Vision Vancouver has added a fifth person to its slate of candidates for park board in the November 19 municipal election.
Lawyer Niki Sharma will run under the Vision Vancouver banner, the civic party announced today (September 12).
Sharma, a Vancouver resident who practises aboriginal law, said she is excited to be a candidate with Mayor Gregor Robertson’s party.
“I think that first of all the park board that’s in right now has a really strong record to rely upon and there’s a lot of things that they did right that we need to continue to do in the future,” she told the Straight by phone.
Sharma highlighted increasing the amount of green space and keeping community centres inclusive and affordable as key issues.
As a lawyer, Sharma has worked with residential school survivors and first nations band councils. She also has a degree in environmental biology from Queen’s University and sits on the board of Battered Women’s Support Services.
“I think I have a strong background not only in environmental issues and volunteering with that but also as an advocate for social justice issues,” she said.
“This Vision team really has a philosophy and values that I believe in and I hope that I can bring that energy and that background to help them out.”
Mayor Robertson welcomed Sharma to the team of Vision Vancouver candidates.
"Her commitment to making our community facilities and parks more affordable and accessible, as well as her long-standing work on social justice and environmental issues, stands in direct contrast to the out-of-touch priorities of Suzanne Anton and the NPA,” he said in a statement.
Vision Vancouver’s slate of candidates for park board already includes incumbents Constance Barnes, Sarah Blyth, and Aaron Jasper. Trevor Loke is the only other non-incumbent Vision Vancouver candidate for park board.
As for other civic parties, the Non-Partisan Association has a slate of six candidates for park board including John Coupar, Casey Crawford, Melissa de Genova, Gabby Kalaw, Dave Pasin, and Jason Upton.
The Green Party is holding a nomination meeting tomorrow and has touted incumbent Stuart Mackinnon as a potential candidate for park board.
The Coalition of Progressive Electors is scheduled to hold a nomination meeting on September 18 to select candidates for the municipal election.
COPE plans to run two candidates for park board as part of an electoral agreement with Vision Vancouver.
