Straight Talk

NPA majority fractures as Vancouver park board elects Green commissioner Michael Wiebe as chair

by Charlie Smith on December 13th, 2016 at 8:11 AM
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      Last night (December 12) in a surprising political development, a non-NPA commissioner moved into the top position at the Vancouver park board.

      First-term Green commissioner Michael Wiebe was elected chair after he was nominated by NPA commissioner Erin Shum.

      Wiebe is a restaurant sustainability consultant and director of the Mount Pleasant Business Improvement Association.

      Shum was elected vice chair. She is one of four NPA politicians elected to the seven-member board in the 2014 election.

      There is one other Green commissioner, Stuart Mackinnon, and one Vision Vancouver commissioner, Catherine Evans.

      The NPA caucus appeared united at a recent event at the Bloedel Conservatory, but Erin Shum (second from the left) didn't support Casey Crawford (far left) as the new chair.
      Carlito Pablo

      It's the first time in history that a Green politician has ever chaired Vancouver's park board.

      The former chair, the NPA's Sarah Kirby-Yung, nominated fellow NPA commissioner Casey Crawford for the leadership role.

      After the 2014 election, NPA commissioner John Coupar served one year as chair before Kirby-Yung replaced him.

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