Aaron Gunn (left), Conservative candidate for North Island-Powell River, addresses a Jan. 14 rally in ‘Powell River’ alongside party leader Pierre Poilievre in a photo released by Poilievre’s campaign. Photo by John Lehmann, courtesy of Pierre Poilievre campaign/Facebook This article contains content about residential “schools” which may be triggering. Please read with care for your spirit. It originally appeared in the Tyee here and is reprinted with permission and minor style edits. First Nations leaders are calling on the Conservatives to drop Aaron Gunn as their candidate for North Island-Powell River because of his past comments on residential “schools.” Resurfaced social media posts show Gunn denying that “Canada” participated in a genocide against Indigenous Peoples. Gunn is the candidate for the seat currently held by NDP MP Rachel Blaney, who is not running this time. Electoral projection website 338Canada predicts Gunn will win the riding handily. Gunn is a social media content creator who makes YouTube videos on subjects including free speech on campus, pipelines, and problems with “Canadian” health care. Former Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs vice-president Bob Chamberlin, who ran as NDP candidate in 2019, said Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre needs to address why Gunn’s candidacy is being allowed to continue. Chamberlin, a member of the Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis First Nation, said his mother and several other family members are survivors of St. Michael’s Residential School in “Alert Bay.” “The House of Commons spoke about this as genocide,” Chamberlin said. “The pope spoke about the residential schools of the First Nations as genocide. And to me, it is just the most unsavoury denialism that could possibly be spoken by someone who wants to represent this riding and sit in the House of Commons.” On Thursday, the First Nations Leadership Council added to the call for the Conservative Party to drop Gunn as a candidate, saying the opinions displayed in Gunn’s tweets “are extremely harmful and divisive and should not be held by those in public office.” ‘Deeply troubling’ for public figures to deny harms In an emailed statement, the Tla’amin Nation — whose territories include parts of the North Island-Powell River riding — said it unequivocally rejected Gunn as a “an authority on what constitutes genocide.” “The candidate’s Twitter history speaks for itself,” said the nation’s statement. “It is deeply troubling that, even after thousands of residential school survivors courageously shared their truths across this country, individuals who minimize or deny the harms of these institutions continue to rise to positions of influence — and, more concerning still, receive public support.” “We stand in support of Tla’amin residential school survivors,” the nation added. On Thursday, Tanille Johnston — Liǧʷiłdax̌ʷ from the We Wai Kai First Nation, and the NDP candidate for North Island-Powell River — said she found Gunn’s comments “pretty disheartening.” Johnston added that her application process to become an NDP candidate was “rigorous” and included providing her social media content to be reviewed by the party. She said she wanted to know what determinations were used by the Conservative Party to assess that Gunn was going to be the “ideal candidate” for the riding. “North Island-Powell River has a very high Indigenous population that is very dedicated to reconciliation and motivating our nations to really stand up tall and strong and be drivers in a number of ways, including climate and economy,” Johnston said. “I struggle with understanding how someone that can embody those sentiments would be able to successfully be recruited.” Gunn says his views are ‘mainstream Canadian political thought’ Resurfaced social media posts from 2014 also showed Gunn coming to the defence of Vladamir Putin for “stabiliz[ing] Russia after a disastrous experiment with Western democracy.” Another comment from the same period says Gunn is “surprised at how effective the gay-rights lobby has been at influencing Western media on what is, in context, a relatively small issue,” in relation to gay rights protests at the Sochi Olympics in 2014. In a post to X, Gunn referred to his comments about Putin and Ukraine as “foolish” and said he was “firmly opposed to Putin’s heinous and illegal actions in Ukraine.” As of Thursday, Gunn had not made similar denunciations about his posts about residential “schools.” He was removed from the running for candidacy of the BC Liberal Party in 2021 for the same posts. Gunn defended those posts on right-wing website True North at the time, writing “it is difficult to see how any of these tweets expressed extreme or factually dubious opinions that fall outside mainstream Canadian political thought.” Sam Lilly, a Conservative campaign spokesperson, told APTN News on Wednesday that Gunn had been “clear in recognizing the truly horrific events that transpired in residential schools, and any attempt to suggest otherwise is simply false.” Neither Lilly nor Gunn responded on these issues by press time. Conservative candidate Aaron Gunn is running to be MP