People's Party of Canada flyer distributed in Vancouver compares vaccine passports to residential school system
The B.C. Assembly of First Nations is calling for the removal of a People's Party of Canada candidate in Vancouver over a flyer comparing vaccine passports to the residential school system.
The flyer was distributed to homes in the riding of Vancouver-Quadra, and features a picture taken at a residential school in the 1800s on the front with the words "DISCRIMINATION IS WRONG" and "NO VACCINE PASSPORT."
The other side contains information about PPC candidate Renate Siekmann and misinformation related to COVID-19.
Asked for comment, Siekmann referred CTV News to her Twitter feed, where she doubled down on her decision to distribute the flyer. "This analogy may make some uncomfortable or angry but this is a hard and important conversation to have," she wrote, adding that approximately 52,000 flyers had gone out
On Wednesday afternoon, the BCAFN called on Siekmann's party to remove her as a candidate.
“Claiming that a public health measure, such as a vaccine passport, is somehow comparable or equivalent to violent and genocidal practices is harmful and repugnant," BCAFN Regional Chief Terry Teegee wrote in a statement.
Carey Newman, the artist who created the Witness Blanket, a national monument made in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Committee's findings that the residential school system amounted to cultural genocide, told CTV News the campaign material is "offensive."
"Anything that invokes residential schools as a comparison to inconvenience fails to recognize the fundamental difference between being asked to get vaccinated or wear a mask to protect each other, and being forcibly removed from your home, family and culture," Newman said in a statement.
He added that Indigenous people survived the 1918 pandemic and small pox and so know the importance of protecting the collective well-being.
"Our lives are overlapping and our actions have implications for others. When those actions result actual harms and death, we have the responsibility not to let our own wants infringe upon the health and freedoms of others," Newman said.
Jennifer Malcolm, who lives in Vancouver, contacted CTV News after receiving the pamphlet. She called the content "bigoted" and "upsetting." Another woman said it was disturbing and offensive.
The flyer was distributed amid a new upswell of grief and anger over Canada's residential school system. The discovery of unmarked graves on a number of former school sites confirmed what Indigenous communities knew for years: that many of the children who were forced to attend never returned home.
The Vancouver-Quadra riding stretches from the University of British Columbia to Arbutus Street, and from Point Grey to Vancouver International Airport. It also includes the Musqueam Indian Band.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.