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“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

Conservatives look to post-Rustad future -- plus, how many seats would each federal party win if an election were held today? (The Writ)

Finally accepting that the turmoil within his caucus was untenable, John Rustad resigned last week as leader of the BC Conservatives, a party he took from nearly-nothing to nearly-government in little more than two years.

But it was inevitable that the rise of the Conservatives from a fringe party to a government-in-waiting would come with a change at the top. Because, for all his accomplishments in the whirlwind year that was 2024 in BC politics, Rustad was in many ways a leader who was installed by default.

Before he took over the Conservatives, the party had no MLAs in the legislature and no reason to believe they’d soon elect one. Rustad had been ejected from the B.C. Liberal caucus and was offered the leadership by a party that was only registering in the polls thanks to the power of the federal brand. In the 2020 election, the BC Conservatives had managed 1.9% of the vote. They hadn’t hit double-digits in vote share or elected a single MLA since the 1970s. Fundraising was anemic. They didn’t have anything to lose in offering the job to Rustad at the time.

Now that the party has not only a lot more to lose but a whole lot to gain, the question that it faces is who it will choose to take the party forward — and, just maybe, bring it back to the halls of power ...

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