EDITORIAL – Candidate Giesbrecht’s hostage video was in poor taste but….

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

MAY IT WAS INEVITABLE that an old social media post would come back to haunt a candidate in the current election. But we would have expected it in the provincial campaign, not right here in River City, not in the campaign for City council.

Council candidate Dennis Giesbrecht is paying the price today for a mock video he posted for about a day, then withdrew it, in July. It showed Giesbrecht on his knees and some guy standing behind him wearing a vest and wielding a baseball bat.

Giesbrecht says, supposedly under threat of a beating from the guy with the bat, “I am Dennis Giesbrecht of Pivot Kamloops. I’m doing this of my own free will. My family is safe. Kamloops has never been better run. We’ve got a City council that’s amazing. Every dollar is well spent and no one should even run against them. They should all win in a landslide.”

Then he looks over his shoulder at Baseball Bat guy and asks, “Good?” The guy says “Good.” Giesbrecht turns back to the camera and says “Thank you.”

It was an obvious spoof, intended as a joking putdown of the incumbent council. After negative reaction, Giesbrecht quickly took it down. But now it’s resurfaced, just in time for the election, and the masses, and undoubtedly some of the incumbents, are not amused.

While Giesbrecht confirms it was supposed to be funny, many failed to appreciate the humour.
The video was a classic example of a politician doing or saying something without thinking it through. Because Giesbrecht thought he was being funny, he expected everyone else to also think it was funny. He didn’t ask himself, “What are the possible reactions, what are the possible consequences?”

It was foolish, ill-considered, immature and in poor taste. It couldn’t help but conjure images of ISIS and its shocking videos of real-life executions. Giesbrecht probably didn’t think of that when he posted the video, or maybe he did, and figured showing a baseball bat instead of a military weapon would cover it off.

But, his intention clearly wasn’t to shock. He thought he was injecting a bit of levity into the campaign. The video was not racist. It wasn’t misogynistic. It didn’t advocate genocide. It didn’t use foul language. It wasn’t homophobic. It wasn’t malicious, hateful or even nasty. It didn’t target anyone for ridicule. None of the things that politicians usually get in trouble for with social media posts.

Comedians commonly employ satire and exaggeration to make a point in much more shocking ways than Giesbrecht’s video.

So, while it was a big fail, Giesbrecht’s video doesn’t reveal any fundamental deficiencies in his character. It doesn’t reflect any prejudice that would impair his ability to do the job of City councillor. One might even say that everyone tells a bad joke once in a while.

Giesbrecht will very probably lose votes over it. The impact on his three fellow Pivot Kamloops candidates remains to be seen. But it’s something we can shake our heads over, and then forgive and move on.

It’s pretty certain Giesbrecht has learned his lesson.

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, writes for the Kamloops Chronicle and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and was a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.