B.C. election: Conservative candidate under fire again, this time over residential schools

Brent Chapman, the Conservative Party’s candidate for Surrey South, faces calls from B.C. chiefs for his resignation

Published Oct 11, 2024  •  Last updated 10 hours ago  •  4 minute read

B.C. Conservative Party candidate Brent Chapman in a file photo from September 2021. Photo by Francis Georgian /PNG

A B.C. Conservative candidate is in hot water for the second time in two days over controversial comments, this time about residential schools.

Brent Chapman, the Conservative Party’s candidate for Surrey South, was already facing calls to step down just over a week before the provincial election after calling Palestinian children “time bombs.”

On Friday, Chapman was under fire on another front after CKNW host Jas Johal posted a video clip on X of Chapman discussing residential schools with podcast host Maryann Gebaur, who described what happened at residential schools as a “massive fraud,” questioning “why are we made to feel so ashamed as Canadians?”

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Chapman responded, saying “I’m starting to feel like the people in Jonestown … either that, or you know, Charles Manson,” referring to followers of cult leaders Jim Jones, who led 900 people to commit mass suicide by drinking poisoned Kool-Aid in 1978, and Manson, whose followers carried out several murders in the 60s.

Chapman’s comment appeared to be in response to the notion of collective guilt and responsibility — a topic he had discussed earlier in the podcast in reference to what he believed was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s efforts to turn Canada Day into a day of atonement for the country’s historical sins.

In a statement, the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs condemned Chapman’s comments, calling them “racist and despicable.” The post, attributed to UBCIC vice-president Don Tom, called on Conservative Party Leader John Rustad to fire Chapman.

Chapman said the clip was taken out of context, calling it a “bad faith attack” from his political opponents.

“Under no circumstances did I ever laugh at or deny the suffering of Indigenous peoples,” he said in a statement provided by the Conservative Party. “I am not a perfect person by any means, and I am straight up about it when I make a mistake.

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“I have an immense amount of respect and love for First Nations people and their historic suffering.”

In the video podcast dated Sept. 17, Chapman went on to say that even if people wanted to protest residential schools, they would have little impact.

“How do you blame the people? It was a government program,” he said. “This idea that somehow we’re all supposed to feel some deep shame and guilt. And could you feel bad for people? Of course.”

He also mentioned other groups that were persecuted, including Ukrainians like his grandfather who was put in an internment camp for seven years.

Chapman was already facing criticism for posts he made on Facebook in 2015 when he called Palestinian children “little inbred walking, talking, breathing time bombs.”

That post prompted the National Council of Canadian Muslims to describe the comments as deeply Islamophobic and unacceptable.

On Friday, the B.C. Muslim Association said it was “horrified and deeply troubled” by the comments especially given Chapman seeks to represent a riding “as diverse and multicultural as Surrey.”

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Chapman apologized for those comments on Thursday, saying the language he used was “completely unacceptable” and that he has built “meaningful relationships” with people in the Muslim community since then.

“They do not reflect who I am today or the respect and admiration I hold for the Palestinian and Muslim communities,” he said.

Rustad had said he would not ask Chapman to step down as a candidate following the anti-Palestinian comments.

He is also standing behind Vancouver-Quilchena candidate Dallas Brodie who told the audience at a candidates’ event on Thursday that “it’s not OK” for First Nations communities “to leave your people” in the city’s impoverished Downtown Eastside.

“I believe when people say they want to be First Nations, they want autonomy, they want to be treated on an equal bases, equal footing … with those rights of being a First Nation comes responsibilities,” Brodie is seen saying in a video posted on X.

“And when a large percentage of your people are on the Downtown Eastside, it’s important that you come and take responsibility for that piece as well.”

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On Friday, NDP Leader David Eby called Brodie “ignorant” for her remarks, adding Indigenous leaders were already working to provide housing and support in the Downtown Eastside and Brodie “wants to believe in her heart that Indigenous people are not taking action.”

Asked about his candidates, Rustad said Friday that British Columbians faced a “stark choice” in the Oct. 19 provincial election.

“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,” Rustad said.

“The stark choice that we have is this: We have seen people dying on our streets from crime and drugs. Our health care system is collapsing and in crisis, our economy is in shambles … David Eby is doing nothing but attacking and slagging. I get that, because he cannot defend what he has done.”

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With files from Canadian Press and Tiffany Crawford

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