A Work Less Party city council candidate is lashing out at Langara College for its decision to exclude the slate’s mayoral candidate, Betty Krawczyk, from a debate on Wednesday (October 29).

Langara community liaison David Berner and outgoing president Linda Holmes are restricting the mayoral debate to the two frontrunners: the Non-Partisan Association’s Peter Ladner and Vision Vancouver’s Gregor Robertson.

“It’s the same old story,” the Work Less’s Chris Shaw told the Georgia Straight by phone. “You’ve got the old boys’ network, and they don’t want to share with anyone new. They certainly don’t want to hear any new ideas. They don’t want anyone to challenge anything, and so they keep it nice and cozy.”

Berner defended the omission of Krawczyk from the event at the Vancouver Public Library downtown by claiming organizers “cannot possibly accommodate” fringe candidates.

“That’s a decision made by me and the president of the college, and we are happy to make it,” Berner told the Straight by phone. “What is it exactly that all of these other people are claiming to offer? What does the Work Less Party claim to offer? Do you really think that if Betty were elected mayor—and she hasn’t a hope in hell of being elected mayor—that she would be able to fulfil that job? What would she do?”

The Straight pointed out that the public could ask her and other candidates such questions if they were allowed in the debate.

“So should candidate Leon Kaplan,” Berner retorted. “He’s as legitimate a candidate as Betty. He’s paid his $100 and he’s filed, and so has Jeff Kuah, Gölök Z. Buday, and Marc Emery. They are all apparently legitimate candidates, but how would we get people to ask questions to 15 people? Would it just be a seven-hour debate?”

Shaw, a UBC neuroscientist, noted that the Work Less Party is fielding four council candidates—Ian Gregson, Geri Tramutola, Timothy Wisdom, and himself—as well as a park board candidate, Ivan Doumenc. He added that the party released its election platform ahead of the other parties.

Further explaining the college’s decision, Berner said, “It’s based on the fact there are 15 candidates, and there are two major candidates from major parties, both of whom will get a lot of votes. And, as I said in my e-mail to other people, ‘Democracy is a flawed jewel.’ It’s not perfect, but I guess if we had 12 hours, I don’t know how we’d film that. It would be unwieldy; it can’t be done.”

Shaw noted that the upcoming event is the second of two mayoral debates presented by the college as part of a series called the Langara Dialogues. He suggested organizers could have split up the candidates into groups and assigned them slots. He argued that democracy will suffer as a result of Berner’s actions.

“They basically decided that on behalf of the student body of Langara College,” Shaw said. “He is going to set it all up to decide who is going to run for mayor? Well, that’s an interesting take on democracy. It’s not just a flawed jewel. I think Mr. Berner has dropped it in poo and then stepped in the cow dung to make it stay down. What an arrogant snot bubble to decide what people should hear. And you may quote me.”

Krawczyk was also left out of an October 22 mayoral debate at St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church, where Ladner and Robertson went head to head. Outside the church, Gregson expressed unhappiness with his party’s absence from the podium, while Work Less supporter David Maidman handed out the party platform, asking, “Why do they fear an 80-year-old grandmother?”

The journalists’ panel for the October 29 debate includes CBC Radio One’s Stephen Quinn, the Vancouver Courier’s Mark Hasiuk and veteran reporter Frances Bula. The debate takes place in the library’s Alice MacKay Room from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Doors open at 7:15 p.m. Only the first 300 will be allowed in.