Monday at the B.C. Legislature played out like a political drama. Elenore Sturko was asked to go to B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad’s office at 5 p.m. She obliged, and arrived to find the meeting room filled with Rustad and other staff, the Conservative Party’s chief of staff, the caucus chair and the whip. Shortly after, Sturko left the meeting, carrying a box of her belongings. WATCH | Elenore Sturko kicked out of B.C. Conservative caucus:MLA Elenore Sturko kicked out of B.C. Conservative caucusSurrey MLA Elenore Sturko has been kicked out of the B.C. Conservative caucus, following the results of John Rustad’s leadership review, in which he maintained support from a majority of those who cast votes. As CBC’s Katie Derosa reports, Sturko says she did not see her removal coming.The Surrey-Cloverdale MLA had been removed from caucus, and from her position as public safety critic. On Monday, Sturko said she was “absolutely blindsided” by the removal. But, now, after a night of rest, she sees the situation with fresh eyes. “I woke up this morning with a little bit of a sense of freedom,” she told CBC’s The Early Edition. “I’m an Independent, so the sky’s the limit.”WATCH | Sturko responds to ousting:Surrey-Cloverdale MLA Elenore Sturko booted from B.C. Conservative caucusB.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad has booted Surrey-Cloverdale MLA Elenore Sturko from his caucus, accusing her of plotting against his leadership. Sturko has denied the allegation and says she was “absolutely blindsided” by the move. Sturko, who has been a high-profile, outspoken MLA for both the now-defunct B.C. United Party and the B.C. Conservatives, is speaking out about why she believes she was removed from her post. During a media scrum on Monday night, Rustad repeatedly dodged questions about why he ousted Sturko. Over and over, he responded to reporter questions with “she was an effective critic, she did a good job and I wish her well for her future.”Rustad said he knew he was going to remove Sturko from caucus as soon as he got the final numbers on the B.C. Conservative leadership review, which, on Monday afternoon, revealed Rustad received nearly 71 per cent support from voting members. “I needed to make sure that as a caucus we are going to be united in terms of what we need to do to defeat the NDP,” he said. ‘No chains’Sturko said that while she’s no longer public safety critic, as an Independent, she’ll be a critic for “everything.” “The gloves are going to be off. I promised the people of Surrey-Cloverdale I would be a strong critic of the government, holding them to account, working with them where I can to improve their lives. And I’m going to do that now with no chains.”During her CBC Radio interview on Tuesday morning, Sturko said she was prevented from voicing her more “socially liberal beliefs” while in the Conservative caucus. “There’s a lot of different things that I felt uncomfortable with,” she said, pointing specifically to issues around her stance on Pink Shirt Day — an anti-bullying campaign. “I made a comment on a CBC interview where I actually defended ethnic minorities and gender minorities in an interview about a police board [resignation] and people in my party attacked me,” she said. Rustad denied silencing anyone in his party. “I actually welcome disagreement. I welcome criticism. I welcome open conversation,” he said.WATCH | Sturko defies Rustad, deepening party rift:Rift among B.C. Conservatives deepens as MLA defies party leaderConservative MLA Elenore Sturko refused Leader John Rustad’s request to meet with the VPD board’s former vice chair, who resigned after making controversial comments. But as Katie DeRosa reports, the pair insist the party can still be an effective opposition despite some internal dissension. Sturko said the whole reason she crossed the floor to join the B.C. Conservatives in June 2024 was because of the promise that members would not have to give up their values to have a voice within the party. For her, that meant being fiscally conservative, but not necessarily socially conservative, she said. “At the same time, [Rustad] told socially conservative people who were already in the party that that wasn’t the case … he would stay true to his values and not weaken in any way in his mind. That’s not a very good foundation for a party.”While he maintains that there is unity within the party, Rustad himself admits there’s been some backlash within the party since Sturko’s ousting. “Of course, there can be some people who weren’t happy with Elenore leaving our caucus,” he said.One of those people is Courtenay-Comox MLA Brennan Day. “I think if we’re going to broaden the party, it’s definitely a short-sighted move,” he said, speaking ahead of a two-hour caucus meeting Monday night. “Certainly not a good decision for the longevity of the party.”‘Unified voice’Sturko said Rustad accused her of campaigning against his leadership — a charge she denies.Sturko acknowledged that she’d had conversations with other MLAs about the leadership review and voter fraud allegations, but told CBC News she was not organizing against him.”I’m going to say, in my opinion, the reason why I’m fired is that John Rustad’s on shaky ground inside his caucus, and that he needs the support right now [from] social conservatives within the caucus in order for him to hang on to the reins of power,” Sturko said. “Getting rid of me, it was one way to appease some of the people within the group.”On Tuesday afternoon on CBC’s BC Today, Rustad claimed that Sturko has not been a team player, likening the situation to football. “You cannot be advancing the ball down the field and scoring a touchdown when you have somebody that is continually causing grief and problems within your ranks, questioning everything that’s going on,” the party leader said. “I don’t mind questioning, but when it goes to the point of being traitorous, you can’t have that on your team.”He continued on to say Sturko had tried to undermine and even “take out” his leadership. “She was not loyal to me.”
‘No chains’: Elenore Sturko speaks out after ousting from B.C. Conservative caucus
