A new elector organization with conservative and Christian ties is running school board candidates in eight B.C. school districts, but critics say the group is trying to keep some of its harder right-wing ideology under wraps.
ParentsVoice B.C. (PVBC) has nominated 28 candidates in a number of communities across the province.
Its website states the party seeks to “take back our schools,” and calls for schools to focus on preparing kids for “productive adulthood, not the trends of the day.”
The site says trustees should represent parents rather than “special interests” and calls for lesson plans to be published “for all to see,” and for education to reflect “values in the community in which they are taught.”
“I think the underlying thing is, ‘Is this a secret cabal of freedom fighters trying to take over the school system?’ And the answer is definitely no,'” PVBC campaign manager Fritz Radandt told Global News in an interview.
Radandt and party founder Mark Vella, a vocal abortion opponent, both have longstanding ties to the federal Conservative Party which neither are hiding.
Vella is a former Conservative riding association president in Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon. He was elected to the Abbotsford Conservative Electoral District Association board in 2021.
“We never ask anyone their stance on COVID issues, we never asked what their religion was,” he said of the new slate.
But critics say some candidates running under the the PVBC banner are downplaying socially conservative and extreme views on issues like sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) , LGBTQ2 rights, reproductive rights and vaccine and mask mandates.
“I think that is problematic when you have people on school board that’s going to continue (to) promote those values,” Suzie Mah, a Vancouver school board candidate running with COPE said.
“Because at the end of the day, we are living in today. We don’t want to push things back 30 to 50 years ago.”
PVBC openly admits its candidates have been told to tidy their social media profiles of information or views that could be detrimental or embarrassing.
Even so, the public Facebook profile of Kelowna candidate Teresa Docksteader remains dominated by anti-vaccine and pro “freedom convoy” content.
Vernon candidate Sylvia Herchen organized a 2020 anti-lockdown protest in Vernon, and profile photos on her Facebook page call for resistance to “tyranny” and “experimental” vaccines. At least one of the party’s candidates spoke at a anti COVID-restriction “freedom rally” in Vancouver last year.
Delta candidate Carmen Halpenny’s page includes links to misinformation about 5G radiation and Ivermectin, the anti-parasite treatment doctors have warned against using to treat COVID, while Chilliwack candidate Elliott Friesen recently posted in support of U.S. abortion bans with the hashtag #unbornlivesmatter,
None of these views are advertised on the party’s website, and the organization insists it stands for promoting community values, transparency and independence from special interest groups and government,
“We have candidates who have children who are gay, we have candidates who are pro-SOGI,” Radandt said.
But critics like Mah say they aren’t convinced.
“When I went to their website and had a look at it, of course it’s very general,” she said.
“You can’t dig deep enough in there to find out exactly what it is that those candidates will stand for, and how they are going to work together as a provincial organization to forward what their principles are.”
Voters will go to the polls in B.C.’s civic elections on Oct. 15.