Former Burnaby First Coalition candidate Janice Beecroft has decided to go her own way and seek a council seat as an independent in Burnaby’s civic election.
The Burnaby school district supervisor said she struggled to separate herself from some of the party’s more controversial candidates when she ran for school board in the 2014 election. The BFC’s main goal was to provide an opposition to the long-reigning Burnaby Citizens Association, she said, but that meant uniting people with diverse ideologies.
“It is very hard in the political climate that we live in, especially with social media, to join forces with very different-minded people because you are stigmatized with their beliefs, whether they’re yours or not,” she said.
Beecroft said her union refused to support her 2014 trustee candidacy, saying “well, you’re running with that homophobic group.”
Two BFC candidates in both 2014 and 2018, Heather Leung and Charter Lau, have been vocal opponents of school board policies meant to protect staff and students from homophobic and transphobic bullying.
Beecroft said she does not share their controversial views on sexuality and gender.
She admitted that trying to break the BCA’s monopoly on power will be a challenge, especially as an independent. (The NDP-affiliated party has held every elected seat on council and school board for a decade.)
A “blitz” campaign will rely heavily on door-knocking and canvassing, with special focus put on housing and traffic issues, she said.
The city should be leveraging its bylaw powers to “bring in more rental stock that is not just highrises,” Beecroft said. There is an acute lack of three-bedroom apartments that can accommodate local families, she said.
Beecroft said she also wants to spearhead partnerships with other levels of government and organizations to create new housing, including co-ops.
She also vowed to champion a new arterial connection between the coming Pattullo Bridge replacement and Highway 1. It’s a long planned-for project that hasn’t come to fruition “due to lack of follow-through” from both municipal and provincial governments, according to Beecroft.
