A petition asking the Conservative Party of Canada to remove its candidate, Aaron Gunn, from running in the North Island鈥擯owell River has over 15,000 signatures.
Created by Eric Ripa, the . It was created on April 8, and in just 14 hours, it had been signed by 5,000 people.
"Conservative candidate Aaron Gunn is making national headlines for publicly stating that Canada's residential school system, which claimed the lives of thousands of Indigenous children through its hundred-year history, did not constitute a genocide," reads the petition.
"Despite the fact that regional Indigenous leadership and 57 and growing names of local mayors and councillors in the riding have called for his removal, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is defending Aaron Gunn's statements. It is unacceptable for a prospective Member of Parliament to dispute the facts of Canada's colonial history."
The statements Ripa mentions were posted on Gunn's social media accounts on X, formerly Twitter, and Facebook.
"There was no genocide. Stop lying to people and read a book," one Tweet reads, posted on Oct. 22, 2020. "The Holocaust was a genocide. Get off Twitter and learn more about the world."
In 2022, the House of Commons acknowledged the residential school system as genocide.
"But now, Aaron Gunn is making a mockery of that truth in a cynical attempt to buy votes from his far-right base," says the petition. "We call on Pierre Poilievre to immediately remove Aaron Gunn as the Conservative Candidate for North Island鈥擯owell River."
If the Conservatives remove Gunn, they will not be able to replace him. If Gunn decides to withdraw, his name will still be on the ballot and he can win the seat.
Ripa told the Campbell River Mirror that he is part of growing group of residents that are extremely concerned about Gunn's comments.
"While we believe every party deserves representation, we also believe the candidates representing each party should still uphold and recognize the history of our Indigenous population," he said. "We created this petition, through LeadNow, in order to raise awareness locally, provincially, and nationally, about Gunn's viewpoints in an attempt to educate people on who has a chance of having a seat in the CPC, who the CPC allows to run, and to raise the bar for all candidates."
Ripa said he was surprised to see such a large and immediate response to the petition, but says he clearly sees it as a sign that there are a lot of people who support the petition's cause.
"The overall general response has been great and overwhelmingly positive; we have received a lot of positive words and thanks from people for raising awareness around the bigotry and hate, and a lot of people letting us know they are sharing it with their friends, families and colleagues."
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