Coun. Chak Au first considered joining the BC Liberal Party before siding with the BC NDP, to run for MLA of the Richmond South Centre riding.
Last Friday, on the day of Au’s NDP announcement at Richmond Caring Place, the Liberal Party provided emails to the News, dated February 2016, showing Au seeking a nomination as a Liberal Party candidate, thus calling into question where Au’s political allegiances stand.
Au told the News the leak of his “expression of interest” is nothing more than “nasty strategies” by the BC Liberals and that he has not hidden his past connections to the right-of-centre party.
“They talked to me at the end of 2015, around the time Christy Clark was making a trip to China. We had a dialogue. The email (to the Liberals) was suggested to me by a local Liberal member,” said Au.
“I was always open to try to see which group was more appropriate,” said Au, describing himself as a non-partisan politician, who “works with people.”
However, Au said dialogue between him and the Liberals broke down last summer.
“They are very top-down. They weren’t going to listen unless you became a mouth of the party and you cannot offer them different opinions,” said Au.
He said the NDP approached him in December and he was upfront with NDP leader John Horgan about his earlier interest in joining the Liberals.
Au explained that his initial intention to run for a provincial seat was out of a desire to bring more transparency and dialogue between local MLAs and city councillors.
On Friday, Au told NDP supporters and Horgan that there has been failed dialogue between the two sides, as far back as his first year on council in 2011.
Au cited two major concerns: the stall to rebuild Richmond Hospital and education funding, including delays to upgrade schools for seismic safety.
Au’s allegiances in federal politics has also been across the political spectrum from the NDP, as he is a long-time contributor to the Conservative Party of Canada; he said he supports MP Alice Wong for the work she does in the community. Au also supported Coun. Carol Day last provincial election when she ran for the provincial Conservatives.
Au said he sees himself as a centrist and stressed his commitment to improving international trade for local businesses (in 2015 he was invited by the Liberals to join them on a trade mission to China).
He said he is supportive of social justice issues for minorities, such as gay and transgender people, but is nevertheless reserved in his personal beliefs.
His voting record on council has, several times, aligned with Coun. Harold Steves, a committed NDP member (and last NDP MLA to be elected in Richmond, in 1972).
For example, Au has called upon the city to increase social grant funding and he and Steves, as well as Day, were the first councillors to oppose the George Massey Tunnel replacement bridge.
Steves said Au’s commitment to protecting farmland is a key indicator of Au’s alignment with the NDP.
“I hope you win,” said Steves, whom Au called his “mentor on council.”
Horgan called Au the NDP’s “headliner” in Richmond, given his past victories at city hall and the school board.
