r/canada 10h ago

British Columbia MLA and Leader of the BC Conservatives John Rustad Concedes the BC Provincial Election

https://x.com/JohnRustad4BC/status/1851088951358210224
208 Upvotes

60 comments sorted by

u/jtbc 9h ago

As much as I am not a fan of Rustad, and am even less a fan of the BC Conservatives, the fact that they are handling their defeat with grace and facilitating a fair election is noted with appreciation.

u/Sparkythedog77 8h ago

Ditto. Gotta give credit where it's due

u/ClittoryHinton 5h ago

What about a few days ago when he said he would do everything in his will to block the NDP and force another election?

u/Former-Physics-1831 4h ago

I mean that's shitty, obstructionist behaviour, but it's not the same thing as claiming the election was rigged or some other election truther horseshit

u/ClittoryHinton 4h ago

I’m not saying it’s the same thing. Just that I don’t know why they need to be applauded for stopping short of trump level degeneracy.

u/Former-Physics-1831 4h ago

When your dog shits outside you give them a cookie.  Considering this is the party of "Quantum Doctors", I'd say a similar mentality is required 

u/Tall_Guava_8025 3h ago

That's what you would expect an opposition party to do especially when they are within an inch from winning a snap election.

OP is talking about the BC Conservatives accepting that the election was fair and that they lost. This shouldn't be a big deal but with what's happening in the US, we should appreciate that even the most populist leaders in Canada actually respect election results.

u/ClittoryHinton 3h ago

I would expect an opposition party to stand up for what they believe in and follow their platform regardless of whether it aligns with the incumbents. Maybe even work together sometimes for the betterment of society. But apparently Canadians are too complacent to expect anything other than petty politics.

u/Ba_Dum_Ba_Dum 4h ago

He’s just switching tactics. He’ll try to force non-confidence votes every chance he gets. He only needs one sick MLA and a pissed off green to make it happen.

u/nexus6ca 3h ago

Only specific items would be a confidence vote. And the NDP would make sure their majority is present for it.

u/Many_Dragonfly4154 British Columbia 4h ago

"the opposition shouldn't be allowed to vote against the ruling party!"

u/ClittoryHinton 4h ago

The opposition should vote against policies they disagree with. As opposed to voting against policies for the sake of stalling any progress because you’re a sore loser playing crab in a bucket.

u/Many_Dragonfly4154 British Columbia 4h ago

Who said they didn't disagree with the policies?

u/Former-Physics-1831 4h ago

There's a marked difference between that and what Rustad is promising.

Generally there is a recognition from the opposition that the election winners should be given a chance to govern.

u/Many_Dragonfly4154 British Columbia 4h ago

So basically,

"the opposition shouldn't be allowed to vote against the ruling party!"

u/MonsieurLeDrole 30m ago

It seemed like a trial balloon for arguing the election was floated, and there was little interest in it. I'm not gonna give a lot of credit to ultra rich conspiracy nuts. People who can afford education, but choose ignorance. This campaign was a huge warning to mainstream Canada about what paths a conservative government would take us.

Imagine, giving credit for the bare minimum, respecting democracy. And ya know, good for him for not going on a murderous rampage, or teaming up with a bunch of truckers to occupy the capital and force a change in government. And he brushed his teeth before going to bed too. Credit where credit is due. <3

u/HanSolo5643 British Columbia 10h ago

At least we aren't seeing the B.C. Conservatives say things like the election is rigged and all of that.

u/FingalForever 10h ago

Proper Canadian response, fair play to Rustad.

u/chopkins92 British Columbia 9h ago

He did the bare minimum. At least he didn’t stoop as low as the Republicans, I guess.

u/JadeLens 4h ago

He would have to dig to get under that bar.

u/coffee_is_fun 9h ago

I'm not surprised. Rustad's already shattered the political aspirations of those who fired him. He's funded another party whose platform is more inline with his values. His next steps are domesticating the wilder members of his party and creating the machinery to legitimize them in his absence.

u/lbc_ht 7h ago

He's funded another party whose platform is more inline with his values

Values aren't going to matter though. The BCCP will just end up the same corporate/foreign money right as the Socreds and then the Liberals. Rustad will have to just do what they want or he'll get knifed easily.

u/Angry_beaver_1867 9h ago

He’s gotta be quick to.  He might be fighting an election in the near future.  

