A new poll suggests that not everyone thinks Dayleen Van Ryswyk's comments were 'unacceptable'.
This was the word used by NDP leader Adrian Dix when he booted out Van Ryswyk from her NDP candidacy in the Kelowna-Mission riding. This action followed the BC Liberals' release of her 4-year-old comments on the first day of the BC Election Campaign.
Van Ryswyk decided to run as an independent, and now a poll is finding that more than forty percent of voters agree with her controversial comments.
The comments were from a 2009 online forum where Van Ryswyk wrote the following about bilingualism:
"I'm getting so sick of having French stuffed down my throat...this isn't Quebec...we speak English here...why are we forced to have it at our Western Canadian hosted Olympics?"
She also wrote about First Nations peoples, saying, “If their ancestors sold out too cheap, it's not my fault and I shouldn't have to be paying for any mistake."
These comments were termed 'hateful' by Liberal candidate Mary Polak, who also said, “There is no place in British Columbia for that type of language.”
The recent poll, released by Abacus Data, was a sampling of 1042 British Columbians between April 24-26 and it found some support for what Van Ryswyk had to say.
44% of those polled agreed with the comments about French language, including 57% of BC Conservative supporters and 50% of those who say they are voting for the BC Liberals.
Regarding the comments made about First Nations issues, 43% agreed and, once again, support was higher amongst those voting for the Conservatives (59%) and the Liberals (47%).
Van Ryswyk may face an uphill battle in the Kelowna-Mission riding, however, where 42% of those polled said they think she shouldn't be elected.
You can find out more about all Kelowna area candidates and their answers to your questions at kelownavotes.com
What do you think of Dayleen Van Ryswyk's comments? Do you agree with the ideas or frustrations that she expressed? Leave your comments below.
Source: Sun News Network
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