In this two photograph panel; B.C. NDP Leader David Eby, left, speaks during a campaign stop in Maple Ridge, B.C., and Conservative Leader John Rustad, right, speaks during a campaign stop in Vancouver, B.C., both on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

MAPLE RIDGE, B.C. - British Columbia's election campaign was dragged far off course Monday as the two main party leaders were forced to comment about comparisons of the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals to COVID-19 pandemic health measures.

Vandalism at the property of a Vancouver billionaire, who erected a large sign critical of B.C.'s New Democrats, also diverted leaders off their messages.

The controversial comparisons supporting a Nuremberg-like investigation of B.C. COVID-19 health officials, and the spray-paint vandalism of Lululemon founder Chip Wilson's property come as the leaders prepare for Tuesday's televised debate, which signals a critical juncture of the campaign.

NDP Leader David Eby, B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad and Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau will face each other under the glare of lights during the only televised debate of the campaign.

Rustad apologized Monday for his prior comments about the Nuremberg trials and COVID-19 measures that "offended some people."

"My comments in and around that relating in any way relating to the two, I apologize for that," he said at a news conference in downtown Vancouver. "That certainly was not my intent with regards to that issue."

Rustad posted a statement on social media Sunday to "clarify" his comments after video surfaced with him saying his party would "certainly be participating with other jurisdictions."

Rustad made the comments after being asked at an online meeting in July about where he stood on "Nuremberg 2.0," in reference to an idea that those behind public health measures established during the pandemic should be put on trial.

The B.C. Conservative leader said in a statement on the social media platform X that he "misunderstood the question" about whether he supported "Nuremberg 2.0."

He said it's a "distortion of history" to compare pandemic public health measures with Nazi Germany or the Nuremberg trials, which sought accountability for the Holocaust.

He said he made the comments during a conversation with members of the BC Public Service Employees for Freedom group.

Rustad was in Vancouver to layout his party’s platform around public safety near the site where a man's hand was severed in an attack last month.

He promised a Conservative government would create a new court to handle minor offences and hire more judges, sheriffs and front line police officers, while also ending the province’s decriminalization of small amounts of certain illicit drugs.

Eby called Rustad's comments "regrettable," at a news conference in Maple Ridge where he announced plans to build a new school in the community and promised to increase child care workers and classroom counsellors at B.C. public schools.

"To be entertaining suggestions that we would put public health officials, doctors and nurses who ran vaccine programs, who responded in the depths of the pandemic, on trial similar to Nazi war criminals, is shameful. It's bizarre," he said. "It's really regrettable."

The issue is the latest in a series of unscripted moments on the campaign, which also included the erection of a large sign outside Wilson's Vancouver home last week, calling the NDP "communist."

Photos on social media show the sign and the gates to Wilson's $81-million home vandalized with crude graffiti about the athletic clothing apparel founder.

Vancouver Police say they're investigating after receiving a report.

Eby said the sign on Wilson's property is a symbol of the political divide in this election.

"The sign on Chip Wilson's property, it reflects whose side John Rustad's on," he said. "He's on the side of Chip Wilson. He's on the side of billionaires and the real estate speculators. I'm on the side of the people who are trying to get by who are facing higher costs and struggling in different ways."

Eby said the issues people are facing will not be resolved with spray paint.

"The problem's getting solved with votes," he said.

Eby, at a campaign event at Maple Ridge, promised education plans that include a mental health counsellor in every school and an educational assistant for all classrooms from kindergarten toGrade 3.

He also said there would be expanded on-site school child care.

Greens Leader Sonia Furstenau in Victoria said the party would support what she called a successful model of transitional housing that is employed in Duncan on Vancouver Island.

She said "The Village" model, which sees people housed in small individual housing units, offers "practical solutions for the homelessness crisis."

As the Oct. 19 election day approaches, advance voting will also be available Oct. 10 to 13 and Oct. 15 to 16.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2024.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2024