Gabriel Yiu defeats George Chow to win NDP nomination in Vancouver-Fraserview

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      The man who lost a tainted election to B.C. Liberal Kash Heed will have another opportunity in 2013.

      Today at Killarney secondary school, Gabriel Yiu was nominated as the NDP candidate in Vancouver-Fraserview.

      He collected 130 votes, compared to 95 for the only other candidate, Vancouver councillor George Chow.

      "This was a good campaign," Yiu said after the results were read by constituency president Ian Maas. "I have done my best. Thanks for your support."

      In an earlier speech, Yiu revealed that he won endorsements from former premier Glen Clark, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, and NDP activist Bill Tieleman.

      "I often ask myself, why do I want to public office?" Yiu said. "I believe I can make a difference. I want to protect public health care and education. I want to promote social justice and fairness. I want to ensure seniors' long-term care needs are met. I want to restore government accountability and public trust. I want to support affordable housing for the working families. I want to protect Crown corporations from privatization."


      Gabriel Yiu expressed a great deal of gratitude to his supporters before the ballots were counted.

      He also mentioned that he wants to promote trade and cultural ties with Asia. In the constituency, he pledged to try to speed up the seismic upgrades for Killarney and David Thompson schools and get a secure provincial funding for a seniors centre at Killarney.

      In a speech before the votes were counted, NDP Leader Adrian Dix described Chow and Yiu as "two outstanding candidates".

      Dix also fired up party members by talking about the crisis for adults with developmental disabilities.

      "That's why for five months, we have been campaigning with families to ensure that people understand the extend of the crisis," Dix said. "Think of this: 2500 people, adults with developmental disabilities, on waitlists for care at a time when the government decided to close 65 group homes. We can't wait until 2013."


      Adrian Dix speaks to NDP members at the Vancouver-Fraserview nomination meeting.

      One of Yiu's nominators, former constituency president Trevor Harris, claimed that because of the Heed campaign's "dirty tricks" in 2009, "Gabriel was cheated in the last election."

      Another Yiu supporter, Thekla Lit, told the Straight that Yiu did the groundwork for Heed to step down. Heed has not resigned, even though he violated the election-spending limit and his campaign manager recently pleaded guilty to election-related offences.

      Below are some snapshots from the nomination meeting.

      Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.

      Comments

      23 Comments

      Genie

      Nov 6, 2011 at 7:51pm

      Congratulations, Gabriel! You deserve it! We always support you!

      go to hell

      Nov 6, 2011 at 8:08pm

      I will never vote for pukes who gave us the fast ferries, TransLink and SkyTrain.

      Rand Webber

      Nov 6, 2011 at 8:56pm

      Congratulations Gabriel! You have worked so hard for this riding for the last few years, even though Vancouver-Fraserview was stolen from you by a completely illegitimate election campaign, fronted by the Liberal's Kash Heed. The grace and determination you have demonstrated in the face of this has been admiral. And yours was one of the first voices I heard in the anti-HST movement, which inspired me to get involved. I am so pleased to see you win this nomination, and to have another "kick at the can," as you go on to win this riding in 2013!

      xnexus

      Nov 6, 2011 at 11:13pm

      Thanks for the donation Mable. Will they come the usual way,$5 bills stapled to a form?

      Sheeple

      Nov 6, 2011 at 11:21pm

      Congrats Yiu...

      - Now you can run vs any other opponent from any Communist Country (Again) :)

      - You can DEFEND the Xinhua Reporter AGAIN :)

      - You can TRY to win AGAIN :)

      Sheeple

      Nov 6, 2011 at 11:28pm

      @ go to hell...

      I can't forget the PUKES who gave us...

      - $565 Million ++ Tarp Roof

      - Fucking $1 Billion Condos for the Olympics

      - ANOTHER SYKTRAIN :) hahaha Lie-berals new YVR Train haha

      - SELLING Fast Ferries for Pennies on the DOLLAR :) IDIOTS

      - PPP $5.5 BILLION Hydro OFF BALANCE SHEET SHIT

      - Multi MILLIONS for SLOW FERRIES CEO

      - DUMBASS Lie-Berals 999 YEAR BC RAIL DEAL

      - BILLIONS IN DEFICITS

      - FUCKING HST

      FUCK FAST FERRIES BY THE NDP LOOKS LIKE CHUM CHANGE VS THIS!

      Blame Game

      Nov 7, 2011 at 3:55am

      So the membership spoke and Yiu won fair and square. However, having the likes of Glen Clark and Meena Wong as endorsers will not increase Yiu's electability one iota!

      Blame Game

      Nov 7, 2011 at 10:04am

      Sorry, I mean Meaner Wong.

      HellSlayerAndy

      Nov 7, 2011 at 10:16am

      Wow...high profile riding with high profile candidates and they manage only 225 votes/members.

      NDP...no visible public support, no money and have only won three general elections in 50 years! That's not a party; that's a racket where something is paying them to play Opposition.
      Amazing how SO CALLED Progressives have such an endless tolerance and complacency for failure, decade after decade after decade and cherish loyalty and solidarity far more than they do power and influence.
      The Phonies are just recycling their deadwood.

      Stephen

      Nov 8, 2011 at 11:30am

      Given the continuing travails of Kash Heed there's a very real possibility he'll either resign his seat or be forced to vacate it early in the new year. If so, Gabriel would be the favourite to win the ensuing byelection. In that case, Fraserview would have an outstanding representative in the Legislature.

      PS: Interesting to read the drive-by smears posted by obvious apologists for the BC Liberal regime. The posters are evidently the last to realize that the Liberals' criminal behaviour in Vancouver Fraserview all but guarantees their defeat. Likewise the dishonesty, incompetence, and corruption of the Campbell-Clark government will be justly rewarded at the polls. Clark's involvement in the BC Rail debacle is a ticking time-bomb.