BC Conservative leadership debate starts with land acknowledgement
While property rights remain endangered by "land back" ideology, the third BC Conservative leadership debate hosted by Vancouver Sun kicked off with a land acknowledgement.
An all-candidates forum featuring B.C. Conservative leadership candidates, livestreamed and co-hosted by the Vancouver Sun, opened with a land acknowledgement and closed with praise for former NDP premier John Horgan and Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry’s Covid lockdown mandates.
The event, co-hosted by Sun political columnist Vaughn Palmer and Stuart McNish, began with McNish noting there may not be enough time to address every issue before delivering the land acknowledgement. The acknowledgement did not refer to B.C. as “unceded territory,” a phrasing commonly used in similar statements.
“Today we come to you from Kemk’emelay, the land of many maples,” McNish said, kicking off the event. “These are the traditional territories of the Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, and Squamish First Nations who have lived on and continue to call these lands home.”
