December 512 hours agoPostscript: Rustad regales reporters with animal talesEmily FaganI’m back from the B.C. Legislature to wrap up the day, and there’s a postscript to add to this story.By mid-afternoon, the flurry of activity from the morning’s news had quietened. That’s when Rustad, taking a break from cleaning out his office, wandered into the press gallery and began regaling reporters with stories of animals he’s encountered in northern B.C.For about 20 minutes, he told stories about otters, wolves, eagles and other animals.Once, he said, while snowshoeing through the bush, he realized he was downwind of a fully grown moose. He coughed, alerting the moose to his presence — and it began to charge, he said.With only an axe to defend himself, Rustad said, he held his ground. Just before it reached him, the moose stopped, snorted and turned away.”Politics is nothing compared to that,” he said.December 415 hours agoSo, what happens now? Justin McElroyThe answer is probably “not much, at least for a bit.” The legislature has wrapped up its session for the year, so Halford and the B.C. Conservative caucus won’t be returning to Victoria until the provincial budget in February. It will be up to the party’s board to formally announce a leadership race and set its terms — and while they could rush to get it done before the holiday season starts in earnest, Christmas isn’t exactly the opportune time to launch a political campaign. Expect potential candidates to say they’ll be spending the holiday with their loved ones thinking about the best way to build the B.C. Conservative Party back up — and a minimal amount of firm information until 2026. This concludes our live coverage for today. For a recap, you can sort updates from oldest to newest by clicking the “Latest first” button below the video carousel. We’ll continue to cover this story on cbc.ca/bc.15 hours agoRustad’s resignation a ‘reset,’ Sturko saysLauren VanderdeenMLA Elenore Sturko responds to John Rustad resignationMLA Elenore Sturko, who was ousted from the B.C. Conservative Party in September, spoke with BC Today in the aftermath of John Rustad stepping down as leader. She said she believes the change will put the party in a better position to try to form the next government of B.C.Elenore Sturko, the former B.C. Conservative caucus member who was “fired” by Rustad in September, said Rustad’s departure is a “great opportunity to push the reset button.””Change starts today,” Sturko told host Michelle Eliot on CBC’s BC Today. She said she respects Rustad’s decision to step down and praised him for building the B.C. Conservative Party up “from nearly nothing.”Sturko said while she was ejected for raising concerns about Rustad’s leadership, she never had an issue with the party itself.Sturko reiterated previous statements that she would be willing to return to caucus with a leadership change, if she’s invited back — and she may even consider running for leader.”I haven’t been invited at this point, and I am actually feeling very content at the moment serving my constituents and getting results for British Columbians as an Independent.”15 hours agoEby voices ‘great respect’ for RustadLauren VanderdeenWhile the NDP has yet to officially comment on Rustad’s resignation, Eby gave him a short sendoff in a post on X just after noon.“While John and I disagreed strongly on many things, I have great respect for his commitment to public service and for speaking his mind,” the premier said.“I wish him and his wife Kim all the best.”While John and I disagreed strongly on many things, I have great respect for his commitment to public service and for speaking his mind. I wish him and his wife Kim all the best.—Dave_Eby15 hours agoNew leader likely chosen within 6 months: EsteyEmily FaganEstey said she expects a leadership election to be called in January, with a new leader to be chosen within the next six months.“I think that this was the only option to unify the party,” she said of Rustad’s departure.“I have high hopes that people are going to work together… we’re not in session, so it’ll allow a little bit of a cool-down period.”15 hours agoClear heads prevailed, Conservative president saysEmily FaganAisha Estey is the president of the Conservative Party of B.C. (Antonin Sturlese/Radio-Canada)Aisha Estey, president of the B.C. Conservative Party, told my colleague Katie DeRosa that she was relieved to wake up this morning to the news that Rustad had decided to resign.