A sign is shown at the Elections BC office in Victoria, B.C.CHAD HIPOLITO/The Canadian Press
A candidate running in a Vancouver municipal council by-election for the city’s dominant ABC party has been forced to apologize for using the personal e-mail addresses of his police union colleagues to ask for their support.
Sergeant Ralph Kaisers is on leave from the city’s police force and as president of the Vancouver Police Union while he runs for a city council seat in a by-election next month.
His use of the private information gleaned through his work as president of the union does not violate Elections BC rules, but the e-mail angered some recipients, including one who leaked it to The Globe and Mail. Acting VPU president Sergeant James Hubert said in a statement the use of the personal information was not authorized.
“Protecting our members’ privacy is a priority, and we remain committed to safeguarding their personal information,” he said.
When contacted last week by The Globe, Mr. Kaisers apologized via text message.
“I made a mistake, I apologized to the union, asked them to apologize to anyone who was upset by the e-mail and it won’t happen again,” said Mr. Kaisers, who is expected to retire from three decades with the Vancouver Police Department at the beginning of May. He did not respond when asked for further clarification as to how this mistake occurred.
Critics say Mr. Kaiser’s move is one of many recent examples of ABC politicians bending rules to ensure the party keeps its hold on the city.
The April 5 by-election is shaping up to be a referendum on Mayor Ken Sim’s party, which won eight of 11 council seats in the 2022 municipal election, as well as majorities on the park and school boards.
Internal conflicts have since led to several defections on council as well as the park and school boards.
Back in 2022, the VPU – helmed by then president, Mr. Kaisers – broke with its tradition of staying out of politics to endorse Mr. Sim, Vancouver’s first mayor of Chinese descent. His policies have since emphasized a law-and-order approach to solving the cascading crises of poverty, homelessness, complex mental illness and severe addictions that thousands of people are grappling with in and around the city’s Downtown Eastside.
In his Feb. 27 letter to his fellow officers, Mr. Kaisers said the ABC party would ensure this support for the department continues and asked them to vote for him, volunteer for the party, put up a lawn sign or donate money to his party.
“Our work is vital, and advocacy at all levels of government is key to ensuring we have the support, funding, and the respect we deserve,” he said in a copy of the e-mail obtained by The Globe.
“Having allies at city hall will make a difference for you, for the membership and for the VPD as a whole.”
Stewart Prest, a political science lecturer at the University of British Columbia, said this communication is alarming.
“It starts to creep into even larger questions of political oversight of policing, which is always a murky question in Canada and just about everywhere else,” said Dr. Prest.
ABC also came under fire this week for putting up 2,000 signs on the lawns of people who had supported the party in the past, saying they could opt out beforehand via e-mail.
Scott Jensen, a park board commissioner who was thrown out of ABC in December, 2023, after being threatened with discipline if he didn’t vote the way party leadership wanted, said his mother-in-law had a sign put on her lawn against her wishes and it took a day following his complaint before the party removed it. He said the incident shows ABC feels entitled to votes.
The rival OneCity Vancouver party has filed an official complaint with ElectionsBC alleging ABC has violated campaign rules by not receiving people’s express consent to put up signs.
Mr. Sim apologized for the unwanted signs at an unrelated news conference Thursday, but, the following day, his campaign director for the by-election said the signs do not violate campaign advertising rules.
Stephen Carter, an experienced political strategist from Alberta, said his party’s political rivals are just jealous.
“Read the rules. Think creatively,” Mr. Carter said .
With a report from Andrea Woo