Not the first time Liberals have refused to show up at teachers’ forums

There’s an amusing video, posted on YouTube a couple of months ago, of an employee hiding under her desk because she didn’t want to answer a reporter’s questions. There are similarities to that and the decision of Liberal candidates Todd Stone and Terry Lake not to attend election forums sponsored by the Kamloops Thompson Teachers Association and the Farmers Market.

This isn’t the first time local Liberal candidates have refused to attend BCTF forums. They turned down invitations in 2009 and 2005, too. Last election, Lake explained that “It would be like the NDP setting up the forum and asking me to come and attend… Clearly the KTTA, who have actively campaigned against us, are not non-partisan.”

This time, he says, “Why would I attend an event with an obvious agenda?” And he points to BCTF commercials that aren’t exactly bursting with enthusiasm over the Liberal record. So what?

Since when should a candidate attend forums only if the questions and comments are going to be to his or her liking? Though teachers won’t be the only ones at the KTTA forum, let’s assume that Stone and Lake would be on the hot seat. They shouldn’t be afraid of standing up for what they believe in, defending the record of the Liberal government, in front of any crowd, including partisan ones. They should view it as an opportunity. And we should expect that from any candidate worth his/her salt.

Democracy is about the right to dissent and the right to question those who want to represent us. If a forum is run with fair rules and a good moderator, that should be good enough for all candidates. The KTTA and the Liberals should be willing to negotiate on that.

Even though other candidates aren’t shy about attending such forums, the Liberals, by their absence, actually succeed in undermining the value of those forums. It’s a shame, really.

Lake isn’t the kind of guy who’s afraid of a tough crowd. I’ve watched him, not only at raucous election forums, but at an anti-ACC rally and in front of his office toe to toe with a bunch of pissed-off medical marijuana users, and admired him for it. This thing with the KTTA isn’t like him, and he and Stone need to get some better advice.