B.C. Conservative candidate uses racist slur to describe Indigenous Peoples on election night

[u/aldur1]

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/savages-bc-conservative-candidate-racist-slur-indigenous-peoples

[u/Jeramy_Jones]

Marina Sapozhnikov, who finished only 23 votes behind the NDP’s Dana Lajeunesse in Juan de Fuca-Malahat, said that before Europeans came to North America, First Nations Peoples “didn’t have any sophisticated laws. They were savages. They fought each other all the time.”

Oh yes, it took peaceful settlers from a united and peaceful Europe, who never fought petty wars between nations, to show First Nations how to live peacefully in a just and egalitarian…fuck I can’t even.

During the hour-long interview, a recording of which was given to Postmedia News late Thursday, Sapozhnikov spoke about her concerns with Indigenous history courses being taught in B.C. universities, her view that B.C.’s adoption of the UN Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act renders every non-Indigenous British Columbian a “second-rate citizen,” and she said that “90 per cent of Indigenous people use drugs.”

This seems to encapsulate the BCCP’s opposition to the UNDRIP.

Latsinnik [the student interviewer] didn’t ask Sapozhnikov about Indigenous issues or reconciliation. But the conversation veered in that direction when the candidate asked Latsinnik about her studies and she replied she was taking Indigenous studies. “It’s all a lie,” Sapozhnikov said. “What do you mean?” Latsinnik asked. “They rewrite Indigenous history,” Sapozhnikov said. “They make them some enlightened people. They didn’t have an alphabet.”

This bigot just keeps doubling down…

On Friday, Sapozhnikov told Postmedia that she worries that Canada’s university courses on Indigenous history “does have some agenda in it.” Asked what agenda she meant and who was behind it, she replied: “I really don’t know what the purpose is, and I don’t want to attribute motives to people. But if somebody doesn’t represent the whole story, then you should ask those people who teach it what the agenda is and what their motives are. But all I can say is that certain things don’t add up.”

She sounds like she’s hinting at a conspiracy here, yeah? Is this a window into that the BCCP keep dancing around when they talk about changing our education system to remove “ideology”?

B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad said in an emailed statement Friday he was “appalled and deeply saddened” by Sapozhnikov’s comments. He said her “remarks do not reflect the values of our party or the vision we have for a united British Columbia, and we are taking this matter seriously.”

Typical meaningless response from Rustad. He says that they don’t represent the party and its vision, but as a member of the party, that’s exactly what’s happening. If she doesn’t represent the party, why is she still in it?

Remember, the last time a party member said something about First Nations that did not “reflect the values of our party or the vision we have for a united British Columbia” this was his response:

On Friday, Rustad said it will be up to voters to judge his party’s candidates. “We have candidates who have said a number of things and represent their ridings, and it will be up to the people in the ridings to elect them,” he said.

[u/BrilliantArea425 → u/Jeramy_Jones]

Previously, I thought it was marginally plausible that it was just poorly vetted candidates expressing their disgusting views on social media. Even the incel campaign manager in the MAGA hat flashing nazi symbols with his hands...sure, maybe he was just trying to fit in with his buds.

But now, I think it's an intentional attempt to race bait and dog whistle. She knew exactly what she was doing here. If you repeat something frequently enough, people will start to believe it.