Non-Partisan Association | |
|---|---|
_logo.png){kind=logo} | |
| Abbreviation | NPA |
| President | David Mawhinney |
| Founded | November 13, 1937 (1937-11-13) |
| Ideology | Conservatism |
| Political position | Centre-right toright-wing |
| Colours | Purple |
| City council | 0 / 11 |
| Park board | 0 / 7 |
| School board | 0 / 9 |
| Website | |
| npavancouver | |
TheNon-Partisan Association (NPA) is a municipal political party inVancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was established by the city's business leaders in 1937 to challenge thedemocratic socialistCo-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in that year's municipal election. The party has historically been described ascentre-right and drawn its strongest support from Vancouver's business community.
In the years following the2018 municipal election, seven of the NPA's ten elected officials resigned from the party, claiming that it had become right-wing and undemocratic. Several other prominent members, such as the NPA's 2018 mayoral candidateKen Sim, also resigned. Most of those departing later joinedABC Vancouver in the run-up to the2022 municipal election, which saw Sim elected as mayor and the NPA lose all its remaining seats.
The NPA was established by Vancouver's business leaders on November 13, 1937, to counteract the growing influence of the CCF.[1] Fearful of a CCF victory in the Vancouver municipal election on December 8, 1937, provincial politicians from the then-rulingBC Liberal Party launched an initiative to create a pro-business municipal party to challenge the CCF.[1][2] The NPA's first chairman wasVictor Odlum, a prominent member of Vancouver's business and political elite who had served as a LiberalMLA from 1924 to 1928.[1] Other founding members of the NPA include W. C. Woodward of Woodward's department store, Victor Spencer of Spencer's department store, and industrialistAustin Taylor.[1] Despite its party connections, the NPA claimed it was not a party, but rather a "free enterprise coalition"[3] which "oppose[d] the introduction of party politics into Vancouver's civic administration".[1]
The NPA first fielded candidates in the December 9, 1936, municipal election, which saw their mayoral candidate,George Miller, elected to office. Miller later ran in provincial elections for theBC Progressive Conservative Party.[1] Prior to the 1939 election, a member of the NPA's executive,Nelson Spencer, broke away from the party and ran independently after the NPA chose the then-incumbent Miller as its mayoral candidate instead of Spencer. The result was that the right-wing vote was split, and CCF candidateLyle Telford was elected.[1] Telford would only serve one term before NPA candidate Jack Cornett was elected in the 1940 election, beginning a decades-long period of NPA dominance on Vancouver City Council.[4]
.png){kind=logo}
Jennifer Clarke was chosen to be the NPA's mayoral candidate for the2002 municipal election, as opposed to the then-incumbent mayorPhilip Owen. Owen had been in disagreement with the rest of the party leadership due to his support forharm reduction programs in theDowntown Eastside, although Clarke stated she was also in favour of such programs. The NPA ultimately lost the mayoral race, as well as its majority on city council that it had maintained since 1986.[5]
Long-time city councillorSam Sullivan was chosen as the NPA's candidate for the2005 mayoral race,[6] which he later won. The NPA also regained its majority on city council, winning a total of six seats.[7]
Peter Ladner was the NPA's mayoral candidate for the2008 municipal election but was defeated byGregor Robertson, the candidate forVision Vancouver.[8] The NPA's electoral platform during the 2008 election focused on reducing crime, improving housing affordability, leveraging the2010 Winter Olympics, protecting the environment, advancing the city's arts and culture sector, and working collaboratively with senior levels of government, community groups, and the private sector.[9]
The party, led bySuzanne Anton as the NPA's mayoral candidate, once again lost to Robertson and Vision Vancouver in the2011 municipal election but elected two members to Vancouver City Council. Two members were also elected to the Park Board, and three members to the Vancouver School Board.[10]
On October 16, 2016, provincial education ministerMike Bernier fired the school trustees elected during the2014 municipal election for failing to pass a balanced budget.[11] NPA incumbent Fraser Ballantyne was re-elected in the subsequent2017 municipal by-election, alongside newcomer Lisa Dominato.[12]
City councillorRebecca Bligh announced on December 6, 2019, that she was leaving the NPA but would continue to serve as an independent.[13] She cited concerns over the NPA's newly elected executive team, which included members publicly opposed to the provincial sexual orientation and gender identification (SOGI) curriculum[14] and former staff of the far-rightRebel Media.[15][16] Other high profile NPA members, such as city councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung and 2018 mayoral candidateKen Sim, also voiced concerns over the party's perceived shift to the right.[17]
