A former spokesperson for the Conservative Party of British Columbia says she has been fired over a social media post in which she called the raising of a flag honouring survivors of Canada's residential school system a "disgrace."
Lindsay Shepherd says in a post on the social media platform X that Conservative Leader John Rustad fired her Wednesday over her remark about the raising of the flag at the provincial legislature in Victoria last week.
The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs had called on Rustad to fire Shepherd over the post, which was captured in a screenshot and shared by New Democrat MLA Rohini Arora before it was deleted from Shepherd's profile on X.
Shepherd said in the post that it was a "disgrace that this fake flag flies in the front of the provincial parliament building."
She also wrote that it was a "disgrace" to see an orange shirt marking the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation framed "prominently and permanently" beside the provincial coat of arms inside the legislature, saying "locals and tourists cannot view our insignia without their eyes drawn and redirected to the (shirt)."
Shepherd deleted her post last week, only to share a screenshot of the remarks as she announced her firing on Wednesday.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day, is held annually on Sept. 30, and a ceremony was held at the B.C. legislature last week to raise the flag.
Arora said in a statement that Shepherd's firing "took too long" and her initial hiring was a "sign of the far-right influence and hate that is allowed to proliferate at every level of the (B.C. Conservative Party)."
Arora said Conservative MLAs such as Scott McInnis, Peter Milobar and A'a:liya Warbus, among others, have "consistently recognized the experience of survivors."
But Arora said the Conservatives "knew what Shepherd believed" when they hired her, pointing to previous statements critical of Orange Shirt Day.
Neither Shepherd nor Rustad, who has assumed his party's role as the critic for Indigenous relations and reconciliation as part of a shadow cabinet shuffle, could be reached immediately for comment on Wednesday.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns
