THE BC Liberals said on Thursday that the NDP has known about their candidate for Stikine, Nathan Cullen’s true attitude towards First Nations people since 2015. This revelation comes after Cullen was caught making derogatory comments about a Haida Chief in this election.

“[BC NDP Leader] John Horgan’s response was to say that Nathan is the victim, that he feels really bad about his comments,” said BC Liberal Stikine candidate Gordon Sebastian. “The problem is that this is a pattern from Mr. Cullen, it wasn’t a one-off and now we see the NDP only pay lip service to reconciliation. This attitude from both men is totally unacceptable.”

In 2015, the NDP was made aware of Cullen’s feelings towards the Haida and was sent the following email:

Good day,

I could not find an NDP email address for Mr. Mulcair, but this message is meant for him.

Earlier this week NDP candidate Nathan Cullen stated that “Haidas are trouble and hard to work with”.

If this represents the true thoughts of the NDP’s inner circle, then our First Nations struggles will continue, and our hope suffers a setback.

Needless to say, our Haida family is appalled with Nathan’s true feelings, and we’ll not be voting for him.

As a Nisga’a, I wonder what other true thoughts of the NDP are not honestly shared with us.

Thank you,

Harry Nyce Jr.

According to the BC liberals, so far in this election:

• Horgan and the NDP rigged the party rules to deny an Indigenous woman the nomination in Stikine and handed it to Cullen, who was being paid $2,000 a day by the province.
• Horgan refused to accept any responsibility for Cullen’s insulting comments about Haida Chief Roy Jones Jr.
• Horgan had to apologize for his insensitive comments around white privilege and “not seeing colour.”
• And the NDP’s own diversity committee has complained to Horgan about the NDP’s culture of “white leadership.”

“With this new evidence about Nathan Cullen’s true feelings towards First Nations, it’s time John Horgan showed leadership,” said Sebastian. “Talk is cheap and action is required. We’re seeing true insight into the character of Horgan and Cullen. The time for smug answers is over for John Horgan. And Nathan Cullen needs to apologize according to Haida laws for his comments.”