BC United sources leak 'extremism' file on B.C. Conservative director

BC Conservative Leader John Rustad, right, pauses to confer with BC United Leader Kevin Falcon while responding to questions during a news conference, in Vancouver, on Aug. 28, 2024. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

An opposition research file on the "extremism" of the Conservative Party of British Columbia's executive director has been leaked by BC United sources, less than two weeks after the parties' leaders announced a deal to work together in the fall provincial election.

The document depicts Angelo Isidorou's involvement in the People's Party of Canada as a founding member and organizer, his "admiration" of right-wing figures including Donald Trump, and includes what it calls a "white power" photo of Isidorou wearing a Make America Great Again cap while making a hand gesture it says is associated with the alt-right movement.

The seven-page report titled "Angelo Isidorou's Extremism" was intended for use in the Oct. 19 election, but was compiled before BC United Leader Kevin Falcon suspended his party's campaign last month and instead urged support for the B.C. Conservatives to prevent vote splitting that would benefit the New Democrats.

B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad said in an interview Monday that he supported the party's 27-year-old executive director, calling him a "capable individual."

He said he was more concerned with defeating Premier David Eby's NDP than the claims about Isidorou.

“So, from my perspective Angelo is a capable individual, and what I am focused on right now is making sure we bring an end to David Eby and these destructive policies and their approach to governing B.C.," said Rustad.

“I’m not worried about people working behind the scenes. The NDP and their affiliates are going to do everything they can to distract from the damage they’ve done to B.C.”

The file about Isidorou was provided to The Canadian Press by BC United sources on condition of anonymity.

Isidorou, who described himself as a Canadian conservative who abhors all forms of extremism, said in a statement Monday he was being a "dumb" first-year university student when he wore the MAGA hat at the opening of the former Trump International Hotel and Tower in Vancouver seven years ago.

"In my first year of university, which was 2017, I attended a protest alongside other students," he said. "At this protest, we wore MAGA hats to irritate some people. I was being dumb and I think a lot of people have moments from first-year university they aren't proud of."

He said the hand gesture was "innocuous" and he "utterly" rejected it having a meaning other than "OK."

Isidorou said he had since been extremely critical of former U.S. president Trump, especially after he challenged the results of the 2020 U.S. election.

Isidorou said he joined the People's Party of Canada in 2018 but resigned in 2019 after publicly stating his concerns about racism and extremism within the party.

"I witnessed it and I was subject to death threats from the far right because of it," said Isidorou.

In an almost 2,000-word explanation of his resignation from the People's Party as a member and "provincial organizer," posted on Medium in March 2019, Isidorou focused mostly on differences with newcomers to the party, some of whom he said had a "radical agenda."

He wrote: "I love every single policy in this party, and I love the ethos that Maxime (Bernier) espouses as a leader, but I’m saddened to say that the party organization itself is completely compromised."

Rustad said Isidorou was already part of the B.C. Conservatives when he was acclaimed leader in March 2023.

He said other prominent political figures had been photographed making the same gesture as Isidorou, but had not come under pressure to explain themselves.

“It’s interesting when you see that Barack Obama and Justin Trudeau and Kamala Harris and so many others made the same symbol, but nobody asked them that question," he said.

The Conservative Party of B.C. provided photos of all three making similar hand gestures, but did not explain the context of the situations.

The BC United research document also included screenshots of Isidorou's social media activity, including a post saying, "Buckle up, it's riot season," in connection to Black Lives Matter protests.

It also shared a post from Isidorou about the 2023 election success of anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, saying: "First it was Argentina — today it's the Netherlands. Tomorrow it will be Canada."

Another focus of the BC United document was failed defamation lawsuit brought by Isidorou and others against former Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart, who was ultimately awarded more than $100,000 in legal costs.

Isidorou and other members of the Non-Partisan Association, a Vancouver municipal party, had sued Stewart in 2021 for citing articles about Isidorou's behaviour at the Trump Tower opening as evidence of "open support for hate groups" among the NPA.

Isidorou later resigned from the NPA.

The BC United document cited Isidorou's "admiration of Lauren Southern," a Canadian right-wing political activist and commentator, who in 2015 ran as a Libertarian candidate in the B.C. riding of Langley-Aldergrove in the federal election.

Southern was among the cast of Tenet Media, a Canadian company that U.S. officials alleged last week to have received hundreds of thousands of dollars in a secret propaganda scheme that purportedly used social media personalities to distribute content with Russian government messaging.

Southern said on social media platform X on Sunday that although the accusations against Tenet were serious, she believed she had "done nothing wrong."

Politics in B.C. has undergone a massive shift since Falcon's bombshell announcement on Aug. 28 that the Official Opposition was ending its campaign and would instead throw support behind Rustad's Conservatives.

The future of BC United has been in doubt with some of its MLAs now running as B.C. Conservative candidates and others as Independents.

Three BC United MLAs — Peter Milobar, Trevor Halford and Ian Paton — said they would seek re-election as B.C. Conservatives, while their former party colleagues Mike Bernier, Dan Davies and Tom Shypitka will look to be re-elected as Independents.

BC United said last week it planned to run some candidates in the fall election as a measure to keep the party name alive for future elections. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.