Slate politics in Coquitlam - an issue one council candidate referred to as "the elephant in the room" - was hotly debated during Thursday's Tri-City Chamber of Commerce all-candidate meeting.
The night was shaping up to be a humdrum recitation of the positions of various candidates for mayor and city council until incumbent Coun. Terry O'Neill launched a blistering attack at what he called an NDP takeover at city hall.
"We all know the damage that was caused by the NDP [provincial government] in the 1990s," he said to applause during his opening remarks. "Let's keep them out."
Protect Coquitlam, also known as the Coquitlam Citizens' Association, was officially launched in September. Its campaign literature describes the slate's candidates - incumbent councillors Neal Nicholson, Chris Wilson and Bonita Zarrillo along with newcomers Jack Trumley and Shobha Nair - as a group of "five strong leaders."
They have received endorsements from NDP MP Fin Donnelly and BC NDP MLA Selina Robinson, both former Coquitlam city councillors who left mid-term upon being elected to higher office.
Whisperings about the pros and cons of slates have been common around this campaign but Thursday night was the first time the issue was debated in such a public fashion.
"I felt it needed to be discussed," O'Neill told The Tri-City News after the meeting. "I think it also gave them an opportunity to lay out their side."
Wilson was one Protect Coquitlam/CCA member who appeared to quickly rewrite his closing statements after some of the remarks he heard during the debate.
He noted that he is a business administration graduate who believes in the free market and that the current mayor, Richard Stewart, first got elected in 2005 on a slate. (Stewart was the lone member of an unregistered slate called Coquitlam First who was elected and that name has not appeared in subsequent elections).
Wilson also said other candidates running this fall are working together behind the scenes without publicly acknowledging that they are co-operating.
"Let's be transparent and let's be open," he said. "That is what our taxpayers want. They don't want people hiding behind the scenes pretending they are not working together. They want people that are going to be honest and that is exactly what we are doing."
Nicholson, another incumbent candidate running under the Protect Coquitlam/CCA banner, said the five people involved in the slate are all dedicated community members. He said while they share a similar political philosophy, they would not vote in lock step with one another.
Trumley also defended the slate, stating that opponents of the group are trying to use scare tactics to drum up support.
"I am disappointed that people want to fear monger out of their own self interest," Trumley said. "When this [meeting] is over, talk to these people and see how passionate they are about this community."
After O'Neill's opening remarks, candidates not affiliated with the CCA were eager to tout their independence.
Dennis Marsden, who has run provincially for the BC Liberals, said slate politics do not belong at city hall while incumbent Coun. Brent Asmundson said council needs to listen to all voters, not just those who support a certain ideology.
"We are not a team of five," Asmundson said. "We are a team of nine."
The civic election will be held on Nov. 15.
