Ousted MLA continues to push for BC Conservatives leader to resign

It’s been a bizarre 24 hours for the B.C. Conservative Party, as the fall from grace following last year’s provincial election continues.

Shortly after surviving a leadership review vote, Leader John Rustad abruptly fired high-profile MLA Elenore Sturko from the party caucus.

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“It’s extremely frustrating, and I guess I’m also angry because my true belief is that John Rustad fired me from caucus because he did not want to have a discussion about some of the allegations that have come forward,” said Sturko.

She’s referring to allegations of fake membership sign-ups during the summer, as Rustad’s leadership was under review.

“He wanted to put a chill over the caucus. I already heard from other caucus members, and maybe that’s the case. You want to try and quell an uprising against you, I guess, and one of the things that can be effective is to fire someone, and that’s what happened.”

There have been accusations that Sturko was secretly organizing a leadership campaign behind Rustad’s back. She denies that.

“Depends on what you mean by organizing. No, I wasn’t organizing any leadership campaign, although there are actually people within that caucus right now who are actively organizing leadership campaigns. But did I have conversations with other caucus members about the concerns that I have with these allegations of breaking the Elections Act? Yes, I did discuss that with other members,” Sturko tells 1130 NewsRadio.

She feels her dismissal was a sign Rustad didn’t want to talk about the allegations — pointing to a caucus meeting last week that was cancelled and never rescheduled.

“I think the fact John Rustad really has been quite a dishonest leader right from the start. It’s obvious to everyone, except maybe John Rustad, that he needs to step down.”

Several MLAs were rumoured to potentially take over if Rustad’s leadership review vote failed. Sturko says she was made an example.

“I was pretty outspoken in the concerns that I had about the allegations that were coming forward about breaking the Elections Act. I think I probably was stirring up some issues within the party caucus members for John Rustad, because no, this isn’t something I feel should be swept under the rug. I think it’s something the leader should be accountable for. I’m actually really disappointed. It was an opportunity for him to explain exactly what happened.”

“It’s not because people can’t get together and work together. They can. It’s because John Rustad lied, and he lied to people blatantly, and he created an untenable work situation.”

Sturko says she left the BC United Party and joined the Conservatives because she was “promised” by Rustad himself that he was going to bring the party closer to the political centre, and she was told she could be herself.

Sturko thinks Rustad has positioned himself further away from beating the BC NDP — even as the governing party has taken heat lately after posting a brutal deficit of $11.6 billion, and warning the debt will worsen next year.

“But it became very, very clear that wasn’t the case,” she adds. “I’m not sure if he forgot that one day we would be in a caucus room together and having to work together, or if it just shows the lack of intelligence the man has, but that’s why there is a splinter. It’s not because people can’t get together and work together. They can. It’s because John Rustad lied, and he lied to people blatantly, and he created an untenable work situation.”

When asked why she didn’t leave the party if she felt that way, Sturko said she wanted to bridge gaps and work with people who don’t share her same beliefs.

“I have so much respect for my colleagues, and I know all of them are as shocked as I was. And there’s only one person who I hold responsible for making this decision, and it’s John Rustad. I don’t have any ill will against my colleagues. I hope they make the right decision. I think I was fired because I was going to stand up and say, ‘John Rustad should stand down. He should resign.’ And I hope my colleagues have the courage to do that in the coming days.

Sturko, who describes herself as “socially liberal,” says moving forward, she will sit as an independent in the riding of Surrey-Cloverdale.

Just last October, the BC Conservatives nearly won the provincial election by a margin of only a few seats.

This also isn’t the first time the party has faced serious controversy. In January, a Conservative candidate lawyered up to fight Elections BC after losing his bid in the election. In March, three caucus members left or were removed.

Could this be the beginning of the end for Rustad?

University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) Political Scientist Hamish Telford says firing or removing people from caucus is not a good idea for Rustad.

“I don’t think that strategy is going to work. I think this is incredibly disruptive to the party and there’s going to be fallout from this, whether it’s other caucus members leaving, whether it’s party members leaving.”

Telford theorizes what Rustad is signalling with Sturko’s firing.

“I think what John Rustad wants the message to be is, ‘I’m the leader and if you know where your bread is buttered, you will follow me.’ But I’m not sure that play is going to work.”

He thinks other MLAs will voice solidarity with Sturko.

“I would expect, in due course, others would follow her… and I think they would head for the doors eventually.”

Telford predicts that by the time the next provincial election rolls around, Rustad won’t be leading the party.

“He got enough of a mandate to stay on and keep fighting, but I do think his days are numbered. I rather suspect, sooner than later, he will either step down or be ousted as leader.”

UBC Political Science lecturer Stewart Prest says that the leadership review, which turned controversial after leaked data showed thousands of questionable member sign-ups, could pose another difficulty for Rustad.

“It’s not a resounding victory, so we still may hear some mutters about whether he should stay on, and that’s heightened because of the allegations of ballot dancing around this race,” Prest said.

“Normally, when we see one of these reviews happen, the leader moves quickly to try to solidify support within the party caucus, line up people, to show they continue to support the leader; we don’t usually see a fresh bloodletting.”

“It does seem like Ms. Sturko was used as an example for caucus more broadly because we know that others are certainly thinking about life after Rustad, and it’s not even clear that Sturko was foremost among those potential heir apparent,” Prest explained.

The next election is slated for 2028, unless the sitting government calls for one any earlier.

—With files from Srushti Gangdev, Anthony Atanasov, and Monika Gul.