Three of the NPA's four remaining councillors – Lisa Dominato, Colleen Hardwick, and Sarah Kirby-Yung – announced on April 21, 2021, that they would be leaving the NPA to sit asindependents, following the decision of the board to appoint Park Board commissioner John Coupar as the 2022 NPA mayoral candidate, the board's refusal to hold an annual general meeting despite a request to do so from all its elected politicians, and broad accusations of a lack of transparency on the board's behalf.[18] Two days later, all three of the NPA's school trustees resigned from the party as well,[19] leaving an elected caucus of one councillor (Melissa De Genova) and two Park Board commissioners (John Coupar and Tricia Barker). On August 5, 2022, Coupar resigned as the NPA's mayoral candidate, with the party indicating it would nominate a new candidate before the ballot deadline.[20] Fred Harding, a retired police officer who ran for mayor with theVancouver 1st party in the 2018 election, was subsequently announced as the NPA's new mayoral candidate.[21]
Most of the elected officials who resigned from the NPA later joinedABC Vancouver in the run-up to the2022 municipal election, which saw Ken Sim elected as mayor and the defeat of all NPA incumbents.[22][23]
The NPA held a majority onVancouver City Council from 1941 to 1967, 1970 to 1972, 1978 to 1980, 1986 to 2002, and from 2005 to 2008.[citation needed] It held the mayor's office from 1941 to 1958, from 1963 to 1966, from 1986 to 2002, and from 2005 to 2008.[24] Over the years, its opposition has beenThe Electors' Action Movement (TEAM) in the 1970s, the left-wingCoalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) in the 1980s and 1990s, and centre-leftVision Vancouver in the 2000s and 2010s.[citation needed]
There have been eleven NPA mayors of Vancouver:
| Election year | Candidate | Votes | % | Position | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Tom Campbell | 54,253 | 45.1 | 1st | Elected |
| 1972 | None | – | – | – | Did not contest |
| 1974 | George Puil | 27,686 | 35.1 | 2nd | Not elected |
| 1976 | Edward Sweeney | 21,924 | 24.4 |  2nd | Not elected |
| 1978 | SupportedJack Volrich (independent) | 45,742 | 49.2 |  1st | Elected |
| 1980 | Jack Volrich | 47,107 | 44.1 |  2nd | Not elected |
| 1982 | Jonathan Baker | 36,073 | 31.2 | 2nd | Not elected |
| 1984 | Bill Vander Zalm | 49,957 | 35.7 | 2nd | Not elected |
| 1986 | Gordon Campbell | 77,562 | 55.7 | 1st | Elected |
| 1988 | Gordon Campbell | 75,545 | 62.6 | 1st | Elected |
| 1990 | Gordon Campbell | 67,950 | 53.7 | 1st | Elected |
| 1993 | Philip Owen | 46,687 | 50.0 | 1st | Elected |
| 1996 | Philip Owen | 50,969 | 53.15 | 1st | Elected |
| 1999 | Philip Owen | 51,085 | 54.19 | 1st | Elected |
| 2002 | Jennifer Clarke | 41,936 | 30.01 | 2nd | Not elected |
| 2005 | Sam Sullivan | 61,543 | 47.34 | 1st | Elected |
| 2008 | Peter Ladner | 48,794 | 39.26 | 2nd | Not elected |
| 2011 | Suzanne Anton | 58,152 | 40.15 | 2nd | Not elected |
| 2014 | Kirk LaPointe | 73,443 | 40.42 | 2nd | Not elected |
| 2018 | Ken Sim | 48,748 | 28.16 | 2nd | Not elected |
| 2022 | Fred Harding | 3,905 | 2.32 | 5th | Not elected |
| Election | Seats | +/– | Votes | % | Change (pp) | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 7 / 11 | 1 | 435,906 | 41.9 | 5.5 | Majority government |
| 1972 | 1 / 11 | 6 | 141,762 | 19.3 | 22.6 | Opposition |
| 1974 | 4 / 11 | 3 | 237,764 | 34.4 | 15.1 | Opposition |
| 1976 | 3 / 11 | 1 | 228,164 | 29.4 | 5.0 | Opposition |
| 1978 | 5 / 11 | 2 | 216,176 | 28.8 | 0.6 | Minority government |
| 1980 | 5 / 11 | | 351,802 | 38.2 | 9.4 | Opposition |
| 1982 | 3 / 11 | 2 | 367,305 | 37.0 | 1.2 | Opposition |
| 1984 | 3 / 11 | | 428,884 | 36.0 | 1.0 | Opposition |
| 1985[b] | 3 / 11 | | 44,096 | 47.2 | 11.2 | |
| 1986 | 8 / 11 | 5 | 503,683 | 42.2 | 5.0 | Majority government |
| 1988 | 7 / 11 | 1 | 485,295 | 43.0 | 0.8 | Majority government |
| 1990 | 6 / 11 | 1 | 446,624 | 41.4 | 1.6 | Majority government |
| 1992[b] | 7 / 11 | 1 | 11,573 | 42.5 | 1.1 | |
| 1993 | 10 / 11 | 3 | 378,505 | 47.7 | 5.2 | Majority government |
| 1996 | 11 / 11 | 1 | 422,118 | 50.54 | 2.84 | Majority government |
| 1999 | 9 / 11 | 2 | 361,315 | 45.29 | 5.25 | Majority government |
| 2002 | 2 / 11 | 7 | 368,068 | 32.13 | 13.16 | Opposition |
| 2005 | 6 / 11 | 4 | 498,082 | 45.96 | 13.83 | Majority government |
| 2008 | 1 / 11 | 5 | 394,839 | 38.00 | 7.96 | Opposition |
| 2011 | 2 / 11 | 1 | 456,256 | 37.88 | 0.12 | Opposition |
| 2014 | 3 / 11 | 1 | 474,841 | 32.68 | 5.20 | Opposition |
| 2017[b] | 4 / 11 | 1 | 13,372 | 27.83 | 4.85 | |
| 2018 | 5 / 11 | 1 | 347,752 | 24.83 | 3.00 | Crossbench |
| 2022 | 0 / 11 | 5 | 82,608 | 6.14 | 18.69 | No seats |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
