The Conservative Party candidate in Saanich-Gulf Islands is apologizing for social media posts that drew fire from a Vancouver Liberal.
“I apologize for my insensitive remarks,” reads the statement from David Busch. “That’s not who I am as a person. Conservative Party candidates strive to be respectful and inclusive of others. To those who I offended, please accept my sincere apology.”
I apologize for my insensitive remarks, that's not who I am as a person. Conservative Party candidates strive to be respectful and inclusive of others. To those who I offended, please accept my sincere apology.
— David Busch (@DavidBuschCPC) August 20, 2021
The statement was issued by the Conservatives’ national headquarters at 8 a.m. Friday, just three hours after Vancouver-Granville Liberal candidate Taleeb Noormohamed tweeted excerpts of videos Busch had posted on social media over the past 14 months.
“Erin O’Toole didn’t mention racism even once in his platform, yet he supports candidates like David Busch in B.C.,” Noorhomamed wrote. “There is no place for this in Canada. We must all speak out against the Conservative’s efforts to drive us apart.”
The videos appeared to be in response to protests over the killing of George Floyd.
Erin O’Toole didn't mention racism even once in his platform, yet he supports candidates like David Busch in BC.
— Taleeb Noormohamed (@Taleeb) August 20, 2021
There is no place for this in Canada. We must all speak out against the Conservative's efforts to drive us apart. pic.twitter.com/vkHZrf986s
In a segment posted Aug. 19, 2020, Busch said: “Five-year-old Connor, a young child in the States, was shot in the head at point-blank range, execution style, and very little was said about it…. Did his life not matter? Or was it the fact that his skin colour and the shooter’s skin colour didn’t fit the narrative that is being currently pushed in our mainstream media?”
In a post from this January, Busch said: “Just this past summer, how many businesses were looted, how many buildings burnt to the ground? How many people assaulted or killed during those riots of this past summer? Riots that were promoted and encouraged, in part, by the Squad from the Democratic Party.”
In a June 10, 2020, video he said: “The criminals who were using this as an excuse… this tragic event… to loot and burn, they need to be brought to justice every bit as much as the four thugs who ended Mr. Floyd’s life need to be brought to justice. I have to appreciate the irony, though, where the criminals are out there on the street, looting and burning, claiming they’re seeking justice for Mr. Floyd, what type of justice exactly are these people looking for? Do they want the accused to be handed over to the mob and lynched?”
He then went on to say that he had experienced discrimination firsthand, as he had been verbally assaulted by passersby who, seeing him dressed in a police uniform for a movie shoot, had assumed him to be a real officer.
Busch, a lawyer, also ran for the Conservatives in Saanich-Gulf Islands in 2019, finishing a distant second to Elizabeth May with 20 per cent of the vote.
His campaign said he would have no further comment on the matter.
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