Why this matters to you: A BC Conservative candidate has made comments comparing same-sex relationships to pedophilia. Leader Lorne Doerkson says he disagrees but won't remove the candidate. This is not about one person's views. It's about whether a party running to lead BC will tolerate homophobia on its team. LGBTQ+ British Columbians deserve to know that their government respects them. Keeping candidates with these views says the BC Conservatives do not. B.C. Conservative MLA Heather Maahs has repeatedly conflated homosexuality and pedophilia. In a podcast appearance alongside Barry Neufeld, she said:

“It’s for sure grooming. It desensitizes kids. And it’s all under the name of LGBTQ because it’s boy on boy.”

When the Human Rights Tribunal found that Neufeld said teaching children about sexual orientation “grooms them for abuse by sex offenders,” Heather Maahs said Neufeld knew what he was talking about because he had worked with sex offenders as a probation officer.

She hosted a reception in the legislature for ARPA - an organization that believes “homosexuality is immoral.”

At the reception, Maahs said "What ARPA has done is given a voice to the ills of society that are so harmful to many. Many of their stances align with our common sense approach as the Conservative Party of B.C.”

Video of Maahs accusing teachers of grooming kids is on social media here. The original video is available at 16:00 here.

The deadline for political parties to remove and replace candidates is Saturday at 1 pm.

Spencer Chandra Herbert, B.C NDP Candidate -

“Conflating the gay community with pedophilia is deeply homophobic, and there should be no place for this kind of hate in a party that hopes to lead this province. The B.C. Conservatives have tolerated this for years, but Lorne Doerkson could change that. It’s not nearly enough for Lorne Doerkson to say he supports rainbows or same sex marriage. He should send a clear message and fire Heather Maahs immediately.”