More Cambridge candidates denounce questions from chamber

More candidates in Cambridge say they won't answer questions from the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce, or if they've already done their interview, they're asking it not to be posted.

Kathryn McGarry, who is running for mayor, says she has decided not to participate in the interview with the chamber after seeing concerns that were raised online about them.

"I applaud and stand beside my colleagues in the municipal race who also are refusing to attend these interviews. Some of the questions asked could not be asked in a job interview and have no relevance to how someone would perform their role as an elected official," McGarry wrote in a statement she sent to the media.

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She says she understands the point of the questions is to find out more about a candidate, but "this line of questioning is out of line."

Greg Durocher, the Chamber's president, has told CBCK-Wno one is forced to answer the questionsand if they don't want their interviews posted online, the chamber won't post them.

Questions could hurt city's reputation

Mayoral candidate Ben Tucci says on his Facebook page he has reached out to the Chamber privately but he worries the controversy around the questions will put Cambridge in a bad light.

"These types of controversies if not managed sensitively have the potential of inflicting serious reputational damage to not only the Chamber of Commerce but to the city as well. This is not in the city's best interest," he wrote.

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Jeffrey Shaver, who is running to be the regional councillor for Cambridge, says he also won't allow the Chamber to post his taped interview.

Shaver, known to many for wearing just underwear and shoes outside the courthouse in Kitchener to protest his bong and marijuana being seized by police, says he thinks the Chamber should focus their questions on economic development.

"I would answer these questions to any person that would ask them," Shaver said in an interview. "It was more of an issue that it's an organization that's asking this and it's the Chamber of Commerce."

Questions 'quite normal'

The fact the questions came from the Chamber was also what surprised Conway Fraser. He runs a strategic communications company in Waterloo, has worked on political campaigns and has covered them as a journalist.

"The questions are quite normal," he said, noting faith-based groups and community organizations sometimes ask similar questions. "People have the right to ask to ask those questions."

He said "what's weird about this" is the Chamber of Commerce asking the questions.

"I just don't know what this has to do with commerce," he said.

The Cambridge Chamber of Commerce is trying to attract businesses, so to ask faith-based questions seems "completely off-brand and it makes no sense at all."

"I love Cambridge, but when you see something like this happen from the Chamber, it makes a lot of sense to me why one of my observations has been Kitchener and Waterloo treat Cambridge like the country cousin nobody wants to come to the reunion," Fraser said.

Listen to the whole interview with Conway Fraser on CBCK-W's The Morning Edition with Craig Norris: