The B.C. Conservatives have removed Joachim Agou as their candidate for the Victoria-Beacon Hill riding due to offensive social media content. Agou’s social media history includes a post from September 7, 2025, featuring a video of a car hitting pro-Palestinian protesters in Switzerland, with Agou commenting, “He should have reversed too!!!” Additionally, in November 2024, Agou shared a meme depicting Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and right-wing European leaders with the caption “Make the west great again.” Another post in June 26, 2025, showed a meme with Trump on Air Force One mistakenly referring to London as a “shithole.”
Although the posts have been deleted, Agou declined to address questions from reporters and avoided a scheduled meet-and-greet with Victoria residents. Despite being pressed about the social media content during a news conference in Surrey, B.C. Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson initially claimed unawareness but later disavowed the comments and promptly removed Agou as a candidate.
Doerkson stated, “There is no excuse for this. I will not tolerate it. The candidate in Victoria-Beacon Hill is no longer a Conservative candidate.” B.C. NDP candidate for Surrey City Centre, Amna Shah, condemned Agou for what she described as “absolutely horrific racism” and called for his dismissal over the posts. This incident marks the first instance during the campaign where the B.C. Conservatives have had to dismiss a candidate.
Agou’s biography, previously featured on the B.C. Conservative website, described him as a “test and evaluation engineer in the defence sector [who] runs a Victoria engineering consulting and media company.” It remains uncertain whether Agou will pursue an independent candidacy.
