Penticton-Summerland MLA Amelia Boultbee is leaving the B.C. Conservative caucus, and she blames Party Leader John Rustad for her exit.
“Over the past weeks and months, I have witnessed, along with all British Columbians, the unravelling of John Rustad,” Boultbee stated at the start of her announcement. “From concerning accusations of cheating and fraud to John’s conduct in caucus, these along with many other factors have led me to the conclusion that I can no longer remain in the B.C. Conservative Caucus.”
In response to a question about how her constituents may feel about her leaving the party, including those who would have voted for her particularly because she was running for the B.C. Conservatives, Boultbee said she expected there to be anger about her decision.
“I have thought a lot about those people and that is why it took me this long, they are absolutely correct to be upset,” said Boultbee. “It’s not lost on me the money in donations and the support, and all I can say is I weighed the pros and cons and I realized the more important thing is they’re entitled to an MLA who is not ethically compromised by being complicit in staying with this man and that is better than having a party banner that right now isn’t really worth that much.”
Boultbee said that Rustad’s behaviour made it impossible for her to stay in the party, but that she would go right back if the party were to find itself a different leader.
“I was one of John’s biggest supporters. I was very loyal to him. I joined the B.C. Conservatives because of him,” Boultbee said of Rustad. “Coming to the realisation that he’s not who I thought he was is devastating.”
No specific successor or alternative to Rustad was provided, but Boultbee said that out of the millions of B.C. residents there would have to be someone better than Rustad who could take over the leadership.
She added that Rustad’s alleged use of intimidation and threats of withholding the signing of nomination papers made him unfit to lead the party.
“If John was serious about caring more about the conservative movement than his own ego, he should have resigned when the membership scandal emerged. Instead, he has told us he will cling to power by all means necessary; we should believe him,” said Boultbee. “He told this caucus to their face that he doesn’t respect them, and in my mind that is reason enough to leave.”
Rustad, speaking to reporters at a press conference shortly after Boultbee’s wrapped up, accused her of leaking party information, said she was not in line with party positions, suggested she was unable to handle the stress of her position and her decision was influenced by mental health issues, and even asserted that she supported Hamas.
“These are fundamental things that we’re directly opposed to, where we are as an office and where we are, certainly where I am as an individual,” said Rustad.
Rustad, denied that he was unravelling or that the party had any other focus than opposition to the NDP.
“I can tell you very clearly, that the Conservative Party of British Columbia, and me as leader, we have one direction, one direction only, which is to bring down this NDP government,” said Rustad.
He added that the party had been trying to work with Boultbee to address any issues in-house and that he considered her decision to leave “unfortunate,” while also saying that he believed her past role as critic for children and family development and the stress from that position had contributed to her exit.
In recent weeks, Rustad has faced a series of leaks and inter-party turmoil, including searches of phones belonging to party MLAs and culminating in a press conference where Rustad’s chief of staff cut off a Canadian Press reporter over a question on whether Rustad was paranoid.
Rustad accused Boulbee of being behind the recent leaks based on unnamed sources.
“With regards to the leaks I am very hopeful and very optimistic that you guys will not be getting as much information,” Rustad told reporters.
The search of MLA phones came shortly after a leadership review for Rustad, which was tainted by rumours and allegations of fake membership sign-ups.
Within hours of the leadership review results being announced, Surrey MLA Elenore Sturko was ejected from the B.C. Conservative caucus. Boultbee accused Rustad of a pattern of behaviour particularly towards the female members of the caucus, noting the series of recent exits had all been women.
As a result of Sturko’s ousting, Boultbee was moved into the position of critic for citizens’ services due to the ensuing shuffle of critic roles.
Boultbee said that she believed Sturko was given the boot over asking questions, and that she did not believe the reasons Rustad provided for her ouster.
Rustad accused Boultbee of being in a different position than the party on specific policy positions, such as SOGI or parental rights, and also accused her of anti-semitism based allegedly on multiple posts he said Boultbee made supporting Hamas on social media.
Despite publicly condemning the Association for Reformed Political Action for their anti-LBGTQ views, Boultbee, like all of the B.C. Conservative MLAs, was absent from the floor of the Legislature after Rustad chose to have the party leave instead of casting votes.
No post could be found on Boultbee’s social media that mentioned Hamas, Gaza, or Israel. The only post that Rustad might have referred to or considered anti-semitic was a copy of a message partially preserved by the Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East group where Boultbee blasted the United Nations for not doing anything while children in Gaza were being killed and said that war crimes and genocide were being streamed in 4K.
The announcement of Boultbee’s exit from the party comes a year and a day after Boultbee was winning the election in the Penticton-Summerland riding.
“If you told me a year ago I’d be standing here resigning, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Boultbee told reporters.
Rustad said that he does not believe any further MLAs are currently considering leaving the party.
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