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Ex-Liberal candidate in Burnaby says volunteer wrote controversial post

Karen Wang dropped out following online post singling out NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s ethnicity

A former Liberal byelection candidate says her political career is “probably” over after an online post singled out NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s ethnicity, but she’s still considering running as an Independent.

With her crying mother and sister at her side, Karen Wang said during a news conference this afternoon that she is not a racist and she has many friends of Indian background in the Burnaby South riding.

She says a campaign volunteer wrote the controversial post on Chinese social media platform WeChat using Wang’s account and Wang didn’t proofread it, but she takes responsibility for the mistake.

StarMetro Vancouver reported that Wang urged Chinese supporters to vote for her, describing herself as the “only” Chinese candidate while saying Singh — her opponent in the byelection — was “of Indian descent.”

READ MORE: Liberal bows out of byelection after singling out Jagmeet Singh’s ethnicity

Wang, who was still wearing a Liberal button on her coat, said she was asked by the party to resign and someone else wrote her apology that went out to media yesterday, although she approved it.

The party said earlier today that Wang’s resignation still stands, and Wang said she’ll speak with her supporters and decide whether to run as an Independent before the Feb. 4 deadline to enter the race.

The Canadian Press


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