BURSTConservative candidate for Juan de Fuca-Malahat Mike Hicks was under fire Friday for saying at an Oct. 9 debate that First Nations must be “conquered.”
But he says the remarks are being taken out of context.
Hicks said in an interview that he meant that, by law, if a First Nation is unconquered, treaties must be negotiated.
“In law, as I understand it, English law, you can’t just move into an area and take it over; you either have to conquer the First Nations in a war or sign a treaty,” he said. “And we did neither. We just moved in and settled in B.C.
“And we have to negotiate the treaties. And I’m all for it, of course.”
Because a moderator cut him off after he said “First Nations have to be conquered,” it appeared as though he advocated for conquest.
“That’s been misconstrued because people have just taken the part that was cut off,” he said.
Hicks says he is “devastated” by the public pile-on.
“I guess that’s the game I’m in,” he said. “It’s very disheartening.”
Dana Lajeunesse, the NDP candidate for the riding, released a statement condemning Hicks’s choice of words.
“Mike Hicks’s attempts to explain away his comments miss the point,” Lajeunesse said. “The word ‘conquered’ carries a long and painful history, and regardless of the point he was trying to make, there is no place for that kind of language today.”
Green Party Leader Emily Lowan called on the Conservatives to remove Hicks from the party slate.
“This isn’t one bad moment. It’s a pattern,” Lowan said in a news release.
This is just one of three separate controversies that erupted in less than 24 hours over candidate posts, comments or professional behaviour.
As early voting began on Friday, the provincial political campaign seemed to be shifting away from policy and toward mudslinging.
The string of accusations began on Thursday afternoon, when the Conservative Party removed Vancouver-Strathcona candidate Jordan McIntosh after accusations that he posted Holocaust-minimizing statements on social media under a pseudonym.
Later that day, the Conservative Party issued a statement calling for the removal of NDP Richmond-Bridgeport candidate Linda Li over alleged improprieties as a real estate agent, actions that led regulators to fine her $8,500.
The contraventions include misleading investigators and acting for a buyer in a transaction on a property she previously listed for the same seller, which is a conflict of interest.
And finally, on Friday morning, the Hicks video surfaced.
Neither Hicks nor Li have been removed from their party slates.
NDP Leader David Eby stuck by Li on Friday, saying she will not be fired.
He contrasted her actions with those of recent Conservative candidates, including Conservative Victoria-Beacon Hill candidate Joachim Agou, who was booted from the party slate on Oct. 8 for social media posts, and Conservative campaign manager Katy Merrifield, who made hostile online comments about Muslims.
“I find it a little bit disturbing that the Conservatives feel that being an apologist for Adolf Hitler, hating people from Pakistan, hating people who are gay and calling for the expulsion of Muslims from Western democracy is equivalent to a regulatory infraction by one of our candidates,” he said.
All of this has overshadowed the policy debate.
Meanwhile, Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson continues to delay delivering a costed platform, leading to criticism that his campaign promises are unrealistic.
And Eby deflects attention from the ballooning deficit and criticisms of his government’s record on health care and public safety.
Hicks said he has tried to avoid personal attacks on his opponents, Lajeunesse and Green Party candidate David Evans, keeping the focus on what he can do for the party.
“Just trying to say why people should vote for me, not why they shouldn’t vote for the other person,” he said.
The Juan de Fuca-Malahat riding could prove pivotal: Lajeunesse defeated Conservative Marina Sapozhnikov in 2024 by just 145 votes in a tight three-way race. Evans nearly proved a spoiler then, and could do so once more.