Conservative MP, MLA Speak Out on Free Speech as BC Tories Expel Staffer

In the social media post which she said led to her being fired, Shepherd said that “the orange shirt and orange flag perpetuate untruths about Canadian history, such as the grandest lie of them all that 215 children’s graves were unearthed in Kamloops.” Her post went on to call raising the “fake flag” a “disgrace” and complained about it being flown so close to B.C.’s coat of arms at the provincial legislature. Shepherd, a mother of two young children, said she is 32 weeks pregnant and was about to go on maternity leave.

She was condemned immediately in the wake of her Sept. 25 post by B.C. New Democrat MLA Rohini Arora, who wrote that “denying the horrific realities of residential schools is perpetuating anti-Indigenous sentiment.”

“BC Conservative MLAs need to stand up, denounce this and continue holding people just like Dallas Brodie accountable,” Arora added.

Brodie, the MLA for Vancouver-Quilchena, was removed from caucus by Rustad earlier this year for remarks she made on a podcast appearance and posted online March 3. In her comments she questioned the accuracy of reports about the discovery of unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Residential School.

During the podcast discussion, Brodie said “I do know that if we don’t have truth,” before adding in a sarcastic tone that it was time to stop talking about “my truth, your truth, oh, my truth.”

Rustad accused Brodie of mocking indigenous children, which she denied, and she was removed from the B.C. caucus on March 7. Two other B.C. Conservative MLAs left with her in protest.

Gunn’s Oct. 1 condemnation of “cancel culture” in the B.C. Conservatives was endorsed by B.C. Conservative MLA Harman Bhangu, and by the party’s executive director Angelo Isidorou, who commented with a twice-underlined 100 emoji, signifying “keeping it 100,” a symbol indicating being fully truthful and accurate.

Ian Brodie, former chief of staff under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, however, suggested communications staff should keep their remarks in line with the views of those they represent, posting on social media on Oct. 1 that, “spokespersons are hired to speak for the boss not to express their own views.”

Party Turmoil

On Sept. 22, Rustad kicked Surrey-Cloverdale MLA Elenore Sturko out of the party. Sturko said she had been having conversations with others in caucus about “concerns we have with his leadership campaign,” while Rustad cited the need to keep “unity” as the reason for her ouster.

Rustad had previously defended Sturko’s holding views that oppose his after she spoke out against former Vancouver Police Board vice-chair Comfort Sakoma-Fadugba who was forced to resign for online comments critical of gender identity and “woke culture” spreading in Canadian society and the education system.

Rustad said he disagreed with Sturko’s position on Sakoma-Fadugba’s resignation, but in response to a letter from 13 MLAs calling for Sturko to apologize, he said she had the right to express her views without censure.

During his election campaign in March of last year, Rustad also removed Dr. Stephen Malthouse as a B.C. Conservative candidate after he made remarks critical of COVID-19 vaccines.

Rustad stood by Brent Chapman, the B.C. Conservative candidate in Surrey South in the election, after past social media posts criticized as racist by opposition resurfaced. Chapman apologized for the remarks, and Rustad said it should be up to voters to judge his party’s candidates. Chapman was elected MLA for Surrey South.

Last month, Rustad won a party leadership review with the support of 71 percent of members.

For her part, Shepherd previously made headlines as a graduate student at Wilfrid Laurier University in 2017, after her supervising professor questioned her for showing a video of outspoken psychologist and professor Dr. Jordan Peterson in a class she was instructing as a teaching assistant. She secretly recorded and released audio of a disciplinary meeting in which she was challenged by her supervisor for allowing students to view the video. The release of the recording led to an apology from the university’s president.

Gunn’s History With BC Conservatives

Gunn, a filmmaker and political activist, announced a run for the B.C. Liberal Party in October 2021. The B.C. Liberals were the main centre-right party with political power in B.C. until the recent rise of the B.C. Conservative Party.

However, shortly after announcing his leadership run, Gunn’s bid was rejected by the party’s election organizing committee which after reviewing his social media comments said they were “inconsistent with the B.C. ­Liberal party’s commitment to reconciliation, diversity and acceptance of all British ­Columbians.”

Among Gunn’s controversial posts was one in which he wrote that “there was no genocide” in Canada’s residential school system for indigenous people, and others where he called gender identity teaching in B.C. schools “garbage.”

After being blocked from running as B.C. Liberal leader, Gunn helped revive the B.C. Conservatives, but later decided to join federal politics, running as a candidate for the Conservatives. He won in the April 28 election and became MP for the B.C. riding of North Island-Powell River.