BC Conservative leader dodges vaccine questions as NDP alleges duplicity

On the first weekday of the official campaign period, the New Democrats went on the offensive against the BC Conservatives with an eyebrow-raising YouTube video the leader refused to discuss.

On Monday morning, the BC NDP sent journalists a press release sharing the video excerpt of Rustad discussing the “so-called vaccine” against COVID-19 and said that as he spoke with Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, he “started to realize that it wasn't so much about trying to get herd immunity or trying to stop the spread, it was more around shaping opinion and control on the population.”

Four reporters asked Rustad six different questions at a press conference he organized to discuss a proposed new housing rebate, overshadowing the policy announcement. 

Rustad kept insisting it was an NDP strategy “to distract away from the real issues,” and kept trying to turn the discussion to affordability and health care. He evaded questions about whether he believes in vaccine science, whether he truly regrets getting three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as stated in the video, and what he meant by “control of the population,” but he didn’t answer any of those questions.

CTV News has compiled all related questions and their full responses from Rustad here.

The video was posted on July 23 on a YouTube account titled “BCPS Employees for Freedom,” but interviewer Philip Davidson told viewers it took place on June 18. Rustad said he was in an airport when he apologized for background noise at the beginning of the 56-minute discussion.

At a well-choregraphed health-care announcement at a Burnaby home, NDP leader David Eby alleged Rustad was being two-faced with voters.

“He says one thing in a meeting that's secret that he think won't get out, and he says another thing in public,” said Eby. “British Columbians have a choice in this election between, on the one hand, a government that's committed and has a plan that's working to connect every British Columbian to a family doctor, and on the other hand John Rustad whose health policy is driven by conspiracy theories from the internet.”

One of Eby’s lieutenants offered his own commentary on the controversy, reiterating the NDP’s strategy of describing Rustad as a climate change sceptic, and now a vaccine sceptic.

“Vaccines, we know, have saved thousands of lives, thousands of lives across British Columbia,” said North Delta NDP candidate, Ravi Kahlon. “To have someone who wants to be the premier of this province, doesn’t believe in vaccines, it should be troubling for all British Columbians.”

In 2021, the Canadian Institute for Health Information published a study on long-term care home residents that found “thousands of residents and staff survived the third and fourth waves because they were vaccinated.”