As John Rustad forces out candidates to make room for BC Liberal MLAs and insiders, he has failed to take the opportunity to remove several candidates with extreme beliefs. And for the few candidates he has removed, Rustad insists that their fringe views were not the reason why.
Among the candidates he has removed but defended:
Rachael Weber, who claimed that 5G cell towers cause covid and are “genocidal weapons.” Rustad previously defended Weber, calling any criticism of her “cancel culture.”
Stephen Malthouse, the suspended doctor who says getting vaccinated turns you into a magnet. Rustad said he didn’t drop Malthouse because of those beliefs: “No, I knew about his medical history, and his fight with the college. And I, quite frankly, I support his fight against the mandates… I actually don’t want to go into it because I have a lot of respect for Stephen, I have a lot of respect for his fight and what he’s done.”
Damon Scrase, who called gay people “perverts” and said abortion was “killing unborn children.” Rustad was asked if he agreed with those views and said “I have no comment further with regards to what he actually said.”
Numerous candidates with offensive and strange views remain on Rustad’s slate, including four candidates who donated to the anti-vaccine convoy that disrupted the lives of ordinary citizens for weeks, and Bryan Breguet, who says we should “discourage” abortion and who told mothers who don’t breastfeed to “act as a f***cking mother!”
And Rustad continues to spread his own anti-science conspiracy theories, including telling Jordan Peterson that CO2 doesn’t cause climate change.
George Heyman, BC NDP Environment Minister:
“Instead of taking this opportunity to remove candidates with extreme and strange views, John Rustad has explicitly defended them, making room in his party for hateful comments and bizarre conspiracy theories. And to make things worse, he’s continuing to spread his own anti-science conspiracy theories about climate change. John Rustad and his candidates are a risk we can’t afford.”
