The chair of the Vancouver School Board is speaking out about her decision to leave the ABC Party and sit on the board as an independent member.
Victoria Jung tells 1130 NewsRadio the party’s recent attempts to pause the work of the Vancouver Integrity Commissioner — which looks into complaints against elected officials — had made her consider her values.
“The integrity commissioner is there to keep elected individuals accountable and to be transparent in the work that they do,” she said.
“So if they’re looking to halt that process, I question the reasons why.”
She says while she was optimistic when she joined the party two years ago, she’s since become disillusioned with the way party leaders communicate — especially when her questions about the integrity commissioner incident went unanswered.
“I tried to call the mayor. I did not get through to him. I left him a voicemail. And I tried a couple of my colleagues, and I was able to speak with one. I know it’s a busy time for everyone, or they’re on vacation,” Jung said.
“I was able to speak to one, and they understood.”
Jung says she believes the party — including Mayor Ken Sim — needs to recommit itself to transparency — and says the attempt to suspend investigations by the integrity commissioner made her question if they were hiding something.
Jung announced Wednesday that she was resigning as a member of the party over the “recent events questioning the office of the Vancouver Integrity Commissioner.”
“The trust the people of Vancouver placed in me during the 2022 municipal election is not taken lightly. And while differences do indeed come and go for elected officials, the imperative to serve in the public interest — versus private interest — is one that is not negotiable,” she posted on X Wednesday.
“And so at this juncture, I feel I need to make a change, and serve as an Independent School Trustee. What is not changing, is my commitment to the principals that brought me to the ballot.”
Jung’s resignation from ABC comes just days after Integrity Commissioner Lisa Southern released two reports spotlighting the rocky relationship between Sim’s office and the Vancouver Park Board, which has led to integrity complaints from both sides.
Jung’s announcement came a day after council voted to postpone a vote on the future of the integrity commissioner, after Sim said Coun. Pete Fry had “broken the expected confidentiality of the process” by emailing his colleagues to notify them of a complaint he was launching a day prior.
Council voted last month to freeze the work of the Office of the Integrity Commissioner and launch an independent review, citing Southern’s annual report in which she said the scope of her office and its oversight over council are not always clear.
As that vote was made, Southern was in the midst of investigating two integrity complaints involving the mayor’s office and the park board — one from each side — including accusations of political interference and breach of trust.
Those reports were released Aug. 2, ultimately dismissing the complaints, but highlighting the acrimonious relationship between the two sides as Sim and his ABC Vancouver-dominated council work to dissolve the Vancouver Park Board.
Jung explained that she considers her position as a trustee an “honour and a privilege” and will continue to honour the trust the people of Vancouver have placed in her.
—With files from Charlie Carey.