pressure mounts on b.c. conservative leader john rustad to resign
1 minute read
b.c. conservative leader john rustad at the ubcm convention 2025, in victoria, b.c. on september 25, 2025.
ubcm
the presidents of five metro vancouver b.c. conservative riding associations have called on their party leader, john rustad, to resign.
the presidents of the burnaby east, burnaby north, coquitlam-burke mountain, coquitlam-maillardville and new westminster-coquitlam riding associations released a letter on friday stating “the success of our party depends on caucus acting with courage and conviction to initiate a leadership renewal. only new leadership can put our party back on a winning path.”
those five ridings are held by the b.c. ndp.
the letter states b.c. conservative party membership numbers are falling and fundraising is in decline. it says rustad’s popularity is down from when the party came from nowhere in last year’s provincial election to within three seats of forming government.
since then, five conservative mlas have either left the party or been kicked out. two of them, dallas brodie and tara armstrong, have formed the right-wing party, onebc, while jordan kealy, elenore sturko and amelia boultbee are sitting as independents.
“if an election was held today, we would almost certainly lose by an embarrassing and unacceptable margin to (b.c. premier) david eby’s ndp, despite their track record as the most destructive government this province has ever seen,” the letter reads.
advertisement
last month, the majority of the b.c. conservative party’s executive management committee called on rustad to resign. rustad was reconfirmed as leader in september when 70 per cent of 1,268 party members who voted were in favour of keeping him on as leader.
rustad declined to comment on the letter.
share story
