Calls continue to grow for Interim Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson to fire Campaign Director Katy Merrifield.

Merrifield has said her original post was a momentary lapse because of past trauma, but she has not apologized, and she has not addressed her amplification of a series of posts over the last four months on unrelated topics, including:

A post saying “New Yorkers got a jihad-loving mayor” and blaming Islam as a whole for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. (Sept 11, 2026)

A speech called “Should the west be suspicious of Islam?” in which the speaker says "at Islam's core is political, theological dominance, not private internal faith. They may try to hide it, but it is written in blood across the centuries until today." (Aug 3, 2026)

A post saying “One way of combatting Islamophobia would be for Islamists to stop ramming their vehicles into crowds of innocent people.” (July 25, 2026)

A post saying “Islam is a literal rape culture.” (June 19, 2026)

The BC Muslim Association, the largest organization of Muslims in BC, has now called for Merrifield to be fired:

“These statements cannot be dismissed as a single mistake, a momentary lapse in judgment, or a private matter… A campaign director is not a minor or incidental role. A person in that position helps shape strategy, messaging, tone, and public engagement for a political party seeking to govern this province.

“BCMA calls on the Leader of the Conservative Party of British Columbia to address this matter urgently and remove Ms. Merrifield from any campaign leadership or public-facing role. We further ask the party to issue a clear public apology to Muslim British Columbians, confirm that anti-Muslim rhetoric has no place in its campaign or organization, and outline concrete steps to ensure this does not happen again.”

The BCMA statement is available here.

BC NDP Candidate Grace Lore has also responded to Merrifield:

“Katy - trauma and violence can impact us in so many ways. I'm the first to recognize that. But two days later you reposted someone saying ‘Islam is a literal rape culture’ and just last month you reposted ‘New Yorkers got a jihad-loving mayor.’ These posts are all still up.”