Last week, past social media comments resurfaced of Vancouver Island Conservative candidate Aaron Gunn, in which he praised Vladimir Putin and denied the harms of residential schools in Canada.
Now, elected officials from throughout the North Island–Powell River riding are speaking out—calling for Gunn’s resignation, while others are defending his continued candidacy.
The North Island–Powell River Conservative candidate’s social media comments about Putin stem from 2014 and he has since stated he no longer thinks positively about the Russian leader.
“In early 2014, when I was still in my early 20s, I made foolish comments about Putin and Ukraine. I stopped holding those views a long time ago,” said Gunn in a post on X.
However, most of the backlash Gunn is receiving has been over his views of residential schools in Canada, denying that the system was genocidal in nature.
“There was no genocide. Stop lying to people and read a book,” Gunn wrote on X in 2021.
“The Holocaust was a genocide. Get off Twitter and learn more about the world.”
When these comments came to light last week, Gunn made another post on X explaining he has always condemned residential schools and the destruction of Indigenous Peoples cultures.
“I have never wavered in condemning the theft of children from their families, or the forced destruction of Indigenous language, culture and traditions,” wrote Gunn.
Despite his latest post, Gunn remains steadfast that the residential school system does not qualify as genocidal.
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NDP leader Jagmeet Singh challenged Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre over the weekend, calling for Gunn’s resignation.
This notion has the support of 25 past and present elected officials from throughout the North Island–Powell River electoral district.
Additionally, the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, the BC First Nations Leadership Council, and the Regional Chief of the BC Assembly of First Nations have all called on Poilievre to take action and remove Gunn as a candidate following his harmful statements regarding residential schools.
Meanwhile Poilievre has made statements attempting to discredit these organizations saying they are spreading misinformation.
“The letter is false,” said Poilievre. “He has not denied the impact of residential schools. That’s just misinformation.”
Conversely, some other elected officials from within the riding are voicing their support for Gunn amid the calls for his resignation.
Eight mayors and councillors have signed a separate letter standing in support of Gunn and the comments he made.
“Aaron’s only contention, that residential schools did not meet the threshold of ‘genocide,’ and that Canada is not a ‘genocidal state’ is hardly unreasonable and certainly not disqualifying from representing our incredible region,” reads the letter from the eight elected officials.
Poilievre has shown no sign of removing Gunn from the ballot over his comments.
Historically, the North Island–Powell River electoral district has never been won by a Conservative candidate and the NDP have won the last three elections in this riding.
