“I’m really disheartened at the level of resignation we’ve seen,” says Vancouver Pride Society (VPS) vice-president Sandra LaFramboise. Victor Bearpark resigned as secretary Apr 14, making him the sixth person in as many months to leave the Pride board.
Numerous attempts to reach Bearpark for comment were unsuccessful.
VPS president Ken Coolen says he “wasn’t completely surprised” by Bearpark’s resignation.
“As I’ve said many times before, it’s a working board,” Coolen remarks, surmising that Bearpark had been “overwhelmed” by the demands of his position.
When Bearpark’s departure is made official at the next VPS board meeting on Apr 27, the appointment of his replacement will mean that more than one third of the VPS board will not have been democratically elected by its membership.
LaFramboise feels the inner workings of the VPS should be made better known to the community at large.
Currently, she says, the public sees only a “sanitized” version of meeting minutes. “But they don’t get to see that there’s been some very heated discussions, disagreements, that kind of stuff,” she says.
Despite the latest resignation, Coolen maintains that “everything’s fine” with the VPS.