NPA mayoral candidate Kirk LaPointe publicly signed his “issues not insults” code of conduct Aug. 14, putting his bid for office on the line and challenging other parties to do the same.
“All public comments made during this municipal election campaign in Vancouver shall be confined to past or current policies and programs, the past or current record and political, community or public work of another political candidate or political party,” reads the pledge, in part.
All NPA candidates, board members and staff will be required to sign the code of conduct against undignified criticism of political foes running in the Nov. 15 civic election. If any of them breach it, “as determined by the NPA campaign committee,” both the offender and LaPointe will resign.
"The bar does need to be raised and I don't think it's an excessively high bar,” LaPointe said. “I don't understand why people don't feel they can exceed it. All of us feel quite comfortable in the idea we've got rich, fertile territory to criticize policy, we don't ever have to go into personal lives."
LaPointe said aspects of the personal lives of opponents are only relevant if “there is a very clear intersection with your conduct and your ability to perform your duties.”
Will the ruling Vision Vancouver meet the NPA challenge? Mayor Gregor Robertson was out of town, according to aide Kevin Quinlan. Coun. Kerry Jang, responding on behalf of Vision Vancouver, said “we’re going to run a clean campaign,” but dismissed LaPointe’s pledge as a “stunt.”
“We've been talking about the issues, talking about transit and housing. It's Kirk LaPointe and the NPA who have been avoiding the issues,” Jang said.
Representatives of COPE and the Cedar Party were not immediately available for comment.
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