The BC Liberal Party has just rejected Conservative commentator Aaron Gunn’s candidacy for the upcoming leadership race.
According to CHEK News political correspondent Rob Shaw, a news release reads, “Mr. Gunn’s candidacy would be inconsistent with the BC Liberal Party’s commitment to reconciliation, diversity and acceptance of all British Columbians.
The Party further states that a “thorough review of Mr. Gunn’s statements on social media, both public and private,” resulted in their decision to prevent the only Conservative in the Party from running for leadership.
Officially, party news release says: "Mr. Gunn's candidacy would be inconsistent with the BC Liberal Party's commitment to reconciliation, diversity and acceptance of all British Columbians."
— Rob Shaw (@RobShaw_BC) October 22, 2021
Shaw says that he subsequently spoke with Gunn, who claims that the BC Liberals made their decision based on four tweets in which he disputed that the deaths of certain Indigenous people were horrific but did not constitute genocide.
Imagine being so entitled and arrogant that you believe a small group of unelected insiders should decide the future direction of a political party and not its democratic membership.
— Aaron Gunn (@AaronGunn) October 22, 2021
hmm 7 unelected, non-Indigenous insiders decided my candidacy would be inconsistent with "reconciliation"…
Meanwhile, it was ACTUALLY supported by the only Indigenous person in the race (@ellisbross).
Nice try though. https://t.co/eZ36xYMgSQ
— Aaron Gunn (@AaronGunn) October 22, 2021
This was apparently enough for them to remove Gunn and maintain their echo chamber.
“Today, it became clear that conservatives, and all British Colombians who believe in common sense and freedom of speech, are no longer welcome in today’s BC Liberal party,” tweeted Gunn.
“I will be releasing a full statement later today, but rest assured, if you think this fight is over, you couldn’t be more wrong. The fight is only just beginning.”
Today, it became clear that conservatives, and all British Columbians who believe in common sense and freedom of speech, are no longer welcome in today’s BC Liberal party. 1/2
— Aaron Gunn (@AaronGunn) October 22, 2021
Leadership candidate Michael Lee, who has been prodding the Party to remove Gunn for some time, is now celebrating the decision.
“Last week, I urged the BC Liberal Party & fellow candidates to disavow intolerance in our leadership election process,” tweeted Lee. “Today, the BCLP upheld inclusive values by rejecting the candidacy of Aaron Gunn & I welcome this news.”
