally stated that Goldenchild attended the event in Surrey but that wasn't the case. Vancouver 1st mayoral candidate Fred Harding expressed his party's opposition to SOGI 123 when Goldenchild was a candidate.

      Video: Prior to the 2018 election, Vancouver 1st mayoral candidate Fred Harding expressed his party's opposition to the rollout of SOGI 123.

      Comments