The dozen school trustee candidates have been invited to a forum held by the District Parent Advisory Council this week.
On Friday starting at 6:30 p.m. at Thunderbird Hall, they will make the case as to why they should sit on the board of education. Thunderbird Hall is located at 1420 Wewaikum Rd.
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The public will vote for board of education candidates on Saturday, Oct. 20, along with candidates for municipal government, regional districts and other boards, so this is the best chance to get an idea of who the candidates are.
For the local district, Susan Wilson has been acclaimed as the trustee for Quadra while newcomer Shannon Briggs has been acclaimed for the Greater Sayward Valley.
That leaves the five Campbell River positions, and a dozen people vying for the right to sit on the board. This includes incumbents Ted Foster, Richard Franklin, Daryl Hagen, John Kerr and Joyce McMann, newcomers Andrew Beaudin, Kathryn Eddy, Manfred Hack, Vanessa MacLean, Christian Stapff, Peter Sutherland, and former trustee Linda Jay.
MacLean, Funk and Beaudin are running as an unofficial slate opposed to the Ministry of Education’s SOGI 123 program, which aims to provide reference information for schools on making them more inclusive for LGBTQ+ students. Another candidate, Peter Sutherland, has come out opposed to SOGI 123 but is running independently.
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The Mirror has also asked candidates a few questions and will be running the candidates’ responses on the newspaper’s website in the days ahead.