BC Conservatives face credibility gap as candidate calls wireless networks ‘weapons of mass destruction’
British Columbia politicians took great delight in condemning the latest bizarre rant from B.C.’s bizarre Conservative candidate on Tuesday, but party leader John Rustad seems tired of apologizing for the insanity that frequently erupts from his party, instead blaming it all on “cancel culture.”
The latest bizarre incident comes from Rachel Weber, the Conservative candidate for Duke of George Mackenzie, who was found to have been spreading conspiracy theories online that 5G wireless networks are “weapons of mass destruction” and are spreading the coronavirus.
“60 gigahertz has a very clear effect on oxygen itself,” Weber said in a YouTube video posted to his Facebook page, where he detailed the specific radio frequency.
“Unless their purpose is to achieve something other than speed, what’s the point of us using them?”
Ah, that’s right, a hidden world of global cover-ups, government schemes, lizard men and the Illuminati are using invisible rays to carry out an evil plan to harm the general public.
As BC United provincial councillor Mike Bernier said Tuesday, this is “completely bizarre.”
“These conspiracy theorists are the bedrock of John Rustad’s party,” Bernier said in a party statement clarifying the posts.
“Do we really want people with these kinds of views in our government? John Rustad’s party is not a conservative party, it’s a conspiracy party.”
Just a few months ago, Rustad might have chosen to fire Weber to prevent the reputation of the fledgling party being tarnished by fanaticism.
He fired a Denman Island doctor who said getting the COVID-19 vaccine would give him magnetic powers, a nurse in Esquimalt who said getting the COVID-19 vaccine would make him infect others, and a Courtney candidate who called LGBTQ people “degenerates.”
But within hours of Weber’s post going live on Tuesday, Rustad came to Weber’s defense.
“We’re not going to allow cancel culture to take hold in this state. I think it’s causing too much damage,” he told news outlet CKPG.
“It has been a key part of the left’s toolkit in attacking people and distracting from the real issues of overdoses that we’re seeing, safe supply and decriminalization, and the harm that’s been done.”
Rustad appears emboldened by months of strong Conservative support and a steady exodus of donors, candidates and organizers from BC United.
But the move is dangerous because it assumes that a party with candidates who have completely unserious personal views will be trusted by the public to solve a serious problem like the drug overdose crisis. Could a minister who believes 5G signals can transmit COVID-19 to people be trusted to oversee the treatment of vulnerable people suffering from drug addiction? Not likely.
When asked about the matter on Tuesday, Premier David Eby’s eyes could be seen with delight.
“I think it would be beneficial for him to come out publicly and explain why his candidates believe cell towers are the cause of COVID-19 and are weapons of mass destruction,” Eby said.
Eby highlighted the contrast between the Conservative and New Democratic Party candidates.
“COVID-19 turns people into magnets,” he said, gesturing with one hand.
“I am a local government official, a former journalist and a former professional businessman,” he added.
“You know we’re taking the time to field candidates that we’re proud of and excited about. I think John Rustad should explain why he’s fielding a candidate who has consistently supported and promoted conspiracy theories from the darkest corners of the internet, because in fact, I think those are his fundamental beliefs.”
At some point, the New Democrats are going to have to come up with a better reelection strategy than just pointing at the Conservatives and saying, “Those guys are crazy.”
But for now, anyway, it’s working, and the Conservatives are encouraging it by burning away their credibility by defending the indefensible.
Rob Shaw has covered BC politics for over 16 years and currently reports for CHEK News and writes for Glacier Media. He is the co-author of a nationally bestselling book. A question of trusthost of a weekly podcast Political capitala regular guest on CBC Radio.
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