By: Jonah Lazar, Staff Writer
Content warning: mentions of anti-Indigenous, transphobic, and anti-semitic language.
Tara Armstrong, a member of the legislative assembly (MLA) representing the Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream district in the BC legislature, caused an uproar by implying that the New Democratic Party’s (NDP) approach to Indigenous rights in BC is reminiscent of Nazi ideology. Following condemnation from Premier David Eby, fellow MLAs, and the speaker of the legislature, she withdrew her statement. However, a motion to have her apologize failed, and no other disciplinary measures have occurred. This is not the type of person who should have the power to influence our laws. Constituents in her district organized a recall petition, but have not been successful in calling a by-election. This is because currently, you need 40% of a district’s voters to sign the petition; that’s 18,000 people. Even though only 27,000 people actually voted in the last election. The signature threshold should be based on how many people voted, to make it easier to hold their elected representatives accountable — something we’re clearly struggling with.
While debating the K’ómoks Treaty Act, which would function as a land-back agreement for the K’ómoks First Nation, Armstrong baselessly claimed that the NDP is attempting to create an Indigenous ethnostate that is similar in nature to the Nazi slogan of “blood and soil.” This Nazi phrase was a rallying cry in the justification of a mass genocide of disabled, queer, Jewish, Roma, and other marginalized people living in Germany and various of their WW2 occupied territories, such as Poland. This comparison by MLA Armstrong is referring to the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, which is an act that aims to reconcile with the Indigenous Peoples whose traditional land BC was founded upon. This act is a legal codification of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which largely focuses on the right to self-determination, to practice cultural traditions, and to use traditionally inhabited lands for Indigenous Peoples. This statement is doubly offensive; it is insensitive to the victims of the Holocaust, as it minimizes the experiences of those who suffered this tragedy and equates respect for Indigenous Peoples to Nazism, which is extremely bigoted.
Her use of these inflammatory statements in a deliberate, patterned way to play on the irrational fears and prejudices of people living in BC. This is far from the first time that Armstrong has been at the centre of controversy. She also labeled the tragic Tumbler Ridge shooting a result of “transgender ideology,” and put forth a bill to repeal BC’s Human Rights Act, which was voted down. Since being elected, she has left the conservative party, helped found the OneBC party with staunch residential school denialist, Dallas Brodie, and then later abandoned it.
Constituents in her district should be able to remove her from this elected position. However, the current demand of 40% of eligible voters in the riding to sign a petition for the removal of an MLA is hindering constituents’ ability to practice such an act. The only successful petition occurred in 1998 and the MLA, Paul Reitsma, resigned prior to it taking effect. Unless you have the resources and are well organized, 40% of the voter base is only attainable on paper.
While it’s beneficial for our legislature to have adequate protections for MLAs to avoid a constant revolving door of representatives, for barely one MLA to have ever been successfully recalled in BC history shows that the system needs rewriting.
A threshold to trigger a by-election that was proportional to the actual voter turnout rather than net constituents, of which many do not turn out to vote, would better reflect the voice of the district. Because 18,000 signatures is a very lofty threshold, one that the legislature will know is unlikely to be met, Armstrong will continue to poison the legislature until the next provincial election. It is unacceptable to give her space to harm to Indigenous, trans, and other marginalized people from her seat.
