BC Conservative Leader John Rustad instructed his entire caucus to walk out of the House Monday to avoid voting in a motion moved by the New Democratic Party government.CHAD HIPOLITO/The Canadian Press
BC Conservative Leader John Rustad, who promised his caucus free votes and freedom of speech, took the unusual step this week of muzzling his MLAs during a contested vote that would have exposed the divides within his caucus.
The New Democratic Party government called the vote in the legislature on the social values that have been tearing apart the official opposition for months.
Last May, some Conservative MLAs hosted a Christian advocacy organization, the Association for Reformed Political Action, in the legislature’s Hall of Honour. The group opposes abortion and gender transition for youth, and deems homosexuality “immoral.”
Mr. Rustad attended the event, but several members of his caucus publicly criticized the organization, including the MLA for Penticton-Summerland, Amelia Boultbee, who this week reminded her constituents, “I have always denounced any form of homophobia, racism or transphobia.”
On Monday, the NDP moved a motion in the legislature to condemn the association’s “intolerant views.” Mr. Rustad instructed his entire caucus to walk out of the House to avoid voting on the motion.
“That was a whipped vote, yes,” Mr. Rustad told reporters Tuesday. “I asked them to put the party in front of their own personal interests, and not go in and participate in divisive politics.”
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Mr. Rustad, whose party emerged from obscurity to almost defeat the governing NDP in last fall’s provincial election, has been criticized by both centrists and social conservative factions within his party.
Both sides have – mostly through proxies – called for a leadership contest to replace Mr. Rustad, saying he has failed to consolidate the political right in B.C.
Centre-right voters in B.C. were given just one main option on the ballot in last October’s election after the B.C. Liberals pulled their candidates just weeks ahead of the campaign.
Mr. Rustad, however, has struggled to keep the aspiring “big tent” party – which seeks to provide a home to federal Liberals and federal Conservatives in B.C. – united. He spent the summer seeking the support of his party membership, and when the votes were tallied in late September, he declared the leadership discontent was behind him because he had secured almost 70 per cent support from party members.
“I believe the members have given me a mandate to lead and I believe British Columbians are hungry for an unapologetic common-sense Conservative government,” he declared at that time.
But on Sept. 22, the BC Conservative Leader abruptly fired his highest-profile MLA, Elenore Sturko, just hours before a caucus meeting where his leadership was on the table. Ms. Sturko was a leading moderate voice of the party.
On Monday Ms. Sturko took her seat for the first time as an Independent MLA. Speaking to reporters outside of the House, she urged her former caucus colleagues to stay in the Conservative party and push for change from within.
“I would encourage them to look strongly at the leadership of their party, keep their votes within the caucus, and make decisions that they think are in the best interest of British Columbians,” she said.
Elenore Sturko is now an Independent MLA.CHAD HIPOLITO/GM
A week after ejecting Ms. Sturko from the caucus and party, Mr. Rustad fired a member of caucus staff for posting negative comments about Indigenous reconciliation. His disciplinary action did not go over well: Senior members of his party executive and caucus took to social media channels to condemn what was characterized as an especially embarrassing version of “cancel culture.”
Angelo Isidorou, the party’s executive director, said Tuesday he opposes “cancel culture” in general but sidestepped questions about his support for Mr. Rustad. “I serve at the pleasure of the party,” he said in an interview. “Ultimately, he is the party leader.”
Mr. Rustad shrugged off the attacks, saying there are limits to the free speech he will tolerate in his party. “When I talk about free speech, I talk about what I consider to be free speech that is reasonable about topics. I don’t mean free speech that promotes hate or racism.”
Mr. Rustad has repeatedly played down caucus dissent as a sign of growing pains in a party that had zero elected members before he took over in 2023.
Since the election in October, 2024, the BC Conservatives have lost four MLAs. The NDP still have just a bare majority of 47 members in the 93-seat legislature, but the Conservatives now have 40 seats, while Independents and smaller parties make up the rest.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the NDP have 45 members in the BC legislature. The party has 47 members.