Vernon-Monashee MLA Harwinder Sandhu.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Harwinder Sandhu

A Vernon man who describes himself as a "Canadian Freedom Fighter" and attended the Ottawa trucker protest earlier this year is among a group spearheading a recall campaign to overturn the 2020 provincial election results.

"This is a solidified legal way for the people of British Columbia to voice their discontent towards the decision that the government has made in the last couple of years," Jeff Gaudry told iNFOnews.ca. "There are thousands of people around here that are saying maybe it's time to seek a different way."

Under B.C.’s recall law, voters can remove an MLA if they manage to get signatures from more than 40 per cent of people that voted in a riding. Campaigners are given 60 days to achieve this.

While the task sounds rather improbable, Gaudry is optimistic.

"All it really is is a person saying, 'I'm not happy with my current government I want to pull my vote back," he said.

However, Vernon-Monashee MLA Harwinder Sandhu isn't worried about her seat.

"I am not concerned, whatever this group wants to do it's totally up to them and I have full faith of people in Vernon-Monashee... I'll continue to do the job I'm doing with full sincerity," Sandhu said. "These organizers can do whatever gives them satisfaction but nothing changes the fact that COVID is real and these mandates were nothing personal, it was the fundamental responsibility of the government."

While it appears the Vernon-Monashee riding is the first place for the initiative to unfold, Gaudry points to a long-term goal of autonomy in individual regions run by independent politicians and not political parties.

Gaudry argues politicians are too out of touch with the population and only look after their political parties.

Sandhu disputes this.

"I'm been very open to hear from everybody and a lot of people with similar views they don't support vaccines or mandates, I have even given them a meeting, virtually," she said.

Gaudry didn't give a direct answer when asked whether the recall initiative was just a vanity project to appease people's egos.

"It's comparable to what we did when we were in Ottawa," he said.

However, Gaudry struggled to give a concrete example of what the Ottawa protestors achieved.

COVID passports were a provincial issue and federal government workers still need to be vaccinated to go to work.

He then added that more people watched CPAC, the Parliament Hill Cable Public Affairs Channel.

"It's something you have to look deeper into, it depends on what you classify as impact," he said.

While Gaudry paints a picture of a less radical faction of an anti-COVID movement, he still praised Tamara Lich, one of the Ottawa protest organizers currently facing multiple charges, and accused the federal government of trying to throw her back into prison.

When pointed out it was Crown prosecutors that had tried to revoke her bail and they were independent of government, he replied, "I know exactly how it works."

Gaudry said an event will take place in Polson Park, today Saturday, May 28.

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