BC Conservatives Drop Candidate Over Comments in Past Social Media Posts

The BC Conservatives have removed their candidate in the Vancouver Island riding of Victoria-Beacon Hill after the NDP publicized social media posts he had made in the past.

BC NDP candidate Amna Shah on Oct. 8 brought attention to several alleged X posts from 2024 and 2025 by Conservative candidate Joachim Agou, with Shah accusing Agou of of displaying “horrific racism” and calling on the BC Tories to “fire this candidate immediately.”

BC Tory interim leader Lorne Doerkson expelled Agou as a candidate shortly after.

“There is no excuse for this. I will not tolerate it. The candidate in Victoria-Beacon Hill is no longer a Conservative candidate. If elected, he will not serve in the caucus,” Doerkson said in an Oct. 8 statement. Since the deadline for the registration of candidates has passed, candidates’ names may still remain on the ballots.

The apparent posts by Agou, which were shared as screenshots by Shah, include a meme using an expletive about the nation of Pakistan, several positive emojis in response to a post in support of conservative leaders by right-wing Italian politician Matteo Salvini, and a comment on a post about a driver who rammed a crowd of pro-Palestinian protesters in Switzerland in September 2025 stating that the driver “should have reversed too!!!”

An Oct. 8 release from the BC NDP referred to the “racism” in Agou’s posts about the car attack and insult against Pakistan, and said his supportive repost of Salvini had “celebrated white supremacist politicians” including Dutch political figure Geert Wilders, who has been critical of Islam.

Agou’s X account was not publicly accessible online by the afternoon of Oct. 8, and The Epoch Times was thus unable to verify the original posts referred to by Shah.

The Epoch Times reached out to Agou but didn’t hear back by time of publication.

Agou was described as an engineer and small business owner with more than 15 years of experience in industry and engineering research on the BC Conservative website.

His biographical information shared by the party states that Agou was born in France, studied in the United States, and moved to Canada in 2011. It also said that he serves as the interim vice-president of the Victoria Conservative Association, a federal electoral district association affiliated with the Conservative Party of Canada.

In an Oct. 6 post to Facebook prior to being dropped by the BC Conservatives as a candidate, Agou said he is a father and engineer who’s lived in Victoria since 2023.

“Most of you don’t know me yet, that’s OK,” he said. “What I want to fix is the same everywhere. Streets you feel safe on. Homes people can afford, and a family doctor so you’re not waiting hours and hours at Jubilee Hospital.”

The riding of Victoria-Beacon Hill has been won by the BC NDP in every provincial election since 2005.

The B.C. election is scheduled for Oct. 24, with advance polls set to open Oct. 16 until Oct. 21.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.