Premier David Eby says social media behaviour that got the BC Green Party's deputy leader fired represents a "reprehensible" attack on provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.
Dr. Sanjiv Gandhi has also resigned as a Green candidate in the 2024 provincial election after liking a social media post that compared Henry to Josef Mengele, an infamous Nazi doctor who experimented on concentration camp victims during the Second World War.
Gandhi says the like was inadvertent, but Eby says it was an "awful" attack, and he applauded Green leader Sonia Furstenau for making the "difficult but necessary" decision to fire her deputy.
Furstenau says Gandhi's actions were "unacceptable" and she accepted his resignation as the Green candidate in the newly formed provincial riding of Vancouver-Renfrew.
Gandhi says in a statement that he accidentally liked the post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, and he only realized his "blunder" on Wednesday and has now unliked the post.
He says he agrees with Furstenau that stepping away from his role with the party is the best course of action.
"As the subject of considerable racism in my life, I know that words matter, and I do not condone the belittling or demonization of any group of people for any reason, including those based on race or religion," the statement says, adding he is sorry for any harm he has caused.
Gandhi, the former chief of cardiac surgery at BC Children’s Hospital, left his post last December and was named deputy Green leader in January.
He announced his intention to run for the Greens just two months ago in the redrawn riding that covers most of the Vancouver-Kingsway constituency currently held by B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix.
