Last week, we witnessed a shameful display of bullying and political cowardice in Victoria. Bullying by the majority NDP MLAs and their same-thinking comrades and cowardice on the part of the BC Conservatives, who abandoned their posts, rather than debate the motion put forward by MLA Rohini Arora.

Her motion—Motion 38—read: “That this House condemns the intolerant views of the Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA), including its harmful discrimination against transgender people, its belief that homosexuality is “immoral” and its explicit policy goal of restricting abortion access in British Columbia.”

One must first ask, why such a motion would even be put forward? It is not all that common for the BC Legislature to take the time to randomly condemn various organizations. The last time I noted such a motion was when the left-dominated BC Legislature voted to condemn the Freedom Convoy…long after the truckers had left Ottawa. I remember thinking, “Why?” After the disgraceful display of brute force unleashed by former PM Trudeau’s unlawful and uncalled-for use of the Emergencies Act, why would MLAs in BC want to show their ignorance by venting their misinformed outrage and accusing patriotic truckers of sinister intentions? I decided then that their belligerent and hostile words were meant to distract voters, taxpayers and all citizens from the failures of their elected representatives to solve social and economic problems.

Last week’s kick at the can was more of the same. Left-wing activists agitated for some self-righteous posturing by the NDP on—of course—their favourite, tiresome topic: gender. The motion presented by Ms. Arora was an effort to discredit ARPA’s consistent and measured advocacy for the protection of innocent human life, for the importance and relevance of the traditional family, for the urgent need to protect children and youth from gender ideology and the irreversible medical transitioning and life-altering hormone treatments that follow in its wake.

When NDP MLAs grandstand on gender, they’re simply appealing to their base and hoping to enlist the next graduating class of BC’s public schools who have been indoctrinated year after year in the LGBTQ-focused, taxpayer-funded mishmash of identity sensitivities that passes for an education in 2025. In other words—no surprise—the NDP are socialists seeking to break traditional values in regard to sexuality, economics and free speech. For them and their comrades in the Green Party, to condemn an organization whose members are exercising their God-given and Charter-protected right to freely speak their minds on important social issues, should surprise nobody.

What is surprising—even shocking—is that John Rustad, the leader of the opposition BC Conservatives, would use his power over his shrinking caucus to have them all leave the chamber, rather than stand up for ARPA, for free speech and for traditional family values. Equally shocking is that his MLAs—some of whom share ARPA’s values—would allow themselves to be bullied, first by the NDP, and then by their own leader.

Is free speech worth defending? If not, then we don’t need a Charter, we don’t need courts, we don’t need newspapers or radio or the internet. And we surely don’t need elected representatives who leave the room when controversial topics arise.

Free speech was egregiously violated twice last Monday. First, by the majority NDP and their socialist comrades, who thought their rigid and misguided views on human sexuality, abortion and morality were so important that anyone who dares to disagree must be publicly condemned. There’s no doubt, if they had their way, organizations like ARPA, Real Women, Campaign Life Coalition and Turning Point would be banned. But then, there’s that pesky Charter that claims Canadians have a right to free speech.

The second violation of free speech concerns me even more. That was the order by Mr. Rustad for his MLAs to leave the room and neither speak nor vote against Motion 38. Rumour has it that he didn’t want to have the divisions within his party exposed by allowing them to go on the record about free speech, family values, etc. He said he wasn’t going to participate in a distraction from the important issues for which he and all BC MLAs were elected. I say that if free speech is not a hill to die on, there is no issue worthy of that distinction. Because if the MLAs won’t defend that right, if they are willing to meekly submit to their leader’s squeamishness on this matter, we don’t need 93 MLAs. We might as well just have one dictator-general, who will decide what’s right for all of us.

I want to tip my hat to the 3 MLAs who did stay in the Chamber and who voted against this wicked motion to condemn the innocent: Dallas Brodie, Tara Armstrong and Jordan Kealy. It’s not surprising that they should defend free speech and independent thinking; after all, that’s why they were not able to remain in the BC Conservative Party. They found John Rustad’s heavy-handed style too oppressive.

To those BC Conservatives who followed orders and left the Chamber during this debate, I want to encourage you to rethink your priorities and why you wanted to serve as a BC MLA in the first place. Pleasing your leader is not nearly as important as defending a righteous cause with a clear conscience. That’s what people elected you for. The future of civilization is at risk when a few at the top can control the words and actions of the rest.

The Christian Heritage Party of Canada and the Christian Heritage Party of BC stand with ARPA and support their efforts to defend life, family and freedom.