Instead of apologizing for comparing SOGI to residential schools, John Rustad is standing behind his comments.

Previously, Elenore Sturko called on Rustad to apologize:

“John Rustad not only needs to make an unequivocal apology for his misappropriation of NDTR but also for calling homosexuality a “lifestyle” in media interviews where he doubled down in his ignorance. John Rustad’s attempt to liken the cultural genocide of Indigenous people with arrests of LGBT people – as a means of justifying his political dog whistling – is incredibly insulting to Indigenous people & to members of the LGBT community.”

Today, CBC Host Stephen Quinn asked Rustad if he had apologized to Sturko. Rustad didn’t answer but tripled down on the SOGI/residential schools comparison that had concerned Sturko:

Rustad: What went on with residential schools was absolutely horrendous, what happened to Indigenous children. But why did that happen? Because we took away parents’ rights. We took away the rights of parents to have a say in their education. We took away the rights of parents to raise their children, and we took these children and took them in as being wards of the state, and that’s not appropriate. That was not appropriate then and certainly is not appropriate today.

Quinn: Right. So you are now repeating what you said then, which is what Elenore Sturko took issue with. (CBC Early Edition, June 4 2024)

Sturko had previously called on Rustad to condemn 2023 B.C. Conservative Candidate Karin Litzcke for endorsing the harassment of a girl at a track meet by anti-trans activists, calling it “disgusting.”

But on Global this morning, Sturko defended Litzcke’s opposition to a rainbow dock in Clearwater: “People don’t have to like rainbow crosswalks… I respect this person’s right to not want to see a rainbow dock.”