New Westminster's two members of Parliament are endorsing candidates in the civic election - a move that's being condemned by a veteran New Westminster politician.
In an "important message about advanced voting" that was sent to some local residents, New Westminster-Coquitlam MP Fin Donnelly and Burnaby-New Westminster MP Peter Julian provide information about advanced voting opportunities and state they are supporting a number of "progressive" candidates - Jaimie McEvoy, Bill Harper, Jonathan Cote, Lorrie Williams and Chuck Puchmayr for city council and Jonina Campbell, David Phelan, James Janzen and Michael Ewen for school board.
Donnelly said the candidates asked for his support and he agreed to provide it to them.
"I was happy to lend my support," he said. "Obviously we share the same political affiliation. I believe we share progressive values."
Donnelly said he and Julian worked hard on the wording of their recorded phone message, which does not identify either as members of Parliament. Donnelly has also supported candidates in Coquitlam, but not done the same type of phone message on their behalf.
"New Westminster is the only place where I have been supporting council candidates and school board candidates," said Donnelly, who doesn't live in New Westminster. "It's just people that ask."
Julian said he has supported municipal and provincial candidates in the past through phone calls and door knocking.
"We are doing it because there are some candidates we believe strongly in but also because we believe it's important to increase the turnout at municipal elections," he said.
Julian believes citizens have a responsibility to get involved, and that responsibility doesn't end with getting elected to another level of government.
"Our office is open to everybody and is completely non-partisan," he said. "I, as an individual, have an opportunity to vote for certain candidates and to support certain candidates."
Casey Cook, a current school trustee and former city councillor, believes the phone calls were absolutely wrong.
"One level of government getting involved in another level of government is completely inappropriate," he said. "It shows basically that they are expecting people to act like sheep and go the way they want them to go."
Earlier in the civic election campaign, NDP MLA Dawn Black backed the same candidates for city council and school board.
"I think it is unacceptable. It is the MLA's and MPs' job to represent all people, not just those who share their ideology," he said. "It's quite extraordinary."
Cook thinks people should be "alarmed" that people are using their provincial and federal office to influence the outcome of voter. He called it an "abuse" of their office.
"When you are a MP you need to represent everyone," he said. "I think it sullies their office. I think it is a shameful act."
Donnelly takes exception to Cook's analysis of the phone message.
"In no way did I use any funds or anything to do with my office in my support," he said. "I would agree with him to use taxpayers' dollars in that would be an abuse. I have gone to great lengths and pains to ensure I have not used any of my office resources for this."
When asked whether it's wise to single out council candidates he supports, Donnelly said it's important to lend support to people you believe would be good representatives when elected to office.
"I am not government," Donnelly said. "We are Parliament. I'm in Opposition. He has not quite got that right."
Donnelly stressed that he's not using any of his office resources to support local candidates.
"I think I just have to respectfully disagree with him (Cook) that we somehow no longer are full citizens, that we can only get involved federally," Julian said.
Julian said he's been involved in every election campaign that's taken place since he was 18 years of age.
"This is nothing new," he said about the phone calls. "We all have a responsibility to get involved. The concern I have always had is the low turnout in elections. ... Voting is a fundamental right but it's also a responsibility. We all have that responsibility to increase turnout."
Donnelly said he had "mostly positive feedback" to the message, with most people appreciative of knowing who he's supporting, and a few having questions (such as whether he was running municipally).
"One or two, I would say, they think it is a use of tax dollars at work- this is completely funded by the candidates," he said.
Cote said he's been supported by Black, Julian and Donnelly in previous election, but that support is being promoted more than in the past.
"We are trying to put forward a progressive vision for the city and school board and letting the community know who is putting that forward," he said. "I know all three of them. They are very professional in terms of their roles as members of Parliament or of the Legislature."
While they're politicians, Cote said the MLA and MPs are also people who are interested in politics.
"It is the first time we have ever done that," he said about the phone message relayed to many residences. "It is a pretty broad list throughout the city, to try and capture as many as possible."
McEvoy pointed out that Cook was a chief strategist for Liberal candidate Joyce Murray in the 2001 provincial election, at a time when he was on city council. He personally believes that was a move that politicized the relationship between city council and other levels of government.
McEvoy said it's a commonly known fact that there are various political affiliations in New Westminster, and it's preferable to be upfront about those relationships rather than "weaseling" around them and not being upfront with voters.
First time candidate Gerry Liu said it's difficult for an independent to compete against the "progressive" candidates. On Thursday, he received a four-page leaflet from their campaign in the mail, which included a front-page message from the MLA about supporting five candidates for council and four for school board.
While he'd heard about the Voice New Westminster slate before running for council, he was unaware that other endorsements took place in the civic election.
"I don't have that luxury for cash. I felt it was my tax dollars that went into this," he said about the brochure that was funded by the candidates. "This is when I look up at the sky and say, throw me some help here, Jesus."
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