Con confirms there’s no BC home for centrists

Screen capture of the Instagram post that triggered this blog post.

One of the candidates seeking the leadership of the BC Conservative Party has described me as an NDP “land back” activist.

According to BC Con leadership candidate Caroline Elliott, I’ve inherited guilt based on race, I believe private property is a construct and I’m giving your public land away.

This from an Instagram post published on March 23, 2026. The post includes words I said a few days earlier during the council meeting when Mayor Hurford and Councillors Stoner and Andersen were appointed to represent the District of Squamish on the Land Back Task Force created by the District of Squamish and the Squamish Nation.

Only a small portion of my remarks from that meeting were quoted by the leadership candidate.

This is what they posted: “When I think about my white European ancestors who came here, claimed these lands and introduced the human construct we call private property…”

Those words were all they needed to paint me and the rest of Squamish Council as a group that needs to be stopped.

My full quote goes on with this: “...the newcomers to this place then tried to assimilate the Sḵwx ̱wú7mesh people into European ways using what I think are cruel tactics, and many people agree with me on that.” 

Yes, I do feel guilty. The history is clear. My people came here, introduced diseases the Sḵwx ̱wú7mesh had difficulties dealing with, my ancestors sent many Sḵwx ̱wú7mesh children away to residential school, colonizers tried to prevent the Sḵwx ̱wú7mesh from speaking their language and holding their traditional ceremonies. My people treated them horribly and I’m unapologetic about my guilt.

Also, I believe private property is a construct. When Europeans settled here they claimed the land. Private property was introduced to the land.

Private property wasn’t a concept the Sḵwx ̱wú7mesh used before settlers arrived.

Pointing out the fact that private property is a human construct seems to have really hit a nerve with some. A number of angry people have sent me messages admonishing me for using this phrase.

Humans are the only living beings using written language, laws and maps to clearly articulate the concept of private property.

As I said in my remarks following the Land Back Task Force appointments, there’s a segment of our population driven by fear, feelings of superiority and a belief there are no historical wrongs to be reconciled. Many extremists believe there’s no need for reconciliation.

They’re trying to frighten Squamish residents into believing your private property could be taken away.

The terms of reference for the task force created to discuss potentially transferring land within the District of Squamish boundary to the Sḵwx ̱wú7mesh clearly states that private property is not part of the conversation.

There’s a great deal of uncertainty about the future as higher levels of government and the court system contemplate the possibility of First Nations being granted land that currently sits with the Crown. I understand that some are worried about future property values because of these various discussions and potential outcomes. This is justified.

What isn’t acceptable is a B.C. Conservative Party leadership candidate taking my words and twisting them to inject more fear into a population struggling to understand the implications of the Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, recent court decisions and recent statements from politicians, First Nations leaders and pundits.

I believe the new task force in Squamish will help reduce the uncertainty and I want the task force members to press ahead with their mandate so we can get their ideas out to everyone for feedback. At this point, we’re simply in a discussion phase. No big decisions on this will be made in the next two years.

The writings of Caroline Elliott confirm the existence of extremists with little empathy for people suffering intergenerational trauma. Those extremists are stoking fear from a position of perceived superiority while refusing to acknowledge the historical cruelty the Sḵwx ̱wú7mesh people suffered when my ancestors planted a flag here and declared they own this place.

For more on all of this you can read the Squamish Chief article on the Land Back Task Force appointments here. Plus you can read an excellent editorial titled Together Is Better on page 10 of the April 2 edition of the newspaper in the Views section. At the time of this writing the only electronic version I could find was in the digital edition. Message me and I’ll tell you where to find it if you don’t know how to access the digital editions. Also, check out the writings of Geoff Meggs at his Substack.