British Columbia Premier David Eby is denouncing Independent MLA Tara Armstrong for using Nazi rhetoric to argue a point in the legislature. 

Armstrong used the term “blood and soil” while speaking against the K’ómoks Treaty Act legislation, which confirms the First Nation’s ownership of around 3,400 hectares of land on Vancouver Island.

“On the contrary, it promotes UNDRIP’s blood and soil theory that people with Indigenous ancestry have their own inherent rights, based upon what are described as inextricable links to the land,” she said. 

“‘Blood and Soil’ … was an early Nazi slogan used in Germany to evoke the idea of a pure ‘Aryan’ race and the territory it wanted to conquer,” according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. It was used to justify the Holocaust and has been adopted by far-right groups.

Armstrong also posted a video of herself making the statement in the legislature with the caption, “The NDP are blood and soil nationalists for the Indigenous.”

On social media, Eby wrote “this is a line that should never be crossed. Every party should immediately denounce this abhorrent comment.” 

Armstrong replied to Eby saying that he endorses Nazi “blood and soil” ideology by “embedding UNDRIP’s ethno-nationalist principles” in treaties. 

Independent MLA Elenore Sturko called out Armstrong in the legislature, describing the remarks as “extremely offensive” and a “key piece of Nazi ideology.”

Later, Armstrong, who represents Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream, withdrew the comments at the request of Speaker Raj Chouhan.

Nico Slobinsky of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs wrote on X that “comparisons to ‘blood and soil’ are inappropriate and minimize the memories of victims and lived experiences of survivors of the Holocaust and Nazi ideology.”