Vancouver election candidates hauled into court after requesting non-English names on ballot

The City of Vancouver’s chief electoral officer served a number of candidates running in the upcoming civic election with court papers this week over the names they have chosen to appear on the ballot.

NPA mayoral candidate Fred Harding was one of 10 candidates from his party who appeared before a judge in provincial court Thursday because they wish to use Chinese or other non-Latin characters.

“My wife is Chinese and we’ve been together for 12 years,” Harding said. “Half of my family is Chinese.”

Harding’s actual given names are Harold Christopher and he initially submitted nomination papers with “Fred Harding” written in the section for usual names.

He later submitted amended documents with “Fred Harding” followed by his name in Chinese characters in the section for usual names.

According to the Vancouver Charter, nomination papers must include the full name of the person nominated and “the usual name of the person nominated, if the full name of the person is different from the name the person usually uses.”

Incumbent councillor Melissa De Genova is one of the NPA candidates who appeared in court.

Like Harding, she wants her name on the ballot in English followed by Chinese characters.

The city’s application to provincial court seeks to have 15 candidates in a similar situation use only Latin characters on the ballot.

“There’s going to be some big charter issues here and some other issues that are going to come to light,” Harding said.

COPE school board candidate Suzie Mah’s parents gave her a Chinese name at birth before she had an English one.

She declined to comment on what might be motivating other candidates who are not of Chinese descent to use Chinese names on the ballot.

“Today’s challenge is all about me. It’s about my right to use my usual name. I cannot comment on what other people have decided to do,” she said. “All I can say is that my usual name in Chinese is legitimate and this is something I believe I should fight for today.”

A lawyer representing the city’s chief electoral officer told the judge the city’s charter requires a decision to be handed down by 4 p.m. on Friday but the judge would not commit to meeting that deadline.

No arguments were heard in court Thursday morning as the judge tried to manage 15 respondents, most without legal representation, who were all eager to speak.

Instead, he decided to give the unrepresented candidates a day to find lawyers and told everyone to return to court on Friday.