by Laura Baziuk – BC Local News
The B.C. election campaign is off to a nasty start.
The BC Liberals released screenshots on Tuesday of a series of Facebook posts from what appears to be a BC Conservative candidate calling Canadian hero Terry Fox a “one-legged ginger,” among other comments.
The screenshots, sent out to media, show six posts between 2010 and 2011 from Maple Ridge-Mission Conservative Trevor Hamilton. They also talk about not donating money to a homeless person and call riot police officers “racist” and “illiterate.”
Hamilton called the release “desperate,” saying the comments were only meant to be “sarcastic.”
“They are ridiculous Facebook posts,” Hamilton told Black Press. “Why would anyone take them seriously?”
The 36-year-old said the posts were between himself and his friends, and he is “unapologetic,” saying Terry Fox is a Canadian icon.
Requests for comment from Conservative party treasurer Bob Bray have not yet been returned. Hamilton said he had not spoken to the party executive about the posts by noon Tuesday.
Historically, the Maple Ridge-Mission riding has been a battleground between the Liberals and the NDP.
The Liberal incumbent, Marc Dalton, has dealt with his own controversy. In 2009, he apologized for homophobic comments contained in an 1996 email that had been released by the NDP.
Voters go to the polls May 9.
