Pride VP resigns

Activist and board member Sandra LaFramboise fills vacant post

Citing personal reasons, Laura McDiarmid left her post as the Vancouver Pride Society’s (VPS) vice president Mar 16.

“It has been a very difficult decision to make,” McDiarmid’s resignation letter reads in part.

Filling McDiarmid’s shoes is Sandra LaFramboise, a longstanding community activist and current VPS board member.

Placing a strong emphasis on delegation and oversight, LaFramboise says despite the already heavy workload she carries as chair of the finance and governance committees, she does not anticipate great difficulty in her role as vice president.

“I have to stay focused on the bigger picture of the organization,” she notes, “and be the right-hand man to Ken [Coolen], our president, and stand behind him 150 percent.”

Asked if the community should be concerned about the VPS and its direction, McDiarmid says “we need to be focusing more on our community as opposed to corporate [interests] — and this is the kind of economic reality that brings that home.”

The VPS board now has five slots open.

A few days after she left the VPS board, McDiarmid announced she’ll run on the Liberal ticket in Vancouver-West End, where she will face off against NDP MLA Spencer Herbert in the upcoming provincial election.

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