JONESIE: Why are anti-vaxx candidates so shy? | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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JONESIE: Why are anti-vaxx candidates so shy?

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OPINION


You kind of just knew this was going to be a bizarre election, didn’t you?

For the last three years, a wave of people who were never politically active before in their lives were suddenly forced to form an opinion about a current subject because they were told to wear masks, stay home and get a vaccine.

It shouldn’t be any surprise they are seeking political representation. The only problem is, many of the candidates are trying to hide their true intentions which shows me again they don’t understand how this stuff works.

Marshall Jones, managing editor
Marshall Jones, managing editor

In Kelowna, we tried to look closer at a small slate of two candidates for council called Spirit Alliance. One refused to answer questions unless they were in email form and the other refused to state his position on controversial topics, but in the end made pretty clear. That interview ended with a veiled threat to the reporter to “tread carefully” on the topic of his vaccine status.

In Vernon and Kelowna, several candidates are running under a banner called Parent’s Voice. Readers raised reporter Ben Bulmer’s radar about the group and the lack of transparency among candidates and their website raised more red flags. None of them would answer questions but Bulmer was familiar with one of the candidates for railing against mandates and were since outed as a fairly extreme right wing organization. I guess they want voters to form their own conclusions.

Kamloops has a candidate for school board who is a lot less shy about her views. She’s not vaccinated, was against the mandates and also wants to ban books and opposes efforts to be inclusive in schools. And good on her, state it loud and proud so we all know who you are. The trucker-convoy-whatever-crowd is so yuuuuge it can surely supply enough votes to get you elected.

Why the hoodwink?

I must admit it feels weird bringing this up with the pandemic behind us. I know I’m desperate to move past it. But I did promise the Clown Show I would keep pointing out their painted faces. And I will tell you why.

Dr. Bonnie Henry is no different than a police officer who stops traffic because he says there’s danger over the hill. It’s one thing for you to defy that authority and accept the risk of danger by driving around, but it’s quite another thing to try convincing all the other drivers in the line to do the same. But if you use an elected public position or seek public office to do so, you not only put other people in potential danger, you also tear down public confidence in the police, one of many institutions that can only exist effectively if it has public support.

And these actions are based only on flimsy ideology without a shred of evidence just because they couldn’t follow a few simple, temporary measures to help protect our sick and elderly and not overwhelm the hospital system.

That’s information about a candidate that I as a voter need to know.

— Marshall Jones is the Managing Editor of iNFOnews.ca


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