DAWSON CREEK -- Incumbent MLA Mike Bernier is reacting to a video of B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad saying he regrets getting the "so-called vaccine" against COVID-19.

“It's unbelievable in today's day and age that John Rustad is not wanting to follow science, not follow the experts or listen to people out there when talking about making our region or our province a better place,” said Bernier in an interview with CJDC-TV.

The video, shared by the NDP on Day 3 of British Columbia's provincial election, is an edited version of longer footage posted online by the BC Public Service Employees for Freedom, a group of former workers who believe they were discriminated against for not getting vaccinated.

The group says the conversation with Rustad took place on June 14 in an online meeting with its members.

“I guess my question back to people that might be thinking or considering voting for John Rustad's Conservative party is do they know that they're actually voting for conspiracy theories now?”

Rustad wouldn't comment directly on the video at a campaign event in Surrey but said the previous inability of unvaccinated doctors and nurses to get their jobs back in B.C. was a "horrendous problem."

The governing NDP lifted the vaccine mandate for health workers in July after years-long calls to do so by opposition. 

NDP Leader David Eby said of the video that Rustad was "promoting the idea that vaccines don’t work when in fact, the COVID vaccines saved so many lives in this province."

“Voting for conspiracy theories I don't think is what the Peace Region wants to support either,” said Bernier.

Rustad, who was in Surrey on Monday making an announcement about affordability, said he had not seen the video.

"For me, the most important thing that we have going on in B.C. today is the fact that people are leaving this province because they can't afford to live here, and we need to be taking every step that we can to reduce those costs."

He announced his party would introduce a tax deduction of up to $3,000 per month in housing costs — either rent or a mortgage — dubbing it the "Rustad rebate."

CJDC-TV reached out to Larry Neufeld, the Conservative candidate in the riding of Peace River South, who declined to comment in time for publication.

Voters in B.C. go to the polls on Oct. 19.

 

*With files from The Canadian Press.