Category Archives: Essay

#BCPoli | Charlie Smith Weighs In| Campaign 2024

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In a change of pace, on VanRamblings today we will publish the latest column written by respected British Columbia journalist, Charlie Smith, for nearly two decades the Editor of The Georgia Straight newspaper.

In the 2024 British Columbia provincial, Mr. Smith has come forward as an Independent candidate for office in the riding of Richmond-Bridgeport.

Please find below an “abridged” version of Mr. Smith’s column. The original, unexpurgated column may be read in its entirety by clicking or tapping here.


Protesters against vaccine mandates often invoked Nuremberg 2.0.

Random thoughts on John Rustad, Nuremberg 2.0, and Teresa Wat’s decision to join the B.C. Conservatives
Richmond-Bridgeport Independent candidate Charlie Smith wonders how Rustad could have misunderstood “Nuremberg 2.0”, given all the publicity

This week, the anti-science leader of the B.C. Conservatives apologized for his earlier response to a question about trying public-health officials for war crimes. John Rustad expressed regret for saying he would “certainly be participating with other jurisdictions”.

This came after he was asked in an online meeting about his position on Nuremburg 2.0.

Rustad professed that he misunderstood the question.

As the Independent candidate in Richmond-Bridgeport, I am feeling skeptical. If he indeed misunderstood, then he is remarkably ignorant about a subject that has received tremendous attention in recent years.

I say this as someone who has written several articles about how opponents of mRNA vaccines have been raising a ruckus about Nuremberg-style war crime trials.

In fact, I’m currently being sued for defamation by someone who sent me a notice of liability. This notice purported that I had violated the findings of the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal through my reporting on COVID-19 vaccines.

In the past, I also received threats of lawsuits from others who opposed the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. They too claimed that I was committing grave crimes through my reporting.

A group called Action4Canada created these notices of liability. They were widely distributed to politicians, health officials, and media workers.

One of them states …

“Members of the Media who lied and misled the German People were executed, right along with Medical Doctors and Nurses who participated in medical experiments using living people as guinea pigs. Those who forget the past are condemned to relive it.”

Sometimes, the activists would gather outside TV and radio stations and distribute these notices of liability. In one of these notices that I obtained, this message appears under a photo of Nazi war criminals being hanged.

Politicians hanged in effigy

Then, there was the highly publicized rally in front of the B.C. Legislature on December 9, 2021. Provincial NDP politicians were hanged in effigy as part of the protest. This took place at an event promoted as the 75th anniversary of the Nuremberg trials.

Just over a week later, a sandwich board sign was placed outside a Vancouver church declaring “Nuremberg Trial 2.0”. This phrase appeared above the face of Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry after she had prohibited in-person church services to stop the spread of the Omicron variant.

Earlier that year, I wrote about a COVID-19 denier who warned staff at the Castanet media outlet that they will hang for “being involved with the most corrupt hoax in history”. The man’s associate mentioned the Nuremberg trials.

I wrote another article about how a former People’s Party of Canada candidate wrote “should happen again” on social media. She did this in response to a meme declaring: “During the Nuremberg trials, even the media was prosecuted and put to death for lying to the public.”

Then, there were the mass protests at hospitals by opponents of mRNA vaccines. Outside Vancouver General Hospital, a crowd chanted “lock her up” in response to a speaker mentioning Dr. Henry by name. Health workers complained that they had trouble getting through the crowds.

“Some of these activists are eager to hold Nuremberg-like show trials for public-health officials and politicians who support vaccine passports,” I wrote at the time.

Yet Rustad claims that he misunderstood the question about Nuremberg 2.0 when he was in a Zoom meeting with people who opposed the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. This week to defuse the controversy, he insisted that it was a “distortion of history” to draw links between the crimes of the Holocaust and the mass immunization of the public against COVID-19.

A political double standard

All I can say is if Rustad did not know the meaning of Nuremberg 2.0 after playing political footsie with the people advancing this idea over the past two years, then he hasn’t really been listening to what they are saying.

I also marvel over the incredible double standard that we have in B.C. politics.

When a brown and renowned pediatric cardiac surgeon accidentally hit a “like” on a tweet mentioning a Nazi war criminal, a media and political uproar drummed him out of politics. But when a white leader of a right-wing party proclaims that he misunderstood the meaning of Nuremberg 2.0 in response to a direct question, all is forgiven.

Rustad is still in the race to become Premier.

