‘It’s BC United — BCU’: MLA Renee Merrifield says NDP use of ‘BCUP’ inappropriate

An additional letter in an acronym used by the BC NDP to refer to BC United is causing a stir, with an MLA calling the New Democrats out for “using gendered language” to attack their opposition.

Renee Merrifield took to Twitter Wednesday, naming NDP MLAs Grace Lore and Jagrup Brar specifically, saying their use of “BCUP” as a shortened form of BC United crosses the line.

“Hey @bcndp, women’s bodies should not be the punchline of your partisan jokes. We’re BC United, not BCUP,” Merrifield wrote, including a screenshot of an NDP release.

Hey @bcndp, women's bodies should not be the punchline of your partisan jokes. We're BC United, not BCUP.
 
It's disappointing to see NDP MLAs like @GraceALore & @JagrupBrar1 using gendered language, like references to bra sizes, to attack their political opponents. #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/LKJTT9cdw4

— Renee Merrifield (@ReneeMerrifiel3) April 20, 2023

She goes on to tweet that “As MLAs, we should support other women, not tear them down,” adding this isn’t the first time she and other women have called the NDP out for using “gendered language, which reinforces misogynistic stereotype.”

Merrifield adds the NDP’s “lack of respect for women is even more disturbing in light of the increase in gender-based violence,” pointing to an email she says was sent from Lore to “thousands of NDP with gendered attacks.”

The tweet is accompanied by another screenshot, with the acronym “BCUP” once again circled in the text.

Your lack of respect for women is even more disturbing in light of the increase in gender-based violence. This morning @GraceALore emailed thousands of NDP with gendered attacks.
 
We need leaders who fight for women's rights, not use their bodies as political weapons. #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/LE013VYMv6

— Renee Merrifield (@ReneeMerrifiel3) April 20, 2023

‘It’s BC United — B-C-U’: Merrifield

It appears the issue comes down to the additional letter the NDP has been using when it shortens the BC United name.

“It’s incorrect. We have obviously a new name, it’s an exciting time in our history. And it’s been repeatedly used by the NDP as a negative and as a slur,” Merrifield told CityNews of the NDP’s use of “BCUP.”

“Our name is BC United. It’s trademarked BC United — its acronym is BCU, there is no ‘p.’ As soon as you put a ‘p’ and as soon as it’s used that way, it’s actually a reference to a bra size, which is inappropriate and we’ve asked the NDP to stop using it that way because it’s simply incorrect. Even though we’ve drawn their attention to it, they continue, not just in a small way but in a mass-mailing way, to use it. It’s misogynistic and it needs to stop.”

The Kelowna-Mission MLA says she and her colleagues have repeatedly tried to get NDP politicians to stop using “BCUP,” telling CityNews the requests first started off as a “very casual correction.”

“And it’s then continued from there to where we’ve seen it in written format and actually called it out publicly and said, ‘it’s actually not B-Cup, can you please not use that?’ And said ‘it’s BC United — B-C-U,'” she explained.

“We’ve done that at first believing it was ignorance and now it’s being used misogynistically and we absolutely need to put a stop to it. It’s not part of what we want to see in moving our province forward and really supporting gender equity and inclusion.”

Pointing to an increase in domestic violence in B.C., she says it’s up to everyone, especially politicians, to lead the way in the use of “positivity when it comes to how we use language, how we support gender, how we move forward together, to really make sure that we’re not increasing the violence again gender-specific people.”

Merrifield’s characterization of situation ‘a distraction’: NDP MLA

While Merrifield has suggested the New Democrats are purposefully referring to BC United as “BCUP,” Lore, the NDP MLA for Victoria-Beacon Hill, says the whole situation is just a distraction.

“They’re a political party, this is a normal thing to call them — the BCUP, the United Party. To suggest that it is a gendered attack is both a distraction and I think does a disservice to the actual work that there is to do on gender inequity,” Lore told CityNews Thursday.

“We’re the NDP — sometimes people even call us the NDP Party. It’s a reasonable thing to refer to another political party, as a political party, as the BC United Party.”

Lore says “there’s no malintent here, no juvenile joke.”

She’s taking issue with Merrifield’s characterization of the situation, saying it is disrespectful to actual issues of gender inequality.

“To frame this as gendered attacks, as a slur? There is sexism in politics, there’s no question. This isn’t it,” Lore explained. “The focus on this as an attack, as the politicization of women’s bodies, misses how we actually have work to do.”

Lore would not definitively say whether she would stop referring to BC United as “BCUP,” telling CityNews she’s used that as well as BCU in the past.

“To suggest that this is about weaponizing or not standing up for women’s rights at a time when there is a rise in gender-based violence, when we are taking action on the issues, I think is just such a stretch,” she added. “We need to be talking about the issues. This is such a distraction and such a disservice to actual instances of sexism in politics.”

Pushback online

Merrifield’s characterization of the NDP’s comments is also getting some pushback online. Some are suggesting there isn’t much more to it, saying “BCUP” is nothing more than a shortened version of the BC United name, which was adopted officially last week.

“Every party in Canada has their name reduced to a few letters in graphs, polls, articles,” @apukwa wrote on Twitter. “BC United Party is not only perfectly acceptable, it’s what is being actively used in the media AND you told Elections BC it was an alternate!!!!”

This is bonkers.

Every party in Canada has their name reduced to a few letters in graphs, polls, articles.

BC United Party is not only perfectly acceptable, it's what is being actively used in the media AND you told Elections BC it was an alternate!!!!
https://t.co/caDK3h6qLv https://t.co/2wWORc7Av2 pic.twitter.com/rq7a8ljErG

— Scott M. (@ Hiker_Scott@ m s t d n.ca) (@Hiker_Scott) April 20, 2023

Many agree that Merrifield’s claims feel more like a stretch, with one person tweeting, “This is the wildest of reaches.”

Some asked why Merrifield wasn’t focusing on a bigger picture to fight for equality, as others wondered why the party wasn’t more mindful of what its name could be boiled down to.

https://twitter.com/Micro_Mama/status/1649104419244630016

Maybe y’all shouldn’t have chosen BCUP as a party name https://t.co/T6GV2YNye1

— Eliza Pallas (@Pallas_ca) April 20, 2023

Then, there were those who simply just asked, “What in God’s name is happening here?”

https://twitter.com/joeydhansen/status/1648879566805671939

Merrifield says she’s stopped reading the comments, adding many of the people making light of them likely have never experienced personal attacks based on their gender.

“I would say that maybe they haven’t been mocked before in their lives for the size of their chest, that maybe they haven’t had that inflammatory language used against them as perhaps I have, being a cis woman. It is absolutely inflammatory, it’s misogynistic,” she explained.

This is not the first time Merrifield, who is the BC United Shadow Minister for Environment & Climate Change, and Gender, Diversity and Inclusion, has faced backlash in recent months. In January, the Okanagan-area MLA was criticized for social media activity that amplified anti-transgender rhetoric.

Merrifield’s official Twitter account liked a tweet regarding a US Court of Appeals decision that constitutionally enshrined single-sex bathrooms in the United States. The account from which that tweet came from had numerous posts targeting transgender rights.

Despite the backlash to her online activity, Merrifield — who has since unliked the tweet — maintains that she is an advocate for the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

CityNews has reached out to the BC NDP for comment.

-With files from Liza Yuzda and Greg Bowman