Dear MLA Jordan Sturdy and the Real Estate Council of British Columbia,

The recently introduced “School Tax” from the NDP is controversial and there are arguments on both sides of the debate. On Friday, June 8th, the North Shore News reported on a town hall that was held on June 7th in West Vancouver.

As reported by the newspaper, a Realtor was in attendance and suggested that the NDP should be shot:

Noting the flagging real estate market and the plethora of homes selling for less than assessed value, Realtor Allan Angell dubbed the situation: “a nightmare.” “The NDP should be shot,” he said, before being interrupted by applause and shouts of “hear, hear!” “We’re losing money galore,” Angell continued. “My house has dropped $1.5 million in five months.”

Bold emphasis added. Source article (quoted at 11 pm on June 8th, 2018):

As reported in the same article, MLA Jordan Sturdy was also in attendance and it appears that he addressed the audience near the end of the meeting. There is no mention of the MLA speaking out against the earlier comments that were made at the meeting.

West Vancouver-Sea to Sky MP Jordan Sturdy ended the evening by urging the crowd to organize and oppose the NDP’s move to proportional representation, which he said could usher in a succession of centre-left governments. “Help me help you,” he said.

There is no grey area or room for debate here. In Canada, we celebrate our democracy and one of the strongest tenets of our democracy is the ability of any citizen to safely run for public office. As Canadians, we share a zero-tolerance policy for any suggestion, no matter how veiled or indirect, that violence against a politician should be initiated as a result of a disagreement on a policy issue. Like a bomb threat, this is one issue in which there is no room for jokes, sarcasm, or comments that people didn’t mean to be taken literally. Canadians from all parts of the political spectrum are united in this stance.

MLA Jordan Sturdy: Given that you participated in this event, I call on you to immediately release a statement to clarify that you do not condone any statements that may have been made at the event that would promote violence against your colleagues from the opposition.

Real Estate Council of British Columbia: The Real Estate Services Act section 35(2) reads:

A licensee commits conduct unbecoming a licensee if the licensee engages in conduct that, in the judgment of a discipline committee, (a)is contrary to the best interests of the public, (b)undermines public confidence in the real estate industry, or c) brings the real estate industry into disrepute.

I would hope that you would agree that when a Realtor calls for politicians to be shot, there is potential for that action to bring the real estate industry into disrepute and I call on you to investigate this complaint. I would hope that any action you would take would result in the Realtor in question very quickly releasing a full apology.

Sincerely,

Steve Jones

stevejoneshikes@gmail.com