NPA mayoral candidate Kirk LaPointe unveils the party’s candidates for Park Board commissioner and School Board trustee during a news conference in Vancouver on July 30, 2014.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
Mayoral candidate Kirk LaPointe says the $470,000 his party president has donated to the Non-Partisan Association won't buy any special influence if Mr. LaPointe becomes mayor next week.
Peter Armstrong's donations, disclosed Friday, account for about 20 per cent of the $2.1-million in the financial war chest of the NPA, according to a summary of donors and donations.
Mr. Armstrong's donations include $360,000 through his Great Canadian Railtour Company Ltd. – the largest single donation to the NPA – plus personal donations.
Over all, the list released Friday shows the party raised $1.89-million in donations from 966 donors between Jan. 1, 2014, and Nov. 4, 2014, plus non-campaign donations such as tickets to party galas. By comparison, its key rival, Vision Vancouver, said it had raised $2.2-million – including $320,000 from unions.
Mr. LaPointe told a news conference that Mr. Armstrong has "kept the lights on" for the NPA, supporting the party between elections, but that he has ceded control of the party to its mayoral candidate.
"[Mr. Armstrong] knows I am my own guy," Mr. LaPointe said.
Mr. Armstrong, who said he will not be seeking another term as NPA president, agreed. "He's the boss," he said of Mr. LaPointe.
If Mr. LaPointe wins on Nov. 15, Mr. Armstrong said, "I am not going to call him for any kind of assistance or whatever."
Mr. Armstrong said he was happy to support 20 NPA candidates for various positions in municipal government.
He said he donated because of his aversion to Vision Vancouver, which has a majority on council.
"I don't like their style. I think they're oppressive. They're difficult people to work with."
Political parties in Vancouver have been racing to disclose their donor lists although they are not required to do so under provincial rules for 90 days after an election.
Mr. LaPointe got the ball rolling last week by promising, after a meeting with The Globe and Mail reporters and editors in Vancouver, to disclose donors. Since then, the Green Party, the Coalition of Progressive Electors and OneCity have all released their donor lists.
Notable disclosures in Friday's release include $100,000 from Haywood Securities, $75,000 from Savary Management, $60,000 from Macdonald Development Corp. and $25,000 from Vancouver-based mining giant Teck Resources. Mr. LaPointe, who donated $1,000, was among party officials making donations. Former NPA mayor Philip Owen donated $5,000 and former NPA mayor Sam Sullivan donated $500.
Mayor Gregor Robertson told his own news conference later Friday that it was odd to have so much of the party's finances come from one donor. "It fits the pattern of the NPA being funded by a few men," he said, referring to a $960,000 donation from developer Rob Macdonald to the NPA in 2011.
Mr. Robertson said voters are only now tuning in to the election. "It's now up to the parties to make their case," he said, echoing his comments this week that the race between Vision and the NPA to govern Vancouver has tightened considerably.
"Vision will be working hard to make sure people understand our record," he said.
Mr. Robertson also said Vision will pursue a defamation lawsuit against Mr. LaPointe and the NPA, based on the party's advertising, regardless of the outcome of the election.
"I am intending on pursuing that these kinds of nasty, personal attacks are not part of Vancouver politics going forward."
Mr. LaPointe said, earlier Friday, that the lawsuit is a case of Vision bullying and he will not pull the ads. "They can sue all they want, but they're not going to silence me or my team in the final days of this campaign."
Ian Bailey