Two current city councillors are hopping on board a new political party whose only stated goal, to date, is to have more civic engagement.
The self-proclaimed non-partisan Richmond Community Coalition (RCC) pulled Ken Johnston away from Richmond First while Chak Au leaves the Richmond Independent Team of Electors (RITE).
RCC candidate chair Sylvia Gwozd, a former Richmond school board trustee and chair — who unsuccessfully ran for council in 2005 with Richmond First — said Au can be instrumental in bridging the perceived gap between the new immigrant community and multi-generational Richmondites.
Au, a social worker and trained counsellor who works at Vancouver Coastal Health, said he wants more engagement, particularly with the Chinese-Canadian community.
"I have concerns about racial relations. We have to work together. …We have much room to improve in terms of interaction amongst different cultural groups," said Au, in front of a handful of reporters representing local media outlets during a press conference at Minoru Park.
Au, who speaks Cantonese and Mandarin, immigrated to Richmond from Hong Kong 1988. He said he feels he can be the "bridge" for new Chinese-Canadians.
"I was trained to listen, because that's my job and in order to be an effective councillor I have to listen to people and put myself in their shoes. Listening to people is my nature," said Au, a former school board trustee.
Au noted new immigrants need to have democratic culture instilled in them in order to get them participating.
"We know for many Asian immigrants, they come from a place where democracy and public participation was not part of their experience. …We have to do a lot of things to engage them," said Au.
Johnston, a certified accountant and businessman, said Richmond needs "meatier" engagement; while he says councillors and city staff attend many local events and host advisory groups, he would like to see greater outreach with community groups.
"There's one area that I would like to see improved and one issue that drew me to the coalition, and that is engagement; civic engagement and voter turnout," he said.
When pressed on why he left Richmond First, Johnston thanked his former running mates but remained silent on specific details.
"I ran six elections with these folks and I consider them friends. …I'll let them answer for themselves," said Johnston, a former MLA for the BC Liberal Party from 2001 to 2005, who has served a combined 14 years on city council.
RCC claims to be a non-partisan group and Johnston noted there is little voting along party lines in civic politics to begin with.
This month, the party hosted its first town hall meeting. Another meeting, which will focus on youth engagement, is scheduled for Aug. 20 at the Richmond Cultural Centre.
Ultimately, Gwozd said the party plans to have "several" town hall meetings throughout the year, after the election.
Gwozd said the party will announce more candidates at a later date.
Johnston said specific platform issues will be shaped following the town hall meetings. He did note that improvements to infrastructure, public safety and saving agricultural land are among the largest overarching issues on his mind.
In 2011, a mere 23.74 per cent of the city's 131,082 registered voters casted ballots in the municipal election, up from 22.1 per cent in 2008.
In April city council scaled back its "Vote Anywhere" campaign; come the election in November voters must now vote at their designated station. Au opposed the move while Johnston voted in favour of it.
@WestcoastWood
