The decision to ban video recordings by any attendees at a Victoria-area all-candidates meeting Wednesday stirred controversy and eventually led to the threat of police involvement.
Tim Thielmann, the BC Conservative Party candidate for Victoria-Beacon Hill, has since questioned that decision by the Greater Victoria Teachers' Association.
“They did not want anyone in the audience filming the remarks of the candidates. When I heard this, I asked the moderator why you’re doing this and he said they have had requests from political candidates not to be filmed.
“I think it’s inexplicable that you would host a public debate among candidates running for public office to bar members of the public from recording those proceedings. Inexplicable,” said Thielmann.
The other candidates are Grace Lore of the BC NDP and Sonia Furstenau of the Green Party of BC.
Both of those parties told Glacier Media by email that they made no request to the organizer to ban video recordings.
Carolyn Howe, president of the association, told Glacier Media the moderator and organizers were mistaken that any direction came from a political candidate ahead of the meeting.
Howe did however confirm the organizers, via the association, made the decision to ban video recordings, such as via a smartphone.
Howe explained that organizers wished to create a “safe space” for candidates and sought consent for recording but were unable to obtain it from all the parties.
Howe was not an organizer herself and it’s unclear why consent wasn’t sought from all the candidates when the matter arose during the meeting.
It was amid some debate that a Conservative volunteer was told to stop recording by an organizer. The volunteer objected on grounds that he wished to record everyone’s responses. It was then that an organizer suggested he would get police involved if recording did not cease.
Howe defends the original decision, saying “it’s not an unusual thing to ask” and that “we know we need to make safe spaces for women in politics” as a result of “extremely personal attacks” on social media.
During the commotion, the candidates had been asked to comment on education policies concerning the Nakba — the controversial displacement of Muslim people during the formation of Israel.
Furstenau said her party supports policy to include the Nakba whereas Thielmann objects to it on grounds the issue is largely weaponized to delegitimize the state of Israel.
Nakba education has been proposed by the BC Teachers' Federation (BCTF), the parent of local teacher associations. Earlier this year, the BCTF was criticized by some Jewish groups for its work with the Anti-Oppression Educators Collective (the AOEC), which had published statements calling Israel a settler colonial nation and one that commits genocide against Palestinians.
