BC Liberals Leadership Hopeful Goes to Bat for Fellow Candidate Targeted for His Opinions

Ellis Ross, BC Liberal MLA for Skeena, in Vancouver in 2016. Ross, who is running for the leadership of his party, is standing up for fellow candidate Aaron Gunn. Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press

Ellis Ross, a candidate in the BC Liberal Party leadership race, is coming to the defence of a fellow candidate who is being targeted for his conservative opinions, saying the party should maintain its “big tent” and not shun the candidate.

That candidate, political outsider Aaron Gunn, declared his intention to run for leadership of the party on Oct. 8 and received immediate flak from the ruling B.C. NDP, which accused him of expressing “harmful views.”

A few days later, a rival in the leadership race, Vancouver-Langara MLA Michael Lee, took a similar position, seeking to prevent Gunn from competing.

“Aaron Gunn has the right to express his views, but the BC Liberal Party has a responsibility to not give a platform to intolerant views like those he’s shared. I urge candidates to affirm inclusive values & join me in calling for his candidacy to be rejected,” Lee said on Twitter.

Ross, MLA for Skeena, reacted to Lee’s suggestion by writing a letter to the Leadership Election Organizing Committee, pleading for Gunn to be allowed to compete if he meets the qualifications established by the party.

“[Our party] needs to change so as to re-establish ourselves as a big tent party which welcomes ideas from across the political spectrum,” Ross wrote. “After all, the decision as to who should be the next leader must remain where it belongs – in the hands of BC Liberal Party members.”

The BC Liberal Party is not a typical liberal party as it also embraces conservative positions.

Gunn, an independent journalist and conservative advocate who produces and directs the online series “Politics Explained,” expressed his gratitude for Ross’s gesture, saying, “This is what leadership looks like.”