Burnaby school trustee candidate Charter Lau is in a bit of hot water for his connection to a Christian organization's online statements about Muslims. Lau is a candidate for Burnaby Parents' Voice, a party that formed in opposition to the school board's policy on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Mayor Derek Corrigan brought the website to the attention of representatives from the Burnaby mosque.
"There is apparently a website that Charter Lau is involved with that has those comments on it," Corrigan said. "I was thinking simply that hate doesn't tend to stop at one identifiable group. It tends to move on to others very quickly. That's been the history of intolerance and hatred. While one group is isolated, it's only a matter of time till another group is isolated."
The organization in question is the Christian Social Concern Fellowship. Lau was director and chair of the group but stepped down this year, although he's still an active member. The Muslim comments on the group's homepage were by Rev. Wayne Lo.
"We have to pray for Canada that more Christian public servants can be bold witnesses to act with justice according to biblical teaching to counteract the influence of Muslims in our society," Lo wrote.
Imaad Ali, spokesperson for the Burnaby mosque, said they didn't know about the website.
"When we heard about that, we were pretty concerned. That was a little bit of a surprise to us," he said.
Lau said he hadn't seen the online remarks and couldn't comment. He also said he had no problem with Muslims, as he has worked with Daud Ismail (past president of the B.C. Muslim Association who was also a former director at the mosque) and Homara Ahmad, a fellow Burnaby Parents' Voice school trustee candidate, who has been active with the B.C. Muslim Association.
"I'm working with (Muslims) all the time," Lau said. "This is (a) tempest in the tea cup."
Ismail was a vocal supporter of Parents' Voice, before the ad hoc group formed a political party. Ismail helped deliver a Parents' Voice petition to Premier Christy Clark, urging her to stop the Burnaby school board's anti-homophobia policy.
Ahmad recently told the NOW that the Burnaby mosque was telling people to support Parents' Voice at Friday prayers, something Imaad said wasn't the case.
"The fact of the matter is our association does not endorse any party or candidate," he said. "We're a charitable organization. ... We're not actually allowed to take a stand like that."
Imaad also said there is varying opinion within the mosque's community on the school board's gay-friendly policy.
"Obviously in Islam, homosexuality is not allowed, but we can't really focus on that, it's not an issue for us right now," he said.
Correction: The Burnaby NOW originally misidentified Daud Ali (outgoing chairman at the Burnaby mosque) as a supporter of Parents' Voice, when it is Daud Ismail, (who has been a director with the mosque and is past president of the B.C. Muslim Association) who was involved with the group and helped delivered a petition to Christy Clark. We apologize for the error and any confusion caused as a result.
