'I will not be intimidated': B.C. MLA facing recall petition from anti-mandate crowd
An NDP MLA from B.C.'s Southern Interior is facing a recall petition spearheaded by constituents who are frustrated by the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The target of the campaign, Harwinder Sandhu, a nurse who represents the Vernon-Monashee riding, told CTV News she stands by the province's efforts to protect the public during the global health crisis.
"I will not be intimidated by a small group of extreme activists that do not represent the vast majority of people in Vernon-Monashee," Sandhu wrote in a statement.
"I will continue working every day to stand up for what's right and to make life better for the people I represent."
For the petition to be successful, and for Sandhu to lose her seat in the legislature, campaigners will have to collect signatures from 40 per cent of eligible constituents in her riding within a 60-day window that begins on Aug. 12.
To be eligible, a constituent must have been registered to vote at the time of the last provincial election in October 2020.
The woman who filed the petition, Vernon resident Genevieve Ring, told CTV News she feels confident her campaign will meet the threshold of 21,268 signatures in time.
"I'm telling you, there are a lot of people who are fed up," Ring said. "A lot of people lost their jobs, a lot of people lost their savings."
Ring said she's opposed to the government mandates brought in to protect people from COVID-19, and particularly against masking in public schools, which she described as an "attack" on children that she believes caused them lasting psychological harm.
While Sandhu was not personally responsible for those public health decisions, Ring said their local representative "did nothing to help” push back against the policies, which were similar to those implemented in many jurisdictions across Canada.
Ring noted her campaign will be supported by Jeff Gaudry, an anti-mandate activist who drove to Ottawa in support of the Freedom Convoy and who has been an outspoken critic of pandemic restrictions.
The bar for launching an official recall petition through Elections B.C. is very low, requiring only that an applicant provide a $50 fee and a statement of no more than 200 words explaining their reasoning.
In a news release confirming the recall petition against Sandhu, Elections B.C. noted that applications "must be approved if these legislated criteria are met."
"Elections B.C. does not have discretion to evaluate applications on any other criteria," it read.
Since the province's Recall and Initiative Act came into effect in 1995, there have been 26 recall petitions issued, and only six were subsequently returned for verification of the signatures.
Of those, five were found to be lacking the minimum number of signatures required – and the sixth was "halted during the verification process because the (MLA) resigned," according to Elections B.C.
Correction
A previous version of this story indicated Jeff Gaudry flew to Ottawa to support the Freedom Convoy, but he drove there.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Average hourly wage in Canada now $34.95: StatCan
Average hourly wages among Canadian employees rose to $34.95 on a year-over-year basis in April, a 4.7 per cent increase, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday morning.
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
This iconic Canadian song is turning 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Toronto police called to Drake's Bridle Path mansion for another alleged intruder on Thursday
Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to access Drake’s Bridle Path property was taken to hospital on Thursday after an altercation with security guards.
Flat tire on a highway? Here's why you shouldn't try to fix it
If you're cruising down a highway and realize you have a flat tire, you may want to think twice before stopping to fix it on the side of the road.
Storm-battered U.S. South is again under threat. A boy swept into a drain fights for his life
Dangerous storms crashed over parts of the U.S. South on Thursday even as the region cleaned up from earlier severe weather that spawned tornadoes, killed at least three people, and gravely injured a boy who was swept into a storm drain as he played in a flooded street.
Broadcaster and commentator Rex Murphy dead at 77: National Post
The National Post is reporting that Rex Murphy, the pundit and columnist who hosted a national call-in radio show for decades, has died.