WATERLOO - A candidate to be a trustee on the Waterloo Region District School Board has dismissed concerns about his past comments on immigration and multiculturalism as "ongoing secretive attacks against me."

Jason Erb, who's seeking election as a Waterloo-Wilmot trustee, has made public statements expressing concern about the loss of "European" culture in Canada.

School board trustees decide school board policy around things like diversity, equity and inclusion - they are the public's representatives on the board, and have the power to shape procedures around everything from hiring practices to classrooms that are free from discrimination.

The Waterloo Region District School Board has a Equity and Inclusion Policy that governs those principles through programs, curriculum, services and operations, including hiring an equity officer.

In 2014, Erb was a guest on a controversial program called Red Ice Radio, an alt-right podcast and website that promotes racist conspiracy theories, including the notion of white genocide and Holocaust denial.

In his interview with Red Ice Radio, he described becoming alarmed at the number of Chinese students he saw while attending the University of Waterloo.

"That was my first awakening," Erb said, in the interview. "I said, we've got to do something about this... This is not the Canada that I want to be part of. Why would I want to be part of a Canada where there's large groups of people who aren't part of the culture that I grew up in? I felt like a minority in my own country."

When asked to clarify his comments, or to explain why he wanted to appear on the show, Erb declined. He said the people drawing attention to his past comments have a political agenda.

"I particularly won't do so given that I can't be sure that one of them isn't another candidate, or a group that has been politically active for another candidate, who never bothered to reach out to me directly about any of their 'concerns' despite ample proven opportunity," he said, in an email.

In blog posts and his own podcast, he's raised his concerns about multiculturalism and the loss of traditional European culture in Canada. He's also promoted on his blog the Council of European Canadians, a website that advocates for decreasing immigration and publishes posts like "Manifesto Of An Aspiring Fascist."

In a 2015 podcast, Erb criticized the notion that all Canadian citizenship was equal, regardless of heritage.

"This is what's so childish about it. Supposedly someone who just gets their citizenship, that's at the same level as someone who's been here with their linage tracing back for several generations?" he said.

In the same podcast, he railed against "Jewish chauvinists" and argued that the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz had a "movie theatre and swimming pool."

Erb says he has nothing to hide.

"I have been very transparent with my past postings, as since it was raised with me a week ago, all my past posts and statements have been kept up," he said.

The former Libertarian Party candidate says he's seeking office because he has a passion for engaging with the public.

"In my campaign, I have accepted all invitations to public events, such as the first all-candidates event hosted by the Elementary Teachers' Federation, and most recently, at the Waterloo Chinese Community Association," he said.

Erb argues his positions on immigration or multiculturalism have nothing to do with his ability to serve the public as a school board trustee. Those raising concerns belong to a "secretive group," he insisted.

"I increasingly feel it is politically motivated for reasons unrelated to what I have actually said in my candidacy, or even concerning my capacity to appropriately perform the role of trustee since I declared my candidacy in July," he said.

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Twitter: @MercerRecord