On February 24, Coquitlam-Maillardville MLA Jennifer Blatherwick made a motion in the BC Legislature asking the House to condemn U.S. President Trump’s proposed tariffs and endorse retaliatory action.

That this House condemns President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs as wrong and unjustified measures aimed at threatening Canadian sovereignty and endorses the nationally-coordinated “Team Canada” plan to respond with proportionate retaliatory action if necessary, including strategically targeting industries and regions such as products from Republican states, to maximize pressure to deter President Trump from implementing or continuing tariffs.

Eighty-six MLAs voted YEA, five MLAs voted NAY. The five who oppose Canadians reacting to American provocations were BC Conservatives:

• Tara Armstrong, Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream,
• Dallas Brodie, Vancouver-Quilchena,
• Brent Chapman, Surrey South,
• Jordan Kealy, Peace River North,
• Heather Maahs, Chilliwack North.

The surprising thing here is that only five Conservatives refused to favour a meaningful response to Trump’s sanctions. Some in the party are aligned with the far-right and with people who oppose science and embrace white supremacy and outlandish conspiracy theories.

• Non-scientist Tara Armstrong worked in the seniors transportation business. That didn’t stop her from attacking physician Peter Hotez over his warnings about the dangers of COVID-19. The doctor is a distinguished pediatrician-scientist, co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, and serves as professor and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

• The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) expressed concern about residential school denialism after a tweet from MLA Dallas Brodie. Grand Chief Stewart Phillip said, “Ms. Brodie’s picking and choosing of which facts to scrutinize is a misuse of her power in public office and demonstrates her bias and a profound disrespect for survivors of Residential Schools.”

• Perhaps inspired by compulsive liar Alex Jones, Brent Chapman suggested the shootings at the Quebec Mosque, Sandy Hook elementary school and the Orlando nightclub were faked. Chapman also referred to Muslims as, “little inbred walking, talking, breathing time bombs…” and he made comments about residential schools that Indigenous leaders condemned as “racist and despicable.”

• Jordan Kealy said the mysterious “THEY” intend to kill off farms and force people to eat bugs because “Control the food and you control the people.” According to Kealy, the same villains spray “things in the air” to create weather extremes, droughts, and fires. Kealy also believes that airplane vapour trails are chemtrails. Believers in this conspiracy theory say chemtrails exist to manipulate and control humans and/or test biological or chemical agents on innocent people.

• In early 2024, the Chilliwack Board of Education censured trustee Heather Maahs for the third time in a year. One was for an alleged breach of confidentiality, another for Maahs’ failure to support the integrity of the Board, and the third was for Maah’s opposition to the Board’s inclusive practices.

I hope John Rustad’s Conservatives do not vote to reduce mental health funding. It seems a few in the caucus could use some help.