for North Island-Powell River. Photo courtesy Aaron Gunn campaign website, collage by The Tyee Campaign manager was a ‘Freedom Convoy’ organizer The Tyee has learned that Gunn’s campaign manager for “Powell River,” Robin Murray, was a key local organizer for “Freedom Convoy” events and distributor of Druthers, an anti-vaccine conspiracy theory magazine that has since branched out into anti-5G and anti-World Economic Forum conspiracy theories. Facebook posts to Murray’s profile page and various local Facebook groups show Murray posting dozens of “Freedom Convoy” memes, celebrating “Freedom Convoy” organizer Tamara Lich as a “Canadian hero,” and sharing posts from anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist and former Newfoundland premier Brian Peckford, who Murray helped bring to “Powell River” for an event in July 2022. Peckford gave Murray special mention and space on his blog in 2023, when Murray successfully convinced city council to issue a proclamation in honour of the anniversary of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter was commonly invoked by protestors of COVID vaccination and mask mandates. Murray is also a spokesperson for Concerned Citizens of Powell River, a group founded in opposition to the Tla’amin Nation’s 2021 request that the city change its name. The current name honours Israel Wood Powell, a 19th-century superintendent of the Department of Indian Affairs whose policies — including the Potlatch Ban and the opening of two residential “schools” — aimed to assimilate Indigenous peoples into colonial culture. The Concerned Citizens of Powell River invited Frances Widdowson — who was fired from her job as a tenured university professor for “espousing the educational benefits of residential schools” — to town in late March to discuss the name change and her views on residential “schools.” Widdowson is a contributor to the contentious book Grave Error: How the Media Misled Us (and the Truth about Residential Schools), which calls into question whether graves of Indigenous children actually have been found at the institutions. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission documented 4,117 deaths of First Nations, Inuit and Métis children in residential “schools” across Canada. Estimates based on survivor testimony and other information place the number quite a bit higher. Neither Gunn nor Murray responded on these issues by press time. ‘Dog whistle politics to all the racists’ NDP candidate Johnston said Widdowson’s appearance in “Powell River” was damaging. “I just don’t know why or how — in an era where we are trying to get to a place where we have equality and equity amongst all persons and how they show up in the world — that you could invite and encourage and promote something so divisive and harmful in a community,” she said. Chamberlin said both modern ground-penetrating radar technology and survivors’ testimony to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission have confirmed the horrific truth about children dying and being buried at residential “schools.” Investigations into initial results of ground-penetrating radar scans are ongoing at several of the former institutions. Chamberlin pointed out that the Conservatives have dropped four candidates during the campaign for various comments. One had said former prime minister Justin Trudeau should get the death penalty, while another had said “these people” should be deported to India to be “taken care of” by India’s hardline president, Narendra Modi. Chamberlin said he feels Gunn’s continued candidacy shows racism against Indigenous people is still seen as acceptable or normal in this country. “They’ve dropped other people from their ballot or from their party,” Chamberlin said. “And if they don’t drop this one, it’s dog whistle politics to all the racists across this country.” Health union flags Gunn’s comment Gunn is also known for his documentaries on the toxic drug crisis, which criticize safe supply and harm reduction and emphasize treatment and recovery. These policies form part of the priorities he lays out on his campaign website. Advocates have characterized Gunn’s positions as part of a right-wing culture war, and emphasized that safer supply and other harm reduction policies are necessary to curb the high rate of overdose deaths in “B.C.” that occurs due to the toxicity and unpredictability of illicit drugs. In a news release Thursday, the Hospital Employees’ Union also called on Poilievre to “clarify his party’s plans for public health care” due to comments Gunn has made about his support for increasing the role of private health care in “Canada.” “Pierre Poilievre’s North Island-Powell River candidate Aaron Gunn has repeatedly said he supports U.S.-style two-tier health care over the past four years,” said Lynn Bueckert, HEU secretary-business manager, said in the news release. “I really hope people can educate themselves in the candidates that are running,” NDP candidate Johnston said. “I can’t see our riding go to the hands of a person that can spread such hate and harm so easily, consistently over years.”
Indigenous leaders demand removal of Conservative candidate over denialist comments
