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Editorial: Don't let special interest groups hijack election

Candidates need to watch out for who is endorsing them to see if the support matches their values and voters need to be wary of social issues being dragged into the civic election
SOGI
Some groups are trying to make the SOGI curriculum part of the civic election — for trustees and city councillors.

Some groups are trying to make the new SOGI 123 curriculum resource for schools an election issue in the Tri-Cities.

It’s not. Please ignore.

In fact, all but one trustee candidate in this Saturday’s election have stated that they are not against this resource at all, and the one who was questioning, Hui Wang, said he wanted more information on how it would be used for young children and was uncomfortable about being labelled anti-SOGI when asked directly by a Tri-City News reporter.

Still, these anti-SOGI groups persist with a furor that should be put towards more important issues, such as equity in education funding. (SD43 is one of the last in per pupil funding in the province.)

SOGI 123 is nothing but a resource for teachers who want to raise the issue of gender identity in the classroom, offering ways to do it. It’s not, as some groups would suggest, an assault on family values.

It is only one of a number of resources that may be used to teach the new physical education and health curriculum, and will be used, as SD43 has said, age-appropriately. It is also being used to ensure that all children feel valued, included and welcome in schools.

Intolerance? That’s not a family value, or it shouldn’t be.

The situation got even more ridiculous because the anti-SOGI Canadian Council on Faith and Family listed several candidates as anti-SOGI. The Facebook post has since been taken down and those whom the Tri-City News was able to reach have distanced themselves from that stance and said they are not anti-SOGI. One candidate rightly pointed out it’s not a council issue.

Thank goodness for common sense.

Trustees who are closest to the issue — albeit with limited authority given BC Human Rights code changes and new provincial education requirements — could be asked to justify their view. Sure.

But SOGI has not been a burning issue at the SD43 board table and attempts by some religious organizations to make it so is just an effort to drive a wedge between neighbours, politicians and voters. A similar effort was attempted in the last election when transgender washrooms — which had never even come up as a topic in School District 43 — became a hot topic at a Chamber of Commerce all-candidates meeting thanks to anonymous individuals rating it highly on the chamber’s online question ranking system.

Voters should be wary of third-party groups professing to endorse one candidate over another because the claims could be spurious. As well, voters should try to vote based on support for issues they know their candidates can actually deal with should they get elected.

SOGI 123 is not an issue. So please, ignore efforts to make it one.