NANAIMO, B.C. — "Team Rustad" has prevailed at the B.C. Conservatives' first annual general meeting since storming into the province's mainstream political scene in last year's election and becoming the official Opposition.
Saturday's meeting came amid divisions within the party that Leader John Rustad depicted as a strength not a weakness, in his speech to about 800 delegates.
"So I have our MLAs being able to stand up and speak, you know, even if it may be something that I disagree with, because freedom of speech has to be at the core of what we are as democracy," Rustad told delegates in Nanaimo, B.C.
He later told reporters that if everybody was "singing Kumbaya and all the same, then you're not a true party" and that you need to be able to look at differences "as a strength of who we are as a party."
The leader firmly put his stamp on the party by running a slate of candidates for executive positions under the name "Team Rustad."
Every one of his candidates prevailed.
Among them was party president Aisha Estey, who held off challenges by four rivals, including a group of unsuccessful candidates in the fall provincial election.
Rustad's preferred candidates also prevailed as vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and the five director-at-large positions.
Rustad told delegates it's because of his strong belief in democracy that his party has free votes in the legislature.
It was a full house in the conference room, where some delegates had to stand at the back. Just over two years ago, when Rustad joined the Conservatives there were only 800 members in the entire party, he said.
In addition to backing Rustad's executive slate, members also voted in favour Rustad's move to amend the party's constitution.
"This is a grassroots party. It has always been a grassroots party and I want it to always remain a grassroots party," Rustad told reporters.
"So it's key that we've got a constitution that reflects that and make sure that people are engaged at all levels in our party."
The amended constitution included a measure that would likely stabilize the party leadership by reducing compulsory reviews. Under the old constitution, leadership reviews took place every two years, but under the new rules, a review will only be held after each provincial election.
Rustad will face his first leadership review this fall.
Peter Milobar, the Conservative MLA for Kamloops, said in an interview ahead of the AGM that the party and its diverse range of candidates came together "under very strange circumstances," in the middle of the summer and just weeks before a general election was called.
"I see that we're a very new party, really at its core," he said. "And so, I think we're still finding our feet."
The Conservatives went from having no members elected in the previous provincial election to 44 in October, coming close to forming government.
Its rise came after Kevin Falcon of the BC United Party suspended the party's election campaign in August in order to prevent vote-splitting on the right, as support for the Conservatives surged.
Some BC United members of the legislature — including Milobar — jumped to the Conservatives. Others tried the Independent route and lost.
The result is a caucus with wide-ranging views that have already been on display during the two-week-old legislative session.
Rustad described it earlier this week as "family" issues and brushed off questions if there is a rift within the party.
"You know, I find it interesting because for the media, and I think for the public, they've never seen a political party that accepts differences," Rustad said.
Cracks within the caucus became clear when Conservative MLA Dallas Brodie posted on social media on Feb. 22 that there were "zero" confirmed child burial sites at the former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.
Rustad said he asked her to take it down, but the post remains up a week later. It has been viewed more than half a million times.
Conservative house leader, A'aliya Warbus, who is Indigenous, said questioning the narratives of those who survived residential school atrocities is harmful, although she denied she was responding to Brodie's post.
Milobar didn't mention names either when he spoke about residential school "denialism" in the legislature this week.
But he said he had vowed to those in the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation, where the former residential school in Kamloops sits, that he would always speak up against it.
"As you know, my wife, my kids, they're all Indigenous. My grandchildren are Indigenous, my son-in-law is a Kamloops band member.
"These types of things are very personal, and so when denialism does from time to time raise up in the broader conversation, both in B.C. and across the country, it has a direct impact on Tk’emlups," he said in an emotional speech.
Bruce Banman, the Conservative's Whip and MLA for Abbotsford South, spoke on Saturday about a split vote last Monday, when five Conservatives went against Rustad and voted against a motion condemning American tariffs, raising questions about the leader's control over the caucus.
"True courage, true grit, is allowing your MLAs to vote with their heart and with their conscience on votes like we just did," Banman said.
Gavin Dew, Conservative MLA for Kelowna-Mission and critic for jobs, economic development and innovation, said while speaking on a panel that the party is, "going to have growing pains, but growing pains are the sign of a growing party because we are growing into a government-in-waiting."
"Yes, we're going to disagree on things but fundamentally what we have to agree on is that we need to end the NDP," Dew said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2025.
Marcy Nicholson, The Canadian Press
