VANCOUVER -- The health critic for the BC Liberals has apologized to Dr. Bonnie Henry after "liking" some questionable posts on Twitter.
Among them was a strange tweet comparing B.C.'s pandemic strategy with one reportedly advocated by a U.S. health official who wanted to let COVID-19 spread through lower-risk populations – including children and teenagers – in order to achieve herd immunity.
"They used nicer words in B.C. But 5,700 kids later, what are we to think?" reads the tweet, which was "liked" by health critic Renee Merrifield.
Since early on in the pandemic, B.C. health officials have stated that achieving herd immunity by letting the coronavirus spread naturally would be a disastrous approach.
Merrifield's social media activity caught the eye of former NDP strategist Bill Tieleman, who slammed the messages as "completely out of line."
Tieleman tweeted Thursday that Merrifield liking "claims of deliberate infection of children" and "personal attacks on Dr. Bonnie Henry" were beyond the pale.
The Kelowna-Mission MLA denied that characterization, saying her intentions were misconstrued and that she was only supporting parents and teachers who are concerned about the government's handling of the pandemic.
She later issued an apology, and reiterated the BC Liberals' support for public health officials.
"I want to apologize to Dr. Bonnie Henry if that has in any way been called into question by my social media activity," Merrifield wrote.
The MLA has also apparently removed her "likes" from the tweets.
CTV News reached out to Merrifield on Friday to comment on her social media activity and has not heard back.
