B.C. Conservatives face identity crisis and growing pains amid defections, prof. says

Akshay Kulkarni · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 11, 2025 4:18 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad admits it's been a pugnacious week but says it's not unexpected successful a enactment that was built and grown truthful quickly.

"We're inactive successful the gathering phase. So you know, were immoderate mistakes made? Did we get done a due vetting process with immoderate candidates? Clearly, we've had a fewer issues."

But the Tory person says he's inactive optimistic the Conservatives volition proceed to grow their rank and spot astir the province.

On Friday, Vancouver-Quilchena MLA Dallas Brodie was kicked retired of the Conservative caucus for comments astir residential schools connected a podcast, prompting chap MLAs Jordan Kealy and Tara Armstrong to permission the party.

They aboriginal announced connected Monday they would beryllium arsenic Independents, with Armstrong saying the enactment had been infiltrated by "woke liberals."

While Leader John Rustad says the enactment remains focused connected holding the governing B.C. NDP to account, governmental watchers accidental that Rustad faces a large task successful corralling its centrist and centre-right factions.

WATCH | Tory defectors to beryllium arsenic Independents: 

University of B.C. governmental idiosyncratic Stewart Prest says it's a byproduct of the party's speedy ascent connected the governmental country conscionable earlier the predetermination past year, successful which some mean pro-business candidates and those who ran connected socially blimpish views coiled up getting elected.

"I deliberation we are seeing the B.C. Conservatives successful a slow-moving civilian warfare that's apt going to crystallize astir questions of John Rustad's leadership," Prest said connected Monday.

WATCH | Rustad connected the adjacent steps for his party: 

Rustad, who faces a enactment reappraisal astatine the extremity of the year, took connected a fig of erstwhile centrist B.C. United candidates, on with a fig of governmental newcomers arsenic candidates earlier the election.

He allowed escaped code wrong his caucus, refusing to whip them connected votes successful the legislature, encouraging what helium called a "big tent" party.

But Prest says that the escaped code argumentation is simply a byproduct of the Conservatives' inability to coalesce around a azygous acceptable of values and speaks to the 2 warring factions wrong the caucus.

"Effectively, we proceed to person thing that utilized to beryllium the B.C. United and thing that utilized to beryllium the B.C. Conservatives trying to correspond their respective selves wrong a azygous party," helium said.

"And truthful that benignant of grouping is not going to beryllium whippable."

Are much defections likely?

Rustad says the 2 MLAs who near his caucus ne'er afloat supported his leadership, backing a campaigner for enactment president that wasn't aligned with him astatine the caller enactment convention.

"It clearly would person been amended if we had tried to person everybody enactment successful the tent. It was thing that, you know, I worked connected implicit the play of clip to person them in," helium told CBC's The Early Edition on Monday. "But these radical had thing other successful mind."

WATCH | Recent AGM looks astatine Conservatives' future: 

Kareem Allam, a governmental strategist and erstwhile B.C. Liberal run manager, says that if the divisions wrong the Conservatives get worse, determination could beryllium much defections and adjacent a three-way divided successful the caucus.

"I deliberation by the extremity of the year, it's successful each likelihood [Rustad] is going to get pushed out," helium said.

WATCH | Allam weighs successful connected Tory infighting: 

Defecting MLAs face questions

With Kealy and Armstrong leaving the Conservative caucus to beryllium arsenic Independents, the question of whether they were going against their constituents' wishes — voters elected them nether the Conservative banner — came up connected Friday.

However, within the discourse of the Conservatives' ongoing individuality crisis, Prest says the question of whether voters were betrayed is not truthful clear-cut for the defecting MLAs.

"In galore ways, the ballot for the B.C. Conservatives was a ballot against the NDP arsenic the incumbent party, a ballot against the presumption quo, and the B.C. Conservatives rode that question without afloat ironing retired these differences among the antithetic factions," helium said.

Prest says that, beyond the rarely-used relation to callback MLAs, the eventual accountability for the defecting MLAs and the Conservatives would beryllium astatine the adjacent provincial election.

The governmental idiosyncratic says that if the Conservatives can't contiguous a much coherent alternate to the B.C. NDP then, voters would not entrust them with government.