Slate politics has come to Coquitlam as a group of Coquitlam council candidates is banding together under the banner of "Protect Coquitlam" in the run-up to the civic election in November.
Incumbents Neal Nicholson, Bonita Zarrillo and Chris Wilson along with newcomers Shobha Nair and Jack Trumley, are knocking on doors and distributing brochures calling on residents to "vote for five strong leaders to protect Coquitlam."
The brochure also trumpets the group's endorsement by NDP MP Fin Donnelly and BC NDP MLA Selina Robinson, both former Coquitlam city councillors.
And while they're running as a team, Nicholson said they're not calling themselves a slate.
"'Slate' is more of a pejorative term," he said. "This is a group of people with a common set of principles."
(The Oxford Dictionary definition of "slate" is: "A list of candidates for election to a post or office, typically a group sharing a set of political views.")
Those principles, according to the brochure, are keeping Coquitlam affordable, protecting the environment, "keeping Coquitlam safe and fun," and building a strong local economy with "good paying jobs."
Newcomer Nair, a former college instructor and 11-year resident of Coquitlam, said she wants to create a better community and work for this generation as well as future generations.
"We are a team of five strong leaders coming together with a common objective," said Nair, who serves as vice-chair of the Joint Family Court and Youth Justice Committee.
Asked how the group intends to put its principles into action, Nair said, "We all have plans and, once we get elected, it's going to happen."
Coun. Wilson said each member of the group believes he or she needs to "work together to make the city better... and work harder at making it an affordable place to live."
Wilson and Coun. Bonita Zarrillo won their seats in the 2013 byelection that was triggered after former councillors Robinson and Linda Reimer won MLA seats in the May 2013 provincial election. The byelection had an estimated cost to taxpayers of $143,000.
None of the five candidates would say who they intend to support in the mayoral race - Mayor Richard Stewart, who is a former BC Liberal MLA, or Coun. Lou Sekora, who was at one time a Liberal MP.
The NDP politicians endorsing the Protect Coquitlam team, both of whom are former Coquitlam council members, said the group's principles aligned with their own.
"They're people who understand the needs of Coquitlam residents and recognize the values of protecting the environment and protecting the local economy," said Robinson, MLA for Coquitlam-Maillardville.
And while there are two hopefuls with no council experience and two with less than a year under their belts, Robinson emphasized the five are "excellent candidates."
"I liked the values they present," she said. "I like how they thought about good process... making sure they consult properly with people... making sure they take feedback. They're critical thinkers."
Fin Donnelly, MP for New Westminster-Coquitlam and Port Moody - and another former councillor who left mid-term, triggering a byelection - said the candidates' professional backgrounds offer a "good array of diversity and strength; I think they'll each add something to the council table and I think they'll add a strong perspective to protect Coquitlam."
And whether the group becomes an official slate - or whether its "Protect Coquitlam" slogan remains just that - is up to them, according to Kerri Lore, Coquitlam's deputy city clerk and chief election officer. Lore said candidates can choose to identify themselves as a slate as long as they register as an elector organization.
It's more common, however, for a group to organize itself informally - though it still needs to keep track of its finances separately to meeting campaign reporting requirements - and not have an official "endorsement" on the ballot.
Lore also noted it won't be known whether any group is running as a slate until the nomination period, which runs from Sept. 30 to Oct. 10.
While there have been informal slates or groups of co-operating candidates in the past in Coquitlam, the last formal slate was Coquitlam First, which ran several candidates for council seats nine years ago, electing only one: Stewart.
