Charlie Smith seeks the support of Richmond-Bridgeport residents to run as an independent
B.C.'s Election Act requires candidates to secure the signatures of 75 people who live in a constituency in order to exercise their democratic right to run for office.
I’m doing something a little unusual for this B.C. election campaign. I’ve decided that I want to run as an independent candidate in Richmond-Bridgeport.
What are my qualifications? I’m the former editor of the Georgia Straight, where I wrote about public policies for 27 years. I also worked at CBC Radio for 13 years. In addition, I taught journalism on the Richmond campus of Kwantlen University College (now Kwantlen Polytechnic University) for seven years. I devoted a great deal of attention to increasing students’ understanding of public issues and their appreciation for the diversity within diasporas.
Why do I want to run in Richmond-Bridgeport? Here are seven major reasons:
1. The B.C. NDP government’s decision to put a 90-unit affordable housing project on hold in Richmond-Bridgeport in the midst of a housing crisis. The government caved in the face of community opposition, even though this project was proceeding through the City of Richmond’s rezoning process;
2. The premier’s office meddled in communications around Vancouver Coastal Health’s decision not to proceed with a much-needed, life-saving, stand-alone supervised consumption site near Richmond Hospital. The hospital is on the south side of Westminster Highway, which is the border between Richmond-Bridgeport and Richmond Centre;
3. B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad’s declaration that he will revoke the Housing Statutes (Residential Development) Amendment Act (Bill 44). This legislation will increase housing supply, provide employment, and enable homeowners to generate income to pay their mortgages. It also gives municipalities authority to enact tenant-protection bylaws. These bylaws can require developers to provide financial assistance, assistance with finding a new place to live, and opportunities for right of first refusal on units in a new building;
4. B.C. Conservative MLA Teresa Wat voted against a motion by Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon to pass Bill 44 without amendment. Wat is running in Richmond-Bridgeport and I would like to see her defeated for this reason. I’m also disappointed in her lack of leadership in responding to irresponsible media reporting on housing issues, which contributed to a wave of anti-Asian hatred;
5. The B.C. Conservatives have shown little interest in advancing evidence-based solutions to three monumental concerns: the poisoned-drug crisis, global heating, and airborne transmission of COVID-19;
6. The B.C. Conservatives’ irresponsible positions on these issues are leading the premier to embrace foolish ideas, like abandoning the carbon tax and endorsing the discredited approach of mandatory treatment for people who use illicit drugs;
7. While I believe that the B.C. Greens are generally on the right track on the poisoned-drug crisis, global heating, and airborne transmission of COVID-19, I’m disappointed in their housing policies. When there’s a famine, you need to get food to the people. When there’s a housing famine, you need to get homes to the people. I’m not convinced that overly cautious key officials in the B.C. Green Party fully appreciate the links between the housing shortage, rising racism, and young people embracing political extremism.
I will have more to say about these issues over the course of the campaign. Ultimately, I’m hoping to run to advance understanding about important public issues.
Concerns over the Election Act
By announcing my wish to become an independent candidate, I also want to make a point about B.C.’s Election Act. As it’s currently written, it’s difficult for the average person to run as an independent in B.C. I can only imagine how challenging it would be for a new Canadian who’s still learning English or for someone with a disability.
Under Section 3 of the Constitution Act, 1982, we all have the democratic right to run for election to the legislative assembly. But B.C.’s Election Act throws obstacles in the way of that right—and I suspect that some of these obstacles are unconstitutional.
One of those obstacles is that I must obtain the signatures of 75 nominators in Richmond-Bridgeport to get my name on the ballot.
I encourage any resident of Richmond-Bridgeport to email me at charliesmithvancouver@gmail.com if you would like to nominate me and sign my nomination papers. To do this, you must also list your address.
Another obstacle is that I must find a Chartered Professional Accountant to agree to be my auditor. I will pay the person a fee to sign the document.
Here’s the kicker. I won’t actually need anyone to audit my election spending! That’s because I won’t exceed the $10,000 threshold that requires an audit. I just need a CPA to sign a document. That’s the law.
If you know a CPA who is willing to do this, please contact me at charliesmithvancouver@gmail.com. I’ve sent emails to two CPA firms and received no response. Elections B.C. has advised me to keep calling people.
Thirdly, I need to set up an election bank account. I visited the branch where I have banked for 35 years. The staff were understandably ignorant of the requirements of the Election Act. I was told that I had to set up a small-business account, which would be done a few days later over the phone.
When a bank official phoned me from Edmonton, she didn’t know that the Election Act requires me to open a bank account before spending money on a campaign, including spending money on securing nominators. She wanted all the documentation before she would consent to opening an election account.
I emailed her the letter from Elections BC explaining Section 177 of the Election Act. But that wasn’t sufficient. I had to supply the entire nomination package of documents. Presumably, that included the signed promise from an auditor.
I will try a third time to open an election account. It’s worth noting that I’ve never bounced a cheque or disappointed my bank in any other way over the past 35 years.
If these Election Act obstacles prevent me from getting my name on the ballot, I will still conduct myself as an independent candidate in Richmond-Bridgeport throughout the course of the B.C. election campaign. I will do this by sharing my thoughts on the campaign on my Substack account. If I’m not officially nominated, I will not knock on people’s doors and falsely represent that I’m a candidate, nor will I try to crash all-candidates meetings or mislead the media with a false claim that I’m on the ballot.
This will leave me the option of pursuing a constitutional challenge against B.C.’s Election Act in the future. If I do this, it would be in solidarity with anyone else who has wanted to pursue their constitutionally guaranteed democratic right to run for the legislative assembly, only to be thwarted by a provincial law that prevents this from occurring.
Regardless of whether you support my candidacy or not, I hope you take the time to vote in the upcoming B.C. election.