BC Conservative Leader John Rustad recently told KelownaNow that he’s planning to give public funds to anti-vaxxers who were fired during the pandemic, the NDP said on Monday.

Rustad said: “I actually believe that our health care workers and other workers that were let go or fired because they refused to take it, they should actually be compensated for that. And that’s something we’re gonna look into, in terms of it, because I don’t believe that they were rightly dismissed.

When KelownaNow asked if he would pay their lost wages, he replied: “Well, we’d have to look into what that compensation package would look like, but I think quite frankly we should be doing that.”

NDP MLA Ravi Parmar said: “At a time when we need to be lowering costs for people and investing in healthcare, John Rustad is promising to spend tax dollars rewarding people who refused to do the simple thing necessary to keep people safe through the worst of the pandemic. It was extremely concerning to see him pick candidates who think the pandemic was a hoax, and now he’s promising to cut those people a cheque on the public dime.”

Parmar added: “John Rustad’s obsession with conspiracy theories and fringe ideas is dangerous and it shows he’s not focused on the things people actually care about. Unlike Rustad, David Eby is taking real action to help people with costs, tackle the housing crisis, and strengthen healthcare.”

Rustad’s full interview is available here.