VICTORIA — Almost 200 pages of research on the B.C. Conservative Party, which sources within BC United confirm were compiled by their party before it dropped out of the British Columbia election campaign to support its former rival, have come back to haunt the new alliance.
The New Democrats are using the leaked documents to depict B.C. Conservative candidates as supporters of what they call "crackpot" conspiracy theories, including that Donald Trump won the 2020 U.S. presidential election and the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol involved "antifa" in disguise.
Two BC United members, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed Saturday the documents were the result of research compiled by the party before the election campaign, but denied being sources of the leak.
They said the research was handed over to the B.C. Conservatives as part of last month's deal to suspend United's campaign in hopes of avoiding a centre-right vote split.
One of the members suggested the Conservatives themselves could be the source of the leak in an attempt to "rip off the Band-Aid," and one of the sources said up to eight people within BC United had access to the research.
The release of the leaked research triggered an exchange of pointed letters between the Conservative and New Democrat leaders, with the NDP's David Eby demanding John Rustad drop seven of his Tory candidates before Saturday's nomination deadline. Rustad countered by calling on Eby to support a potential conflict of interest investigation involving Ravi Kahlon, the province's most recent housing minister.
When asked by a reporter about the leaked documents during a campaign stop Saturday, Rustad said he is confident about his party's slate of candidates and the legislature is in need of "fresh people" who are willing to "stand up, say things and be themselves."
"There are some obviously that still believe (NDP Leader) David Eby's approach is the right approach and want to do everything they can to support him," said Rustad.
"But I can tell you this, here's the thing I really have to chuckle about: David Eby, close to half of his cabinet has resigned and is not running. He obviously does not have the confidence in his own team to do a cabinet shuffle and put people in position. What does that say about David Eby's leadership?"
Eby's letter to Rustad called on the B.C. Conservatives to drop seven candidates he said "publicly endorsed anti-democratic conspiracy theories" and made statements involving bigoted and sexist views.
The letter to Rustad named seven B.C. Conservative candidates: Chris Sankey, North Coast-Haida Gwaii; John Koury, Cowichan Valley; Bryan Tepper, Surrey-Panorama; Harman Bhangu, Langley-Abbotsford; Sharon Hartwell, Bulkley Valley-Stikine; Sheldon Clare, Prince George-North Cariboo; and Bryan Breguet, Vancouver-Langara.
"I believe that this election is crucially important around the values that British Columbians have: That climate change is real (and) we should deal with it, that everybody needs to feel welcome and valued, that we shouldn't govern according to internet conspiracy theories," Eby said in an interview after sending the letter.
Rustad said Eby's team, in turn, has done more harm to the province through improper management of the economy and public safety.
"We do not need a party, quite frankly, in this province under David Eby's weak leadership that has created all of these sort of problems," Rustad said. "So I'd be happy to match person-to-person any day of the week with David Eby."
Rustad's letter to Eby urged the NDP Leader to investigate Kahlon, the Delta North NDP candidate, on whether a company owned by Kahlon's brother applied for provincial permits while Kahlon was minister.
"Transparency and accountability are essential for maintaining public trust in our democratic institutions," the letter reads. "Newly surfaced information about NDP Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon’s potential conflicts of interest is deeply troubling, and British Columbians deserve an investigation now to get to the bottom of this."
A message from the NDP campaign said Kahlon has disclosed his brother's ownership of the company in question to the B.C. Conflict of Interest Commissioner "long ago," and the former housing minister "has no stakes" in his brother's company.
The BC United documents on the Conservative candidates were first publicly released by radio host and former BC United MLA Jas Johal on Thursday.
Portions were then shared by NDP candidate Ravi Parmar on social media platform X on Friday, and distributed by the NDP communications team in a short document titled "BC Conservative MAGA conspiracies."
The accompanying NDP news release said: "Rustad’s candidates are openly endorsing crackpot MAGA conspiracies."
The file uploaded to document-sharing site Scribd by Johal is 199 pages long and cites hundreds of social media posts by B.C. Conservative candidates.
It also includes material about Rustad that has already been highlighted by the NDP, including a speech in May last year in which he said children should not be expected to "eat bugs."
Eby said at a Friday campaign appearance in Cumberland, B.C., that Rustad and his team were "focused on bizarre internet conspiracy theories — vaccines are a hoax, the COVID-19 pandemic was a hoax, kids are being forced to eat bugs."
"Today (you see) a significant number of B.C. Conservative candidates advancing American election conspiracies that the January 6 riot at the Capitol Building was, in fact, a hoax, that it was actors that were made up," he said.
Kahlon said in an interview Friday that he is calling on Rustad to drop the candidates named in the BC United document ahead of Saturday's nomination deadline.
"It's very troubling that candidates, (and) John Rustad himself, have been falling down this rabbit hole of conspiracy theories," he said.
Kahlon said he's sure "everyone" has someone in their life who has fallen down those "rabbit holes" online and "come out saying weird things," but people should ask themselves whether they want a premier who shares those views.
"These are people who are making important health decisions, important decisions about our environment, making decisions about where housing will be built, if it will be built at all, and so we want people who haven't fallen down this rabbit hole of conspiracy theories leading the province," said Kahlon.
He said the NDP was alerted to the various tweets after they were shared by Johal on social media.
The party previously highlighted comments by Rustad in June in which he said he regretted getting the "so-called vaccine" against COVID-19, and that vaccine mandates were "not so much" about achieving herd immunity or stopping the spread of the disease as they were about "shaping opinion and control of the population."
Rustad said this week he regretted getting vaccinated because he developed heart problems after his second shot, and when he went for his third he wasn't asked about it.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 28, 2024.
— With files from Brieanna Charlebois, Nono Shen and Chuck Chiang.
Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press
