Fourteen candidates running for mayor, council and school board in next month's civic elections in the Tri-Cities are on the New Westminster and District Labour Council list.
But no one is endorsed for the top job in Port Moody.
The contenders who got the union endorsements are:
Coquitlam: mayor - Barrie Lynch; council - incumbents Neal Nicholson and Selina Robinson and contenders Randy Delmonico, Fred Soofi and Vincent Wu;
Port Coquitlam: mayor - Greg Moore; council - incumbents Darrell Penner, Glenn Pollock and Brad West;
Port Moody: council - challengers Rick Glumac, Kevin Hagglund and Barbara Junker;
and for the School District 43 board of education: Coquitlam incumbent Brian Robinson.
PoCo's Moore, who said he hasn't been a BC Liberal member since he was elected mayor three years ago, said he's pleased with the NWDLC endorsement, which he also received in 2002 as a candidate for city council.
"Whenever you get the endorsement from a third party, it really solidifies your vision and your mandate," Moore said.
CANDIDATES ARE PLEASED
Coquitlam's Lynch, who also has the paramedics' support from CUPE Local 873, said he has received the NWDLC nod every time he has run for political office. Its mayoral endorsement "means the people that I have worked with and alongside over the last nine years recognize my ability to be the mayor of the city," he said.
Candidates who applied for endorsement were asked to fill out a questionnaire to give their views on topics such as Smart Growth, TransLink governance and P3 services; as well, they were asked to take part in a face-to-face interview.
In a press release issued Wednesday, NWDLC secretary-treasurer Carolyn Rice said nearly half of its chosen candidates this year are new to the election race (Rice was not available for an interview on Wednesday or Thursday, before The Tri-City News went to press).
NWDLC is one of 137 labour councils chartered by the Canadian Labour Congress. It has 123 affiliated unions representing more than 65,000 members in the Tri-Cities as well as Burnaby, New Westminster, Belcarra, Anmore, Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge, Delta, Surrey, White Rock and the Langleys.
Officials with CUPE, whose locals represent city and non-teaching school board employees, have yet to release their endorsement lists.
