Photo: Michael Potestio

Peter Milobar, Kamloops Central MP

Kamloops Center MP-elect Peter Milobar is denouncing another candidate from his new BC Conservative Party for the racist slurs she made against Indigenous people.

In a message posted to Twitter early Saturday morning, Milobar said conservative candidate Marina Sapozhnikov’s comments were “reprehensible” and left him “outraged and filled with sadness.”

Sapozhnikov said in an interview: shared with Postmediathat most indigenous peoples were “savages” who did not have sophisticated laws and fought all the time before European contact. She also expressed concern about British Columbia’s passage of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act and described Indigenous studies classes at universities as “lies” and part of an “awake program”.

In his message, Milobar said he did not tolerate or share the views of his fellow BC Conservative candidate “in any form,” but he did not call for Sapozhnikov’s removal from the party.

“I am grateful that as a white man married into a First Nations family, they welcomed me with open arms. I don’t take that for granted and I try to respect their values ​​and perspectives,” Milobar said on the social media platform.

Castanet Kamloops reached out to Milobar for further comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Sapozhnikov, who is awaiting the results of a recount in the Juan de Fuca-Malahat riding, made the comments on election night during an interview with a Vancouver Island University student.

British Columbia Conservative Leader John Rustad said in an emailed statement to the Vancouver Sun that he was dismayed by Sapozhnikov’s comments and that they did not reflect his party’s values, but he did not did not indicate that she would be excluded from the party.

Sapozhnikov’s constituency is a key battleground that could lead to conservatives forming a government if she ends up being elected as an MP.

She was just 23 votes behind the NDP’s Dana Lajeunesse on election night, but mail-in votes increased that gap to 106 Saturday afternoon.

The final results of the October 19 election will be determined this weekend, with the NDP elected or leading in 46 ridings, compared to 45 for the Conservatives. The Greens, for their part, won two seats, 47 of which are needed to form a majority government in the October 19 election. Legislative assembly of 93 seats.

65,000 absentee and mail-in ballots will be counted over the weekend, along with recounts in three ridings – Juan de Fuca-Malahat, Kelowna Center and Surrey City Center – to determine the final results of the provincial election.

Milobar joined the BC Conservatives in August when the BC United Party ended its election campaign.

He had already called John Rustad and the conservatives too extreme for his opinions, but, after finding himself without another center-right party, he chose to join the conservativestelling reporters he believed he could be an experienced voice who would help shape the party.

I feel outraged and filled with sadness.

I view my family with love and respect and am grateful that as a white man married into a First Nations family, they welcomed me with open arms. I don’t take this for granted and try to be respectful of their values…

– Peter Milobar (@PeterMilobar) October 26, 2024