Labour and environmental groups are sticking with Rob Vagramov as candidate for Port Moody mayor despite a controversial 2014 video in which he chugs a beer with a homeless person in exchange for a sandwich.
But Rick Glumac, MLA for Port Moody-Coquitlam and a former PoMo city councillor, has withdrawn his endorsement — which was to be made public in already printed campaign mailouts being distributed to households in advance of the Oct. 20 civic election — because he has concerns about the video that surfaced Tuesday.
“A video of municipal candidate Rob Vagramov taken several years ago was shown to me recently,” Glumac wrote on his Facebook page Wednesday. “The content of the video was deeply offensive and inconsistent with views and values I hold about dignity and respect for all people. After taking some time to reflect on what I saw and heard, I can no longer stand by my endorsement of [Vagramov’s] candidacy.”
Thursday afternoon, Vagramov made a full apology for his video.
"While I might not like that this video is being unearthed now by political opponents to hurt my campaign, I am far more disappointed in my actions back then," he said in an email to The Tri-City News."
But some are characterizing the release of the video from 2014 as part of a campaign to make Vagramov look bad in the eyes of the voting public.
“[The video] was trotted out deliberately at this time by his opponents in what I would call is a smear campaign,” Coun. Hunter Madsen said. “I am still supporting him, I still think he will be the better mayor for Port Moody.”
Madsen also said that while the behaviour on the video showed poor judgment, it was more of a stunt, with Vagramov “playing a character that he would say is dislikable,” and was not a true reflection of his colleague.
“While I know Rob has to regret sort of the poor judgement in the tasteless, but not mean-spirited, video that I think was not sensitive as it should have been to homelessness, to me — and I know he has apologized for it — it should not be a pretext for jettisoning his campaign at a time when we need a transition to new blood.”
To some of his supporters, Vagramov’s views on homelessness are more accurately revealed in another video — posted Monday on Facebook in anticipation of the original clip becoming public — where he discusses homelessness with a housing advocate than the profanity-laden 2014 video.
In fact, the longer video posted to Facebook Monday is one of the main reasons the New Westminster District Labour Council (NWDLC) continues to endorse Vagramov for mayor in his bid against incumbent Mike Clay.
In an email to The Tri-City News, NWDLC secretary-treasurer Janet Andrews said that her labour organization — which suggests who its members vote for based on candidates with shared values — takes homelessness, mental health and addictions seriously.
She said the group is disappointed the 2014 video is being circulated “out of context” because the newer video shows Vagramov’s current views.
An environmental group called Force of Nature has also declined to drop Vagramov from its list of supported council candidates.
In an email, Katie Harrison, the group’s executive director, said Force of Nature doesn’t “condone” Vagramov’s choice to engage with a homeless person in such a matter.
“It is important to hold politicians accountable for their past actions and we hope that there will be an opportunity to move to a more thoughtful conversation about what needs to be done at a systemic level to address questions of homelessness and addiction,” Harrison stated.
A similar point was made by PoMo council candidate Amy Lubik, who has stepped down from her post as volunteer director of the group while campaigning. In an interview with The Tri-City News, Lubik, who said she considers Vagramov a friend, said the original video shows a “lack of judgment” but the more recent video about homelessness shows that Vagramov is more aware of the issues around homelessness and he “does regret his actions” in the earlier video.
Lubik also said she worked with Vagramov on a motion to council to make sure Riverview is included in the province’s mental health and addictions strategy.
But one supporter — who worked with both Madsen and Vagramov early in the campaign — said she would like to see more of an apology from Vagramov.
“The video is about doing a random act of kindness. Well, kindness doesn’t look like that,” said Tasha Faye Evans, who is also running for PoMo council and said she got help from both Madsen and Vagramov in preparing her campaign, and agrees with Vagramov’s vision for the city.
“He needs to be able to apologize for his behaviour, not only apologize for his behaviour but to speak to what he has learned over the last four years about his leadership role and how he wants to correct his incorrect behaviours,” she said, suggesting that the longer video in which he talks about homelessness doesn’t go far enough in addressing the earlier video.
“It’s so disappointing because I want his vision. The alternative is that Port Moody is going to be led down another path,” Evans said.