I’m running in Richmond-Bridgeport for several reasons. One of them is so that residents have the option of voting someone who has always favoured evidence-based responses to the COVID-19 catastrophe.

Richmond-Bridgeport has many voters of Chinese ancestry. I admire how they played a leadership role in the early days of the pandemic by being among the first to wear masks to stop the spread of COVID-19. Chinese community leaders were among the first to call for more testing and greater use of masks. I know this because I edited an article by two of them.

To her credit, my Conservative opponent who is seeking re-election in Richmond-Bridgeport issued stirring words at the start of the pandemic.

“I rise today to remind everyone that the coronavirus is a common enemy, one we must fight and overcome together,” Teresa Wat said in the legislature on February 12, 2020 as a B.C. Liberal MLA.

“We must also fight hard against the spread of fearmongering and stigmatization,” Wat continued. “Negative stereotypes towards any group have no place in British Columbia or in Canada. It is in times like this, more than ever, that we as Canadians have a responsibility to protect our multicultural communities and support our local businesses.”

Bravo.


Teresa Wat sided with Rustad against ex-colleagues who back mRNA vaccinations.

Wat sides with the B.C. Conservatives

But now more than four years later — after Rustad pandered to the Nuremberg 2.0 crowd — Wat decided to abandon her caucus colleagues. She did this despite B.C. United caucus members consistently supporting mRNA vaccines to fight COVID-19.

Instead, Wat threw her lot in with Rustad after already qualifying for a lucrative MLA pension if she chose not to seek reelection.

Wat became a B.C. Conservative MLA even though the party was built, in part, by leaders in the movement against mRNA vaccines. Some in this movement talk seriously about Nuremberg-style war crimes trials for public health officials, politicians, and journalists.

One of the anti-mRNA vaccine movement’s slogans has been “the media is the virus”.

Donald Trump uses the racist phrase “China virus”.

I urge the voters of Richmond-Bridgeport to keep this history in mind when they go to the polls. I will fight for the health of all voters regardless of race, ethnicity or national origin by proposing evidence-based responses to public-health issues.

It’s an obscenity against the victims of the Holocaust to liken the work of B.C. public health officials, politicians, and hardworking journalists to sadistic mass murderers who were hanged after the Second World War.


You may subscribe to Charlie Smith’s necessary and invaluable Substack by clicking or tapping here.

#BCPoli | John Rustad | A Threat to B.C.’s LGBTQ / Gender Variant Children

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British Columbia’s Pink Shirt Day — an anti-bullying initiative that promotes kindness, respect, and inclusivity — was adopted by then CKNW broadcaster and talk show host Christy Clark in 2007 as a worthy initiative deserving of notice.

Pink Shirt Day became something of a cause célèbre for Ms. Clark, as she sought to raise awareness of the harmful effects of bullying, all the while working towards fostering a supportive educational environment in British Columbia schools for those minority LGBTQ students who were subject to bullying and harassment.

When Ms. Clark became B.C. Premier in 2011, the Pink Shirt Day programme was institutionalized as the B.C. Liberal party sought, in particular, to ensure a ban on bullying in British Columbia schools. Arising from the success of Pink Shirt Day, and aware that bullying of LGBTQ / gender variant children, in particular enrolled in rural schools across the province was an issue of concern, in 2014 Premier Clark asked then B.C. Deputy Minister of Education Rob Wood to work on developing a programme that would protect the interests of LGBTQ and gender variant children.

Mr. Wood approached Lisa Dominato — currently a two-term Vancouver City Councillor, and former Board of Education Trustee with the Vancouver School Board — who was then in the employ of the Ministry of Education, to begin work on the creation of a programme that eventually became known as SOGI 123.

In 2016 in British Columbia, the initiative developed by Ms. Dominato — a programme called Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) 1 2 3 — was implemented in B.C.’s elementary and secondary schools, with the goal of creating safe and inclusive environments for students of all genders and sexual orientations.

The SOGI 123 programme was the first of its kind in Canada, and sought to address the health gap between sexual minority students and their heterosexual peers.

SOGI 123 is a non-mandatory resource initiative available to educators across the province, widely recognized for its success in promoting inclusion and safety for LGBTQ+ students, the programme designed to support educators in creating welcoming and safe environments for students of all sexual orientations and gender identities. The programme provides tools, resources, and lesson plans that foster understanding and respect for diversity in classrooms across the province.

