Members of a parent group concerned about public education in New Westminster insist their group is non-partisan, even though one of its founders is a school board candidate with a labour endorsement.
Kelly Slade-Kerr, an employment lawyer who received the endorsement of the unions through the New Westminster and District Labour Council, said the group she helped found, Parents for Public Education (P4PE), isn't driven by politics.
“You just have to look at the composition of the steering committee and the people that are steering it right now to realize that this is not a labour-run initiative. It’s just a group of parents, that’s it,” she said.
Slade-Kerr stepped away from P4PE's steering committee because the group is considering endorsing candidates in next month's election, she said.
“I will seek endorsement, but I don’t want to be a member of a steering committee that’s talking about a process that I might be able to seek an endorsement from,” she said.
She planned to attend the group’s public meeting – held Wednesday night at Douglas College. Superintendent John Gaiptman and school board chair Jonina Campbell were slated to speak at the event, which included a chance for the public to ask questions, according to the agenda.
Middle school parent and P4PE member Thor Borgford said Slade-Kerr’s labour endorsement isn’t a reflection of the group’s political stance.
“If you had an organization that had one Presbyterian in it, would it be a Presbyterian organization? It drives me crazy,” Borgford said. “I mean, Kelly Slade-Kerr is involved because she is concerned about the education of her kids.”
P4PE invited candidates of all political stripes to become part of its organization, he said.
“In fact, if you look at people who are currently part of our steering committee, you’ll see that there are people who clearly are not in the labour camp,” said Borgford.
He acknowledged how much the labour endorsement means in terms of getting a candidate elected in NDP-rich New Westminster.
But, he said, P4PE is a collective – with between 10 to 12 members – of parents with a variety of views.
“Put this into perspective, there’s lots of people that have different political interests,” Borgford said. “Obviously, we will, as a group of parents, support candidates that we think sort of adhere to our interests, but we have a whole variety of people who have different political leanings associated with the group.
"This is about parents being engaged in education," he added.
