After stating that he would be available if the new Conservative Party of British Columbia needed his help, John Rustad, the party’s former leader, has confirmed that he will not be seeking re-election in the ongoing provincial election following the snap call.
In a post released on X on Wednesday, Rustad thanked his riding, Nechako Lakes, and the province and confirmed that he would not be seeking re-election.
“I will not seek re-election in Nechako Lakes. I thank the people of this riding for the faith they placed in me,” he said.
“British Columbia is not a problem to be managed. It is a place to be built. I have not given up on this province. Not on its land. Not on its people. Not on what it can still become.”
Rustad was one of several MLAs who were kicked out of the BC Conservative caucus before the party’s most recent leader, Kerry-Lynne Findlay, resigned as its leader.
Following the ejection from the party and Findlay’s resignation, the party’s new interim leader, Lorne Doerkson, invited a wave of former caucus members back into the party, including Rustad.
“We built this party from the political wilderness to the Official Opposition. Ordinary British Columbians put their trust in us. They believed a common-sense future was still possible here. That trust is the honour of a lifetime. I will carry it with me,” Rustad said.
“As with anything new, there have been growing pains. There is still a great deal of work to do. The party is in good hands with Lorne Doerkson, our interim leader. He is a quality individual. I have confidence in him.”
Rustad blasted NDP Premier David Eby for calling the snap election on Tuesday, saying he only did so to “save his job.”
“I do not think the NDP anticipated what that decision would do. It has galvanized this movement. It has pulled people back together,” he said.
“It is time to pass the torch to the next generation. I do not hand them a finished province. I hand them something rarer. I hand them a charge.”
He called for an end to the “managed decline” that he says marks the province under NDP governance.
“Build a British Columbia worthy of the people who live here, and of the children who will inherit it,” Rustad said in the statement.
“To those who take this work up: you have been given a great responsibility. Make this province a place worth living. We need a province that thrives, not one that simply settles for getting by.”
The photo credits are misleading, thats not edited with AI
(Photoshop) please credit me as i took the photo
> “Build a British Columbia worthy of the people who live here, and of the children who will inherit it,”
How about worthy of the dead folks that built it. The Europeans. Not the new invaders, that will inherit it.
Anyway, 63, it's a good time to retire. Wish more of the older politicians retired.