“We were hoping, OK, with some time, hopefully clear heads will prevail, and ultimately they did,” she said. If Rustad had chosen not to step down of his own accord, Estey said, other options had been discussed, including asking the Speaker to recognize Halford as party leader because he had support from the majority of caucus.Estey said efforts by MLAs to have a secret vote on Rustad’s leadership were repeatedly blocked, which is why a majority of MLAs yesterday signed a letter of non-confidence and called an emergency meeting to decide on a new leader.15 hours agoGreen MLAs highlight Conservative ‘instability’Emily FaganB.C. Green Party MLAs Rob Botterell, left, and Jeremy Valeriote. (Emily Fagan/CBC)B.C. Green Party MLAs Jeremy Valeriote and Rob Botterell responded to Rustad’s resignation while answering questions from reporters about the end of the fall session.“The instability of the Conservatives has meant they haven’t been a tremendously effective Opposition, which leaves it to us to do a lot of that work,” Valeriote said.He said the Greens are starting to renegotiate the Cooperation and Responsible Government Accord they had signed with the NDP in March, and hope to use that framework of agreement to continue pushing for issues like electoral reform.Botterell said the Green MLAs and new party leader Emily Lowan find themselves in a very different position than the Conservatives heading into these conversations.“We are boringly aligned and united in our approach,” he said with a chuckle.16 hours agoPremier won’t speak todayLauren VanderdeenPremier David Eby spoke with reporters in Victoria on Thursday. (Mike McArthur/CBC News)Premier David Eby is not expected to speak about Rustad’s resignation today, according to his office.Yesterday, the B.C. NDP leader said he wasn’t surprised that the Conservative caucus had decided to oust Rustad. He described the situation as “chaos.””The kinds of people the Conservatives brought into the legislature, the anti-vax conspiracy theories, the pro-Trump tweets, the YouTube bloggers — I don’t know how you hold a group together with that kind of hodgepodge of craziness,” Eby said.16 hours agoOneBC leader compares Conservatives to the TitanicLauren VanderdeenOneBC Leader Dallas Brodie talks to reporters earlier this week. (CBC)Dallas Brodie, who formed the OneBC party after she was kicked out of the B.C. Conservatives caucus in March, has responded to Rustad’s resignation.In a release, she compared the Conservatives to “the Titanic” but said OneBC is “a rocket ship.”“It doesn’t matter which captain commands their sinking vessel,” Brodie said. “Their party sank because it is filled with corrupt backroom dealers and fake, self-serving MLAs.”She said the Conservatives failed to support OneBC in its attempts to “defend Canadians against false claims of genocide,” to ban land acknowledgements in school, and to ban diversity, equity and inclusion policies in universities, among other initiatives.“Let the BC Cons fight among themselves. We will fight for you,” Brodie said.Rustad ejected Brodie from the Conservative caucus due to what he called her “mocking” statements regarding former residential school students.Brodie and Tara Armstrong, another MLA ejected from the Conservatives, formed OneBC in June, with Brodie as party leader.17 hours agoWho is Trevor Halford?Justin McElroyTrevor Halford is the B.C. Conservative MLA for Surrey-White Rock. (Trevor Halford/Twitter)Halford is the MLA for Surrey-White Rock. He was elected in 2020 as part of the B.C. Liberals and then switched to the B.C. Conservatives in 2024 after the rebranded Liberal Party — B.C. United — was effectively shut down by leader Kevin Falcon. Before that, Halford was heavily involved with the B.C. Liberals as both a chief of staff for cabinet members and as part of premier Christy Clark’s communications team.Because of that, people have considered Halford part of the Conservative Party’s more moderate wing — but that shouldn’t be necessarily taken as an indication that one “wing” of the party has become more dominant, as disillusionment with Rustad was driven less by ideology and more by his overall political management of a diverse caucus. Reasons that caucus would have supported Halford as interim leader likely include his understanding of the legislature as both a politician and a staffer, his media experience, his genial nature and his lack of interest in running for the permanent leadership.
John Rustad resigns as leader of B.C. Conservative Party
