Is It Wrong to Campaign in Schoolyard??

I would like to know what you think of this story.

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May 9, 2005

NDP Candidate Caught Campaigning in Schoolyard

VANCOUVER – NDP candidate Charley Beresford (Oak Bay-Gordon Head) has been caught red-handed distributing NDP propaganda to children at their school, said BC Liberal candidate Mike de Jong (Abbotsford-Mt. Lehman).

“Ms. Beresford has crossed the line – she and the NDP shouldn’t be using children as pawns in her effort to get elected,” said de Jong, who has previously revealed misuse of schools for political campaigning. “By failing to condemn previous political activity at schools, Carole James has given the green light to NDP candidates like Ms. Beresford to use our schools and our students for politicking. It’s wrong and it must stop.”

This evening, VI-TV news reported that Beresford, a former chair of the Victoria School Board, was caught distributing NDP campaign literature in the form of bookmarks to children at Monterey Elementary School after a parent complained to school officials.

Beresford’s response was to blame the children. “I was asked by the children for the bookmarks,” claimed Beresford.

“How absurd – first she improperly hands out her NDP campaign material to kids at schoolyards and then when she is caught, she’s blames the children,” said de Jong.

Last week, the BC Liberals released evidence that the BC Teachers’ Federation is using bullying tactics to strong-arm teachers into signing anti-BC Liberal petitions and is colluding with the NDP.

Prior to that, media had reported that the NDP candidate for Nanaimo, Carol McNamee, had misused her position as president of the Nanaimo Teacher’s Association to distribute party literature through the internal mail system in local schools, leading the school board to ban such activities.

“It’s time for Carole James to put her foot down and tell her candidates that these partisan activities are simply not acceptable in our schools,” said de Jong. “If candidates won’t step up to that level of decency, they should step down from the race – plain and simple.”