All is well and good with British Columbia’s successful SOGI 123 programme, then?


B.C. Conservative Party leader John Rustad elucidates his antediluvian perspective on SOGI 123.

Nuh-uh, not as long as B.C. Conservative Party leader John Rustad is around.

You see, John Rustad views SOGI 123 not as an initiative to keep LGBTQ and gender variant children safe in our province. No siree, Bob, he sure doesn’t.

Rather, Mr. Rustad — the far right, Trumpian hater of things he doesn’t understand, and doesn’t want to understand — considers the SOGI 123 programme to be a threat to families with children enrolled in British Columbia’s public education system, so much so that if elected Premier, as a first order of business his government would dismantle SOGI 123, banning use of the programme from our public schools — which, as you might imagine, in time will lead to the deaths of vulnerable tween and teen students with no one and no place any longer to turn to for help.

According to the latest published reports from Statistics Canada, LGBTQ+ and gender variant youth in Canada are four times more likely to attempt suicide than non-LGBTQ+ youth, due to higher levels of stress, marginalization, and bullying that many LGBTQ+ youth experience in school, home, and social environments.

  • A 2023 Canadian study found that 33% of LGBTQ+ youth had considered suicide in the previous year, compared to 7% of non-LGBTQ+ youth;
  • Among transgender youth in Canada, nearly 50% report having seriously considered suicide, and a large percentage have attempted suicide at least once;
  • Suicide is a leading cause of death among LGBTQ+ youth, especially those between the ages of 10 and 24.

As we say above, Conservative Party of British Columbia leader John Rustad has for some years now proved to be a vocal and relentless critic of the SOGI 123 programme, his criticisms focused on claims the programme infringes on parental rights, contributing to what he views as the indoctrination of children by teachers.

  • Parental Rights: Rustad has argued that SOGI 123 undermines parental authority by introducing discussions about gender identity and sexual orientation in schools without what he considers adequate parental consent. He has suggested that parents should have more control over the content their children are exposed to in schools, particularly when it comes to sensitive topics like gender and sexuality;
  • Indoctrination of Students: Rustad has repeatedly stated that teachers are indoctrinating students through the SOGI 123 programme, by promoting ideas about gender fluidity and LGBTQ+ identities that, in his view, conflict with traditional family values. He has repeatedly made the unsupported and utterly ridiculous and ludicrous statement that he “believes” the SOGI 123 programme teaches children that their gender is fluid and that such teachings are inappropriate for schools, framing it as part of a broader ideological agenda;
  • Distribution of Pornographic Materials: Rustad and other members and candidates running for office with the B.C. Conservative Party have wrongly claimed that SOGI 123 distributes inappropriate or even pornographic materials in schools — you’d almost think you were living in Donald Trump’s America, where Rustad lies like he breathes, often and without abandon … Mr. Rustad would seem to have adopted Mr. Trump’s lyin’ “they’ll believe anything you say if you say it often enough” strategy, as the newest and seemingly effective approach to politics in British Columbia.

Rustad’s rhetoric contributes to a divisive political atmosphere in British Columbia, particularly among voters concerned with cultural and social issues.

Critics argue that his statements further marginalize LGBTQ+ students and reinforce harmful prejudices that can lead to bullying, mental health challenges, and other negative outcomes for vulnerable youth.

Rustad’s statements have drawn criticism from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, educators, and political opponents, who argue that his views promote intolerance and undermine efforts to create safer, more inclusive environments for all students.

As a humanitarian and a caring person, you have to ask yourself: does John Rustad reflect your values and your belief in a free and inclusive society?

Or does John Rustad raise concerns with you about his fitness for office, and the attendant fear of what life in our province, and what the lives of students in our province, would be like under a John Rustad provincial administration?

Vote accordingly.

#BCPoli | John Rustad and Issues of Con-cern | Pt. 1

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Women comprise 51% of British Columbia’s population, and electorate.

As such, whether provincial, federal or municipal, political parties offering candidates seek to ensure fair representation of the candidates running on their slates.

In the 2024 British Columbia provincial election, approxiately 60 per cent of B.C. NDP candidates, 45 per cent of B.C. Green candidates and 25 per cent of B.C. Conservative candidates are women, heading into the October 19th election.

According to a a Sunday article published in the Victoria Times Colonist the online journal Equal Voice, which advocates for gender parity in provincial and federal elections and tallies up the nominees on its ­election tracker, notes that 42.5 per cent of MLAs elected in the last ­provincial election in 2020 were women.

