Calls growing for the Conservatives to drop B.C. candidate Aaron Gunn

A group of 11 current and former elected officials in B.C. issued a letter Friday, calling on Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre to withdraw his endorsement of Aaron Gunn, the candidate for the North Island-Powell River riding. They’re also demanding that he withdraw his candidacy. “Gunn’s statements denying the impacts of residential schools and the generational trauma and genocide experienced by First Nations peoples in Canada are unacceptable,” a news release from the group says. “These views and statements are particularly concerning and harmful in a riding with large numbers of First Nations constituents.” The letter is signed by the Mayor of the City of Courtenay, several city councilors, former directors of regional districts and Kevin Peacey, band manager of the Klahoose First Nation. They say Gunn’s statements on the social media platform X about residential schools being “asked for by Indigenous bands” and that “there was no genocide” are despicable. “These comments are incompatible with a Canada where Reconciliation is a priority and commitment. They also are completely contrary to the unanimous motion in The House of Commons recognizing residential schools as genocide,” the group says. “Further, they create an unsafe environment for the constituents Gunn would be representing.” On social media, calls for Gunn’s removal are also growing. 5 significant First Nations leaders have now called on the Conservative Party to drop candidate Aaron Gunn. With candidate nominations closing on April 7 (local time). I expect more First Nation voices to speak up by Monday. #cdnpoli #bcpoli https://t.co/DwuzuWnIip — Jas Johal (@JasJohalBC) April 4, 2025 In recent days, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs as well as the First Nations Leadership Council have denounced Gunn’s comments. The group of leaders claim in their letter the disturbing comments are in addition to harmful comments made by Gunn about LGBTQ rights, as well as threats to Canadian sovereignty through his support for Vladmir Putin and Elon Musk. Gunn backtracked on his support for the Russian leader and yesterday, defended himself in a post on social media. “I’d like to clear up what has been said today. I have always been firm in recognizing the truly horrific events that transpired in residential schools, and any attempt to suggest otherwise is simply false,” the post states. He restated Poilievre’s speech to the Assembly of First Nations in 2024 and said he looks “forward to working with great candidates such as former Haisla Chief Ellis Ross in repealing the Liberals radical anti-resource laws to quickly green-light good projects so First Nations and all Canadians can bring home more powerful paycheques.” APTN News has reached out to Gunn through his campaign office in B.C. but have so far not heard back. On Thursday, a spokesperson with the Conservative campaign told APTN that Gunn has been “clear in recognizing the truly horrific events that transpired in residential schools, and any attempt to suggest otherwise is simply false.” In 2021, Gunn was rejected as a candidate for the Liberal Party in B.C. for his tweets. “For those wondering what the “official” explanation was for why my candidacy was rejected (as communicated to me by the BC Liberal Party itself) it was that I committed the “unforgiveable sin” of refusing to call Canada a genocidal state on 3 separate occasions over twitter,” Gunn tweeted in (year). The First Nations Leadership Council is also calling for Gunn’s removal, last month calling on Canada “to enact a law that would ban people from publicly denying the experience of residential school survivors.” The FNLC said it is “deeply concerned by the rise of Residential School denialism in the province, particularly the egregious misuse of public office by elected officials using their platforms to sow public doubt and promote misinformation and anti-Indigenous racism.” Before Parliament was prorogued, there was a private members bill introduced by the NDP that would make residential school denialism part of the criminal code. The Conservatives have had to remove four candidates in recent days for a variety of reasons. Most recently, the candidate in Etobicoke North, Don Patel was removed for making comments on social media about people who needed to be deported to India so the Indian prime minister could “take care of them.” It was a similar issue with Liberal candidate Paul Chiang after he suggested to reporters that a Conservative candidate should be handed over to the Chinese government for a bounty. Three other candidates in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia were removed on Tuesday. Continue Reading