Douglas Todd: Morally loaded issues like abortion, sex education and free speech are sizzling in the all-out confrontation between B.C.’s NDP and Conservatives.
In this election campaign, B.C. politicians have arguably been putting more emphasis on bread-and-butter economic matters like housing costs, carbon taxes and health care, than on personal moral issues.
But hot-button subjects like sex education, abortion, religious convictions and the right to say something someone may find offensive have also been sizzling in the buildup to the Oct. 19 election.
The debate has been transformed largely because of the demise of the once dominant B.C. Liberals, who morphed last year into the B.C. United party before being disbanded this summer. The party previously led by Gordon Campbell, Christy Clark and Kevin Falcon tried to be “progressive” in the so-called culture wars between liberals and conservatives.
But B.C. Conservative party Leader John Rustad, the longtime MLA for Nechako Lakes in northern B.C., is different. He’s not shying away.
Last month he appeared on a podcast with the world famous Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, who first entered the spotlight for opposing “compelled speech,” specifically an Ontario law Peterson said would have made it illegal not to refer to students by their preferred pronouns.
Rustad, who was born and raised in Prince George and has served as a B.C. Liberal minister of both forestry and Indigenous affairs, has said he wants Conservative candidates, and people in general, to “stand up, say things and be themselves.”
Meanwhile, the B.C. Tories, for their part, have characterized Premier David Eby and the NDP as “radical,” “woke,” “sexualizing education,” “hardcore socialist” and “authoritarian,” as well as being against free speech and remaining silent about attacks on churches.
Here’s how some of the values conflicts are playing out:
Abortion
Comparing Rustad with U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump, Eby repeatedly accuses the B.C. Conservatives of threatening women’s access to abortion. Rustad, however, has replied his party “will not be reopening the debate,” emphasizing “access to abortion, contraception and other items will remain exactly as it is now.” Rustad accuses Eby of using “the oldest, dirtiest campaign trick.”
Sexual orientation
The NDP often speak of their pride in promoting sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) curriculum in B.C.’s kindergarten to Grade 12 system, including to support transgender youth.
Rustad, however, has charged the NDP with “sexualizing education,” saying SOGI is “divisive, an assault on parents’ rights and a distraction on student education.”
Charges of bigotry
Some NDP leaders and supporters have accused the B.C. Conservatives of being “bigoted” and even “white supremacist.”
Victoria-area Conservative candidate Tim Thielmann has questioned the B.C. NDP’s policy that any seat left open by a retiring male must go to a female candidate or another member of an “equity-seeking group.”
Touching on religious conflict
In regard to protecting Christians against hate, Rustad last year asked why the B.C. NDP has “remained silent about the burning of B.C. churches,“ referring to the soaring number of arson attacks on Christian sanctuaries in the three years since reports emerged that possible remains of Indigenous children had been found at the sites of former residential schools.
Freedom of speech
“Freedom of speech is the core foundation of democracy,” he said, including speech that some might deem offensive.
How is all this being received by voters?
A Macdonald-Laurier Institute study found British Columbians, like other Canadians, are growing weary of so-called wokeness.