There is a collective fatigue from living through an era of seemingly historic and unprecedented events, yet maintaining a democracy ruled by thoughtfulness and reason is a fight that must continue.
Opinion
Peter Smith
Canadian Anti-Hate Network
Screen capture from CPAC showing John Rustad addressing supporters after the election. Source: CPAC
The final counts for British Columbia’s provincial election have not yet been determined. Since the polls closed, one thing has become clear, the BC Conservatives are poised to become the largest or second-most powerful political party in the province.
The latest example of the current state of politics, sometimes defined by the “post-truth” stance of legislatures and voters, has ventured far beyond fears of conspiracy theories creeping into politics. Once a bug often exiled to the fringes, these fictions have crafted a role as a tool to win elections.
Why the election of a conservative party provincially is anything out of the ordinary might be a mystery to some outside of beautiful British Columbia.
BC elections have typically been a contest between the provincial NDP and the BC Liberals—who broke with the federal Liberal party in 1987 and chose to change their name to BC United in 2023. The current leader, and potential future BC premier, John Rustad, was removed from the BC Liberal party caucus in 2022 after Rustad shared a social media post denying climate change.
Sitting briefly as an independent MLA, Rustad joined the BC Conservatives in 2023, then its only member sitting in the legislature. In the run-up to the most recent election, however, shockingly many, BC United leader Kevin Falcon announced that his party would be suspending its campaign and he personally endorsed the BC Conservatives.
The many problems with individual BC Conservative candidates were laid bare in an opposition document leaked by unnamed individuals within BC United. Many of those featured had made numerous social media posts and public statements relating to conspiracy theories, including Rustad, who was reelected in Nechako Lakes with three-quarters of the initial result.
BC Conservative candidate Brent Chapman received a large amount of criticism after his statements questioning the validity of mass shootings and called Palestinians “inbred walking, talking, breathing time bombs,” among other controversial past statements. Chapman won in the South Surrey riding, and will serve as its MLA.
He has since apologized for some of his comments.
A more detailed breakdown of the candidates and declared BC Conservative winners' more bizarre statements were already covered by us and Press Progress, respectively.
Many BC Conservative candidates have taken positions contrary to established facts, science, or echo wild conspiracy theories. While it is normal in an election for some past statements to be embarrassing for candidates, it is the sheer number of bizarre utterances that make the BC Conservatives unique..
Even the BC Conservative leader promotes the well-worn conspiracy that initiatives to address climate change are meant to stifle individual freedoms or force children to eat bugs.
While the party paints itself as the latest in a consolidated conservative movement, its candidates easily would be at home among the far-right federal People’s Party of Canada, rather than the Conservative Party of Canada. Far from hyperbole, the BC Cons’ executive director Angelo Isidorou is a former PPC member and one-time campaign manager for perennial candidate and anti-2SLGBTQ+ live streamer Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson.
Isidorou left the PPC, telling the CBC "We noticed that there were certain individuals attracted to the party for all the wrong reasons," and describing some candidates as “crazies.”
Leaving behind measured criticism of international bodies like the United Nations or the World Economic Forum in exchange for deeply unserious tableaus of sinister and unprovable plots, this type of thinking is a rejection of evidence-based policymaking.
Rustad is considering using the notwithstanding clause to overrule individual guarantees under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms concerning involuntary medical care. Similarly, they plan to combat discrimination and bullying in schools with a “zero-tolerance” policy, while also vowing to eliminate any trace of SOGI 123 from education, despite research showing the program is reducing bullying against all students.
Canadians in general are weighed down by the rising cost of living, a lack of housing, environmental changes, and an uncertain future. There is little doubt that a unique set of circumstances has led to the current political situation in BC. The most significant factor for many voters was the collapse of BC United, which left centrist voters, or those simply looking to oust the current government, with limited options.
There is also a palatable thirst for change in Canadian politics that would be refreshing were it not opening the door for individuals who would, in the recent past, been considered unelectable for their credulity and beliefs.
Not confined to BC, Alberta’s Premier, Daniel Smith, recently had to explain away why she responded to a question about chemtrail conspiracies with “if anyone is doing it, it’s the US Department of Defense.”
This is not a trend that is unique to Canada either. Across Europe, explicitly radical and far-right political movements, which are also susceptible to, and deal in, conspiracy theories, have been gaining popular support and real political power, whether it be in Germany, Italy, the United States, and more.
There is a collective fatigue from living through an era of seemingly historic and unprecedented events, yet maintaining a democracy ruled by thoughtfulness and reason is a fight that must continue.
The court also heard a breakdown by investigators that matched the location of a second video to a former schoolhouse in rural Quebec.
A 3D printer, a framed picture of Adolf Hitler, and a knife with Nazi symbols were found in Patrick Macdonald’s home.