During a recent interview with the CBC's Stephen Quinn, John Rustad pushed back against the claim that he had tried to "scare people" by focusing on drugs, crime, and sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) during the campaign.BC Conservative leader explained that he was simply echoing the concerns of ordinary British Columbians..When asked how the Conservatives managed to secure three out of four seats in Richmond, Rustad said he believed residents were "fed up" with crime, drugs, and sexualized materials in schools and had simply voted for the party that was vowing to tackle those issues head-on."Drugs and crime, and SOGI are two ways to scare people, basically," Quinn said. "Is there anything to [those fears]?"When Conservative leader said it wasn't right for children to be exposed to certain things at such a young age and highlighted the availability of "pornography" in schools, Quinn claimed that wasn't happening in BC, and if it was, it wasn't part of the SOGI curriculum."Let's actually show the books that are being made available in our schools on your television show, and let's see what kind of ratings you get with that," Rustad retorted. "They came from the SOGI initiative, which is not a curriculum, it is a philosophy that has been brought into schools."The conversation then shifted to drugs and crime, with Rustad once again explaining why the Conservatives focused so heavily on that particular issue. When he brought up the fact that people in Richmond were concerned about drug use in their communities, Quinn appeared to downplay the reality of the situation by pointing out that people consumed drugs all over the province."So people should be afraid then?" Quinn said after Rustad urged him to talk to families near drug-infested housing units, to which the Conservative leader replied, "People are afraid."Quinn then accused Rustad of "blowing things out of proportion," citing reports that show overall crime is down. "Talk to the police about it," Rustad replied. "The police will tell you that it's down because they can't lay charges because there's no point; charges are not going through, so many many crimes are going without charges being laid."He went on to list a number of things that highlight the severity of the situation, including the fact that businesses have had to hire more security guards, and in some cases even close up shop entirely."This is what is out there in our society today," Rustad declared, "and it should not be trivialized."
During a recent interview with the CBC's Stephen Quinn, John Rustad pushed back against the claim that he had tried to "scare people" by focusing on drugs, crime, and sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) during the campaign.BC Conservative leader explained that he was simply echoing the concerns of ordinary British Columbians..When asked how the Conservatives managed to secure three out of four seats in Richmond, Rustad said he believed residents were "fed up" with crime, drugs, and sexualized materials in schools and had simply voted for the party that was vowing to tackle those issues head-on."Drugs and crime, and SOGI are two ways to scare people, basically," Quinn said. "Is there anything to [those fears]?"When Conservative leader said it wasn't right for children to be exposed to certain things at such a young age and highlighted the availability of "pornography" in schools, Quinn claimed that wasn't happening in BC, and if it was, it wasn't part of the SOGI curriculum."Let's actually show the books that are being made available in our schools on your television show, and let's see what kind of ratings you get with that," Rustad retorted. "They came from the SOGI initiative, which is not a curriculum, it is a philosophy that has been brought into schools."The conversation then shifted to drugs and crime, with Rustad once again explaining why the Conservatives focused so heavily on that particular issue. When he brought up the fact that people in Richmond were concerned about drug use in their communities, Quinn appeared to downplay the reality of the situation by pointing out that people consumed drugs all over the province."So people should be afraid then?" Quinn said after Rustad urged him to talk to families near drug-infested housing units, to which the Conservative leader replied, "People are afraid."Quinn then accused Rustad of "blowing things out of proportion," citing reports that show overall crime is down. "Talk to the police about it," Rustad replied. "The police will tell you that it's down because they can't lay charges because there's no point; charges are not going through, so many many crimes are going without charges being laid."He went on to list a number of things that highlight the severity of the situation, including the fact that businesses have had to hire more security guards, and in some cases even close up shop entirely."This is what is out there in our society today," Rustad declared, "and it should not be trivialized."
