A Maple Ridge school trustee candidate is answering questions about a video being shared online that shows him addressing a crowd in Vancouver during a “freedom” rally last year.
The video dated 6 p.m. May 15, 2021, is posted to Twitter and shows candidate Brian Dominick on the stairs of the Vancouver Art Gallery with a World Freedom Rally sign behind him.
“But mostly I’m choosing this path for my children and their future so I can look them in the eye and tell them that their father stood up for their rights and freedoms to keep them safe,” he says to shouts of “Yeah” and cheering.
“Hold on,” he tells the crowd. “Not plan-demic safe. I mean protect their little developing minds and bodies safe. What parents should be doing right now and what we need to help them see. My mission to educate and enact change in the world will not stop until the children are safe, governments are held accountable, and companies stop lying to us. Polluting our oceans, lands, and human bodies in Canada and around the world.
“This is not a Canadian problem folks. This is a global, elitist parasite problem, and they are the ones that need to be exterminated,” he said to claps and cheers.
Vancouver anti-lockdown speaker Brian Paul today says that they are facing a "global elitist parasite" problem and that "they are the ones that need to be exterminated," to which the audience cheered
— Drew (@nolifeneet) May 16, 2021
After him Marco Pietro, who has made videos denying the Holocaust, got to speak pic.twitter.com/oQGZi6FLWM
When reached by phone at his Maple Ridge ebike and scooter store, Dominick did not deny that he is the one in the video making the comments.
His complaint was that the video is being shared by what he says is a conspiracy site, not an accredited media outlet.
The video is posted to Twitter – where anyone from the public can view it – by an independent Twitter user who does not appear to be linked to an organization or group. Dominick also refused to explain what he meant by his comments during the 59 second clip.
“I’m running for school trustee. So, as I mentioned, I am not looking to be giving this energy at all. This goes against what we’re working towards and I’m not interested in addressing an kind of intentional slander or defamation that really has no merit,” he said.
He added that it’s important that “we exercise discernment in these times of the information age.”
“This information is being shared where it’s got no, there’s no citations or references, or who posted it or who took it. There is just absolutely no credibility to this site,” he said, calling it misinformation.
“That’s really what we are talking about here is the spreading of misinformation that is intended to cause harm. I am not interested in entertaining that,” he said.
When asked if he believed the video to be fake or if it is not actually him in the video he again responded, “I’m not entertaining the idea of giving anything from an unaccredited site time or energy”.
In the public Facebook group SD42 Board Watch Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge BC, Dominick has been facing more questions about the video.
Group administrator Elizabeth Taylor asked him how would he and the 28 other anti-mandate candidates think they are going to be able to alter the school curriculum?
To which Dominick replies, “Elizabeth, I am not anti-anything besides maybe slander, hate speech and labels and do not appreciate the discriminatory label. Isn’t that what we are trying to remedy?”
Then moderator Loraine Anchor asks him how can he reconcile this comment with what he said at the rally.
“Eliminating people you think are elitists, etc. fits the description of hate speech,” she told him.
Dominick again replies, “I will not be giving this issue anymore energy online as I feel it is taking away from the real debate and conversation around real issues. This information was also spread by an unknown conspiracy site, was it not? I think its time we all take accountability for the information we share and use discernment to know the difference.”
The conversation ends with Anchor saying, “Brian Dominick, it’s you speaking. You can’t deny that. People should be aware of who they’re voting for.”
READ MORE: Maple Ridge school board candidate wants a better educational plan for students
Another member of the group, David Akerflug, posted the video saying it is beyond disturbing.
“It’s preying on people’s fears in an effort to induce hatred. And extremely anti-Semitic. As a parent in your district of Jewish children I’ll do whatever I can to make sure you have no say in my childrens’ education,” Akerflug said.
A Fraser Valley Freedom Convoy, a “Convoy to Support Brian Dominick for School Trustee”, will be taking place the afternoon of Friday, Sept. 30, and will be making its way from Langley, through west Maple Ridge, into Pitt Meadows and then into Coquitlam. It is being organized by the groups Union of the People and the Canadian Freedom Coalition – groups that oppose vaccine mandates.
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The Canadian Freedom Coalition’s local social media page contains information about fighting COVID-19 vaccine mandates, with videos showing vaccine protests in Maple Ridge and the Lower Mainland, an ad for a presentation about natural immunity and vaccination, and more.
Union of the People’s online content includes information that claims the Pfizer vaccine is more likely to threaten a person’s life rather than save it and asks whether Pfizer hid documents about the vaccine.
Health Canada maintains vaccines and boosters are safe and effective at helping to prevent serious illness, hospitalization and death due to COVID-19.
The group Action4Canada, calls itself a grassroots movement in opposition to the “destructive policies tearing at the fabric of this nation,” with members committed to protecting faith, family, and freedom, is promoting the event.
This is the same group behind local freedom rallies against vaccine passports and COVID-19 mandates. The group also held an anti-vaccine protest by Webster’s Corners Elementary School in October, 2021, where they handed out information sheets about the HPV vaccine to parents dropping their children off for class.
Andrew Dodge, Ridge Meadows chapter leader for Action4Canada, signed Dominick’s nomination papers.
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