Politics

Video shows B.C. Conservative Rustad saying he regrets getting ‘so-called vaccine’

Published

3 weeks ago

September 23, 2024

The NDP has shared a video of B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad saying he regrets getting the “so-called vaccine” against COVID-19.

The video shows Rustad directly addressing a camera and saying vaccine mandates were “not so much” about achieving herd immunity or stopping the spread of the disease as they were about “shaping opinion and control of the population.”

The video, shared by the NDP on Day 3 of British Columbia’s provincial election, is an edited version of longer footage posted online by the BC Public Service Employees for Freedom, a group of former workers who believe they were discriminated against for not getting vaccinated.

The group says the conversation with Rustad took place on June 14 in an online meeting with its members.

Rustad wouldn’t comment directly on the video at a campaign event in Surrey, but said the previous inability of unvaccinated doctors and nurses to get their jobs back in B.C. was a “horrendous problem.”

The governing NDP lifted the vaccine mandate for health workers in July.

NDP Leader David Eby said of the video that Rustad was “promoting the idea that vaccines don’t work when in fact, the COVID vaccines saved so many lives in this province.”

Eby said on the campaign trail in Burnaby on Monday that voters should be considering if they can support and trust a leader who bases his thoughts and decision-making on “internet conspiracies.”

“These are not minor considerations,” said Eby. “These are really important for British Columbians to know. He says one thing that he thinks is secret that won’t get out and he says another thing in public. You can’t trust John Rustad on health policy on what he says because he’s always saying something different to different groups.”

Rustad, who was in Surrey on Monday making an announcement about affordability, said he had not seen the video.

“I understand why the NDP have decided to talk about things like vaccines, because they cannot defend their policies,” he said.

“For me, the most important thing that we have going on in B.C. today is the fact that people are leaving this province because they can’t afford to live here, and we need to be taking every step that we can to reduce those costs.”

He announced his party would introduce a tax deduction of up to $3,000 per month in housing costs — either rent or a mortgage — dubbing it the “Rustad rebate.”

Voters in B.C. go to the polls on Oct. 19.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2024.

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Politics

Bloc leader, MPs and farmers call for supply management bill to be passed

Published

21 hours ago

October 10, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet and MPs from several other parties were on Parliament Hill Thursday to call for the Senate to pass a Bloc bill on supply management.

The private member’s bill seeks to protect Canada’s supply management system during international trade negotiations.

The dairy, egg and poultry sectors are all supply managed, a system that regulates production levels, wholesale prices and trade.

Flanked by a large group of people representing supply-managed sectors, Blanchet commended the cross-party support at a time when he said federal institutions are at their most divided.

The Bloc has given the Liberals until Oct. 29 to pass two of its bills — the supply management bill and one that would boost old age security — or it will begin talks with other opposition parties to bring down the minority government.

The Liberals have already signalled they don’t plan to support the Bloc pension legislation, but Liberal ministers have spoken in support of supply management.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2024.

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Politics

Poilievre supports mandatory drug, psychiatric treatment for kids, prisoners

Published

21 hours ago

October 10, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he’s in favour of mandatory, involuntary drug and psychiatric treatment for kids and prisoners who are found to be incapable of making decisions for themselves.

He said earlier this summer he was open to the idea, but needed to study the issue more closely.

His new position on the issue comes after the parents of a 13-year-old girl from B.C. testified at a parliamentary committee about her mental health struggles before her overdose death in an encampment of homeless people in Abbotsford, B.C.

They said their daughter was discharged from care despite their repeated attempts to keep her in treatment.

Poilievre says he’s still researching how mandatory treatment would work in the case of adults.

Compulsory mental health and addictions care is being contemplated or expanded in several provinces as communities struggle to cope with a countrywide overdose crisis.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2024.

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Politics

Saskatchewan Party candidate appears with Moe, apologizes again for racial slur

Published

2 days ago

October 9, 2024

Anne Joseph

SASKATOON – A Saskatchewan Party candidate has repeated his apology for saying a racial slur a year ago, this time in person and with party leader Scott Moe.

“Very dumb mistake. One word and it can change your life,” David Buckingham told reporters Wednesday at an unrelated party announcement in Saskatoon.

“To the people involved, I offer my apology again. I wish I could bring it back. Unfortunately, I can’t.”

Moe said the Saskatchewan Party followed its policies after the slur was made, as Buckingham apologized and took sensitivity training.

“We very much strive to be a diverse and inclusive party, very much with the policies that we have enacted with the honour of forming government over the last decade and a half,” Moe said.

NDP Leader Carla Beck, asked by reporters about the apology, said Moe, in his role as leader, needs to be accountable for what goes on in his caucus.

“These are really shocking things for anyone to be saying,” Beck told reporters in Saskatoon.

“It’s not something that most people would stand for. We’re in the middle of an election. People in (Saskatoon) Westview will have the opportunity to register what they think about the actions and the apology.”

Buckingham is seeking a third term in the legislature in the Oct. 28 election.

He was first elected in the constituency of Saskatoon Westview in 2016 and was re-elected in 2020. He has also served as the Saskatchewan Party government caucus chair.

Buckingham apologized in a public statement Tuesday, shortly after former caucus colleague Randy Weekes told reporters about the slur.

Weekes said a caucus staff member told him she overheard Buckingham use a racial slur referencing a Black person.

Weekes, who was Speaker during the last legislative sitting, said the woman, who is Black, was traumatized and reported Buckingham to human resources.

She later quit, Weekes said.

Weekes is not running in the upcoming election. He lost the Saskatchewan Party nomination for his constituency of Kindersley-Biggar last year.

He later quit the party after accusing those in the governing caucus of bullying him.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 9, 2024.

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