Another potential candidate for mayor has thrown his hat in the ring.
Two-term Non-Partisan Association park board commissioner, and former board chair, John Coupar announced Wednesday morning he is seeking to be the party’s next mayoral candidate.
He made the announcement in front of the Bloedel Conservatory. He has a strong connection to the conservatory as one of the founding directors of the Friends of Bloedel Association, which was established to save the landmark at Queen Elizabeth Park.
“We’re at the pinnacle of Vancouver, the geographic centre of Vancouver, and that’s really important to me because… my father was the first director of the conservatory and in my youth he walked me all around the city and he was involved in a lot of the development of the great parks in Vancouver and I developed an appreciation and a love for Vancouver that has led me to be up here today,” Coupar said.
“Today it is with great pleasure that I announce my intention to seek NPA endorsement for mayor of Vancouver and I will be seeking the support of the NPA membership on May 29.”
The field of potential mayoral candidates for the party includes Coun. Hector Bremner and Glen Chernen, who unsuccessfully challenged Bremner in the party’s nomination race to select a council candidate for last fall’s byelection race.
Coupar said he made the decision to seek the nomination in the last two weeks, after consulting with his family and employer. He is currently the president of Novex Delivery Systems
“I’m an experienced leader with a history of success in both business and politics — the kind of experience leadership needed to build a team focused on solutions,” he said. “I pledge to consult with Vancouver neighbourhoods… we need to find consensus in neighbourhoods. We need to build a city and a city plan that is truly welcoming and livable.”
Coupar said he is “concerned with the present priorities of the city, the uncontrolled spending, the lack of attention to basics” and added that the park board has been “starved of funds.”
“We have a situation where the spin doctors at Vancouver city hall have over 40 people in communications,” he said. “We have just slightly over 30 professional gardeners in the Vancouver Park Board with 240 parks that is a shameful legacy of this administration.”
Coupar said he is passionate about building great public spaces.
“Like where I’m standing today. This was a great foresight. This used to be a reservoir right below me. This used to be a rock quarry where the original rocks and stones for the streets of Vancouver came from. And what did we do? We had this foresight to build this beautiful park in the absolute centre of our city. It’s a magnificent legacy and those are the things that we need to think about and do more.”
The park board has long served as a starting point for local politicians. Sitting councillors Heather Deal and Melissa De Genova both served as park board commissioners before running for council. Former councillor Suzanne Anton, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2011 and served as MLA for Vancouver-Fraserview and attorney general, was first elected as a park board commissioner. Coupar noted that former mayor Philip Owen started his political career as a park board commissioner, as did Grace McCarthy, who went on to serve as an MLA and later became leader of the Social Credit Party.
Outgoing NPA Coun. George Affleck was on hand for the announcement and said he is officially endorsing Coupar.
“I’m a big fan of John, we’re good friends, we’ve been working together for seven years. We’ve knocked on a lot of doors together, went through two election campaigns together, got into politics at the same time and I’ve sat at the table with him through caucus for seven years and seen how he operates and I think he’d be a great mayor.”
NPA school trustees Fraser Ballantyne and Lisa Dominato were also on hand for Coupar’s announcement.
So far, Green Party commissioner and current board chair Stuart Mackinnon is the only sitting commissioner to confirm that he intends to run for re-election. Mackinnon recently announced on his blog that he is seeking the party’s endorsement to run again.
NPA commissioner Sarah Kirby-Yung said she is not yet made a decision.
“I'm loving serving on the Park Board right now and focused on doing the best job I can for Vancouver for the rest of the term,” she said in an email. “For the upcoming election, I am considering running but have not finalized plans yet.”
Another NPA commissioner Casey Crawford also said he has yet to make a decision on another run, Vision's Catherine Evans also said she hasn't made a decision yet.
Commissioner Erin Shum said she’s been encouraged by “leaders and members in the community” to run for council and will make a decision soon.
Green commissioner Michael Weibe said he will be making an announcement soon.