Kimberly Speers, a University of Victoria assistant teaching professor in the School of Public Administration, said political parties in British Columbia need to ensure their candidates for office reflect the population the party is seeking to represent.

“Otherwise, they may face voters who do not see their needs and themselves reflected in the policies and faces of political party and will vote for the party who has made the effort,” she said.

According to Statistics Canada, women make up just over half of the 5.6 million people living in British Columbia, 2.85 million women versus 2.75 million men.

Ensuring a legislature or council effectively represents its population is critical for a well-functioning government and society, said Speers.

While women run for all ­political parties and have varying perspectives on how to govern, “the common trait is that they represent a group that has been underrepresented in positions of political power,” said Speers.

Women candidates for office are dramatically underrepresented on the slate of 93 candidates John Rustad’s Conservative Party of B.C. are offering to the people of British Columbia, which in 2024 must be seen as regressive, and a step backwards.

The lack of women candidate representation in the B.C. Conservative Party is a source of concern that must considered when casting your ballot, at either an advance polling station — which open this upcoming Thursday, October 10th — or on Election Day, just 13 short days from today, on Saturday, October 19th.

Do British Columbians Really Want to Elect an Anti-Vaxx Premier?

In a series of interviews conducted with the press, B.C. Conservative Party leader John Rustad has expressed deep concern about the COVID-19 vaccine — both Pfizer and Moderna — saying he regrets having had three COVID-19 shots, attributing a heart condition with which he was afflicted months later to the COVID shot.

Mr. Rustad is also on record as stating that should he become Premier of B.C., a first order of business for his B.C. Conservative administration would be to fire Dr. Bonnie Henry — who, it should be noted enjoys a 62 per cent approval rating — as British Columbia’s well-regarded Provincial Health Officer. Firing Dr. Bonnie Henry, who got us through the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, is that a course of action with which most British Columbians would find themselves in agreement?

According to a September 23rd Vaughn Palmer column in the Vancouver Sun …

  • He (Rustad) now regards the COVID mRNA shots as “a ‘so-called’ vaccine.”;
  • He (Rustad) wishes he had not been vaccinated.;
  • He (Rustad) thinks the vaccine mandate was about “control of the population.”

Rustad has been accused of harbouring crackpots. On the video, included in today’s VanRamblings column, “he sounds like one himself,” writes Palmer.

As the icing on the cake of the craziness and chaos that would follow the election of John Rustad as British Columbia’s 48th Premier, he states that his administration would be open to joining other jurisdictions in legal proceedings inspired by the Nuremberg Trials, aimed at prosecuting those deemed responsible for COVID-19 public health measures and vaccines.

The Nuremberg trials were held in Germany after WWII to hold to account the Nazi leaders responsible for the murder of 8 million Jews, and LGBTQ and disability communities. John Rustad equates Dr. Bonnie Henry with WWII Nazi war criminals.

Nuremberg 2.0 advocates typically call for those who created, justified or enforced public health measures — including politicians, doctors, academics, journalists and police — to be jailed and even executed for “crimes against humanity.”


The BCPS Employees for Freedom Society interview with B.C. Conservative Party leader John Rustad (you have to skip the first video that loads) who states that if he is elected Premier, he would replace Dr. Henry, and further would compensate with government funds health care professionals who he believes were discriminated against and mistreated under the “regime” of Dr. Bonnie Henry.

Timothy Caulfield, a Canada research chair in health law and policy at the University of Alberta who specializes in online misinformation and conspiracies, says “it’s horrifying” to hear a political leader “legitimizing and normalizing” any talk of a “Nuremberg 2.0.”

“This is dark, nasty stuff,” Caulfield told Press Progress. “They’re not talking about some kind of careful judicial process, it really is code for execution and retribution. That’s what’s at the heart of Nuremberg 2.0.”

Peter Smith, an investigative journalist and researcher with the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, says people who talk about Nuremberg 2.0 are typically fuelled by grievances about pandemic public health measures.

“It is a phrase that emerged during the pandemic and was supposed to be the title for these coming trials for ‘crimes against humanity’ that would be brought against doctors, politicians, police and more for enforcing and carrying out COVID-19 health restrictions,” Smith told the folks at Press Progress. “It is essentially accusing a large number of public and private individuals who acted during a health crisis of being on par with one of the worst campaigns of subjugation, humiliation and destruction in modern history,” Smith added, referencing Nazi atrocities during the Second World War.

