Bob Mackin
A pair of Coalition Vancouver school board candidates is taking issue with a OneCity city council candidate listing his name in Chinese characters on the Oct. 20 ballot.
Ken Denike and Sophia Woo filed a challenge of Brandon Oliver Yan’s registration in B.C. Supreme Court before the Sept. 18 deadline.
OneCity’s Brandon Yan and his grandparents (Twitter)
“There are 158 candidates [for mayor, city council, park board and school board], his is [the] only ballot accepted by B.C. Elections (Vancouver city office). No other candidate allowed same privilege,” said the statement of claim. “We hereby request either his Chinese characters be removed or all eligible candidates be given same opportunity/privilege.”
On Yan’s registration, he identified himself as “Yan, Brandon Oliver.” His preferred name for the ballot is “Yan, Brandon 甄念本.”
City hall spokeswoman Ellie Lambert said it is too late to change nomination documents. Yan, she said, was asked by the city’s chief election officer, Rosemary Hagiwara, to confirm that the Chinese characters, 甄念本, are his usual name.
“Mr. Yan provided written confirmation that the Chinese characters are his usual name given to him at birth by his parents,” Lambert said. “Section 44(1)(b) of the Vancouver Charter allows candidates to be listed with any name they are commonly known as (usual name) to ensure they are identifiable on the ballot. In this case Brandon Yan confirmed to Election officials that he is known to some people by his Chinese name.”
In the 2014 election, COPE candidate Audrey Siegl was listed on the ballot beside her Musqueam name, sχɬemtəna:t.
OneCity campaign manager Deanna Ogle refused to let theBreaker speak to Yan.
“They filed at the exact same spot with the exact same rules as Brandon did,” Ogle said. “It is their responsibility as candidates to understand the rules and make requests. The school board list has Mrs. Doubtfire on it and we’re focusing on this?”
Denike and Woo are trying to make a comeback after 2014 when they were ejected from the NPA for opposing changes to the school board’s policy on transgendered students. They unsuccessfully ran for Vancouver 1st.
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