A false claim about vaccines by local BC Conservative candidate Chris Sankey surfaced in the first leaders’ debate of the Oct. 19 B.C. election.
While debating health care policy on CKNW radio last week, BC NDP Leader David Eby handed BC Conservative Leader John Rustad a printout of a social-media post Sankey shared last year.
It links to a website that falsely claims many Canadians who got three shots of the COVID-19 vaccine now have AIDS.
“Do you find it acceptable that your candidate is promoting the idea in the north that vaccines cause AIDS?” Eby asked Rustad.
Rustad did not answer the question directly, but said “David Eby wants to go negative because he can’t defend his record, he can’t defend what he’s doing.”
“There is a problem with the candidates in the Conservative slate,” said Sonia Furstenau, leader of the BC Green party.
Before the debate, Eby called on the BC Conservatives to drop Sankey and four more candidates for other social media posts claiming the post-election riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 was a hoax. Sankey shared a video calling the attacks “simulated riots.”
Asked for comment, Sankey sent reporters a statement saying Eby was trying to cancel him.
“Since David Eby lied about my tweet, tried to cancel me and humiliate me, the people of North Coast Haida Gwaii riding reached out and asked us for more signs!!” he later wrote on Facebook.
Nothing about the AIDS claim or any other social media posts came up during a Sept. 25 all-candidates forum between Sankey and local BC NDP candidate Tamara Davidson — the only two candidates running in North Coast-Haida Gwaii.
Hosted by the Prince Rupert & District Chamber of Commerce, the forum topics included affordable housing, health care, seniors policy, and Indigenous rights.
On housing, Davidson said it is too hard to find a safe, affordable place to live, especially with a pet.
She said the BC NDP government has supported public housing projects with a total of 216 units across North Coast-Haida Gwaii, and 200 more are planned.
Davidson highlighted the new 24-unit seniors apartment in Skidegate and said Skidegate Band Council was recently approved for another 20-unit building.
“We are the only province in Canada to support on-reserve housing projects,” she added, to applause.
Davidson noted that under the BC NDP, B.C. became the first province to cap rent increases based on inflation.
She also touted the BC NDP’s tax on housing speculators, a $400 rebate for renters with low incomes, and rules that make it harder to evict tenants.
Sankey said many families in Prince Rupert are having to bundle up in two- or three-bedroom houses.
“We can’t have that in a place that is resource-rich,” he said.
If elected, Sankey said the BC Conservatives will exempt $1,500 per month of rent or mortgage costs from provincial income taxes. The exemption would rise to $3,000 per month by 2029.
Sankey said public housing is far too expensive under the BC NDP, costing up to 50 per cent more than private developments would.
“There is too much red tape,” he said. “Permitting takes forever, and contractors are being scared off.”
Davidson and Sankey were also asked how, if their party forms government, they would better enact the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
Sankey, who is Tsimshian, said what people have to understand about UNDRIP is that it requires industry, First Nations, and the province to negotiate and find compromises.
“It’s not a veto,” he said.
Sankey said that although John Rustad has said he wants to repeal B.C.’s UNDRIP legislation, both he and Rustad support Indigenous autonomy.
“What he wants to do, and I’ve said this to the Haida, I’ve said this to the Heiltsuk, he wants to speed the process up and stop wasting your time, stop wasting tax dollars, and get communities prosperous and moving forward like they should have about a decade ago,” said Sankey.
Davidson, who is Haida, noted that as an elected Council of the Haida Nation representative, she served as a lead CHN negotiator on the Haida Title Lands Agreement signed with the province this spring.
Davidson noted that the BC Conservatives voted against the agreement, adding that Rustad refused to meet with the CHN in the lead-up to the vote.
Davidson said not all First Nations are taking the same path — some are negotiating treaties, others are in court, and some are discussing stand-alone reconciliation agreements.
In her career as a federal public servant, Davidson said she has visited over 150 First Nations and understands their priorities, the Canadian constitution, and the various roles of provincial, federal, First Nation, and local governments.
A Leger poll taken at the end of September suggests the BC Conservatives have about 46 per cent popular support, compared with 43 per cent for the BC NDP and 10 per cent for the BC Greens. About 9 per cent of voters remain undecided.