Rustad calls own Nuremberg and Nazi comparisons to COVID-19 measures ‘unacceptable’

British Columbia’s Conservative leader says comparing the Nuremberg trials or Nazi Germany to public health measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic is unacceptable and “deeply disrespectful to the memory of those who suffered” in the Holocaust.

That’s after video surfaced of Rustad saying his party would “certainly be participating with other jurisdictions” after being asked at an online meeting in July about where he stood on “Nuremberg 2.0,” which is the idea that people behind public health measures during the pandemic should be put on trial.

Rustad now says he wants to “clarify” his comments made during a conversation with members of the BC Public Service Employees for Freedom group.

The Conservative leader says in a statement on the social media platform X that he “misunderstood the question” about whether he supported “Nuremberg 2.0.”

He says 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.

The issue is the latest in a series of unscripted moments on the B.C. Election campaign trail as Rustad, NDP Leader David Eby and Green Leader Sonia Furstenau get ready to square off in a debate on Tuesday.

They have also included a sign erected outside Vancouver billionaire Chip Wilson’s 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 Lululemon founder.

Vancouver Police say they’re investigating the incident after receiving a report.

On Monday in Maple Ridge, B.C., Eby described education plans including a mental health counsellor in every school and an educational assistant for all classrooms from kindergarten to year three.

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 says “the Village” model, which sees people housed in small individual housing units, offers “practical solutions for the homelessness crisis.”

Both Eby and Rustad had been in B.C.’s Okanagan over the weekend, with Eby promising to entice more doctors, nurses and health professionals to rural communities with a loan forgiveness program and Rustad in Kelowna pledging to bring an end to tent encampments.

Leaders of the NDP, Conservatives, and BC Greens will face off in a debate on Tuesday evening.

Election day is Oct. 19. Advance voting stations are open from Oct. 10 to 16 but will be closed on Thanksgiving Monday.

—With files from Sonia Aslam