A question: do you want taxpayer funds to go to compensation for the small rump group of British Columbia health workers who refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine to keep their patients safe, and further to fund a far-right-inspired government campaign to hold health officials, including Dr. Bonnie Henry and B.C.’s Minister of Health, Adrian Dix, “to account”? That’s what you’ll get if you elect John Rustad.

#VIFF2024 | The 62nd Annual New York Film Festival Comes to Town

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Each year, the prestigious, heavily-juried and world class New York Film Festival unspools the films in the festival’s Main Slate , at the same time as occurs each year at our homegrown and raucously dynamic Vancouver International Film Festival.

In 2024, VIFF43 shares 13 films on the NYFF62 Main Slate, which is what we will write about today on VanRamblings. Can’t afford the flight to the Big Apple? No problem. The Vancouver International Film Festival brings New York to you.

Here, then, are the 13 films Vancouver and New York share in 2024.
(Click/tap, on the underlined  titles to access the VIFF page for the film, to buy tickets if you wish)

As We Imagine as Light
  • Payal Kapadia
  • 2024
  • France/India/Netherlands/Luxembourg
  • 118 minutes
  • Malayalam and Hindi with English subtitles

The light, the lives, and the textures of contemporary, working-class Mumbai are explored and celebrated with a vivid, humane richness by Payal Kapadia, who won the Grand Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for her revelatory fiction feature début about three working-class women dealing with professional and romantic disruptions.

Showtimes

Saturday, September 28th
9:30 PM
Vancouver Playhouse

Tuesday, October 1st
3:00 PM
Vancouver Playhouse

Anora

  • Sean Baker
  • 2024
  • U.S
  • 138 minutes

Sean Baker’s screwball comedy about sex, love, and money stars Mikey Madison as an exotic dancer from Brighton Beach thrust into the lap of luxury when she’s whisked away on a whirlwind romance with a wealthy young customer. Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film this year.

 

Showtimes

Friday, September 27
8:45 PM
Vancouver Playhouse

Tuesday, October 1st
9:15 PM
Vancouver Playhouse

Caught by the Tides

  • Jia Zhangke
  • 2024
  • China
  • 111 minutes
  • Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles

The pre-eminent dramatist of China’s rapid 21st-century growth and social transformation, Jia Zhangke has taken his boldest approach to narrative yet with Caught by the Tides, assembled from footage shot over a span of 23 years. The always captivating Zhao Tao carries this marvelous film about cinema’s ability to capture the passage of time and the persistence of change.

Showtimes

Saturday, September 28th
1:00 PM
International Village, Cinema 10

Sunday, September 29th
8:45 PM
Fifth Avenue, Cinema 3

Thursday, October 3rd
2:30 PM
Vancouver Playhouse

Saturday, September 29th
8:45 PM
SFU Woodwards

Saturday, October 5th
3:45 PM
Vancouver Playhouse

Saturday, October 5th
8:30 PM
International Village 10

Sunday, October 6th
1:00 PM
Fifth Avenue, Cinema 3

Here are the 8 other NYFF62 films that will screen at VIFF43 …

  • Grand Tour | Monday, September 30th | 2:45 PM | Vancouver Playhouse

  • On Becoming a Guinea Fowl | October 1sts | 9:15 PM | Int. Village, Cin 9 | |
         October 6th | 6:30 PM | Vancity Theatre, VIFF Centre

  • Happyend | September 28 | 3 PM | Vancouver Playhouse | |
    October 3rd | 9 PM | Fifth Avenue, Cinema 3

  • Misericordia | September 27th | 8:45 PM | International Village, Cin 9 | |
     September  30th | 3:30 PM | SFU Woodwards

  • No Other Land | September 28th | 3:30 PM | SFU Woodwards | |
    October 1st | 6:30  PM | Fifth Avenue, Cinema 3

  • Pepe | September 28th | 4 PM | Vancity Theatre, VIFF Centre | |
     October 2nd | 6:15 PM | The Cinematheque

  • The Seed of the Secret Fig | October 3rd | 8:45 PM | Vancouver Playhouse | |
     October 5th | 6:30 PM | SFU Woodwards | |
    October 6th | 12:00 PM | SFU Woodwards

  • A Traveler’s Needs | October 5th | 6:15 PM | SFU Woodwards | |
     October 6th | 2:30 PM | Vancouver Playhouse