Rustad stands by B.C. Conservative candidates under fire [Video]

B.C. Conservatives Leader John Rustad says it will be up to voters to judge his party’s candidates as he stood by a pair whose remarks on Indigenous and Muslim people drew condemnation from election rivals and other critics.

On Friday, NDP Leader David Eby called Vancouver-Quilchena candidate Dallas Brodie “ignorant” for her remarks that people who “want to be First Nations” should take responsibility for people on the city’s Downtown Eastside.

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Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau said it was a “failure” by Rustad not to ditch Brodie and Surrey South candidate Brent Chapman, who apologized this week for calling Palestinian children “inbred” and “time bombs” on social media.

“When a candidate makes racist or hateful comments, it’s the leader’s responsibility to remove that candidate,” Furstenau said Friday on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

“This is a failure of John Rustad — a failure he has repeated again …