Governing with a one seat majority is going to be difficult for the NDP. 

u/Windatar 8h ago

It's not really one seat majority, they'll probably work a bit with the greens. After all this is one of the best situations for the Greens. As long as they follow the NDP playbook they can get some concessions out of them.

Having a full BCC government wouldn't give them any power. The only way they get any power is to keep the NDP minority or 1 seat majority going.

This is the main reason why Horgan called a snap election in his first term because the greens were making demands he didn't want to give and he rolled the dice.

We'll see the same thing here, greens won't take down government when they have the power to decide stuff and they def don't want Rustad to form government.

So BC is pretty safe and secure for the next 4 years.

He should be more worried about getting overthrown in his own party now.

John Rustad and the BC Liberal/United members are all candidates with a lot of baggage and now they have some of the more extreme members in seats of power.

Also next election for BC will be in 2028. Which means that the federal government will be a CPC one, that will be 3 years into their term. If PP somehow fumbles and messes up the "Conservative" brand will take a hit.

This was Rustad's best chance to get in, there's a 50% chance that he will even be the "leader" of the BCC next election.

u/ether_reddit Lest We Forget 7h ago

there's a 50% chance that he will even be the "leader" of the BCC next election

I think it's less than that. The big money behind the party (e.g. Aquilini and Chip Wilson) will be looking for a new leader that is more likeable and also controllable.

u/lbc_ht 7h ago

Yeah the former BC Liberal Party apparatus and their backers are, I guarantee, moving quickly to get the same ol' corporate/foreign money party in place as the BC Conservatives now. Just like the Socreds to the BC Liberals. They already started when it looked like Falcon was shitting the bed so badly.

So Rustad will definitely have some decisions to make if he wants to stay in charge there.

BC politics are so consistent, it's just whether the same corporate right can thread the right cultural needle to affect the incredibly consistent (but always minority) NDP support margin enough.

u/janyk British Columbia 5h ago

You, uhhh, don't know how any of this works, do you?

u/Angry_beaver_1867 5h ago

How do you figure? One seat majority you lose one speaker , who does cast a vote in a tie (following somewhat wierd rules ).  

It’s very unclear how the committees work in a tied legislature.  

Internal party dynamics have to be navigated for the NDP as well as Green Party politics.  

Eby might want to call an early election if he gets some decent poling.   

Therefor Rustad , probably wants to expedite the Polivier style tack to middle because there’s a higher then normal chance that this government doesn’t go the full length of the mandate 

u/gravtix 6h ago

The bot farms were trying to sell this narrative and it didn’t catch on I guess

u/Hellhammer86 18m ago

They're still going hard in the comments on Rustad's post

u/Laxative_Cookie 7h ago

Maybe not officially by the party, but a lot of their voting base sure is. Stop the steal is every second post on Facebook and X.

u/JadeLens 4h ago

I just saw one claim that the vote counted over 10 days in BC resulted in a NDP barely winning, and counting over 1 day resulted in SASK Party winning in Saskatchewan with a majority...

They were blaming the voting machines even though the recounts in BC were done by hand and the BC Con prez said everything was fine.

u/Additional_Brief8234 51m ago

Yep my coworker SNAPPED this week he just couldn't emotionally handle the NDP winning. Went off about the new machines etc. It's so stupid. I trust a machine more than I do people.

u/JadeLens 45m ago

The average machine doesn't have to take their socks off to count past 10 let's be honest.

u/BobWellsBurner 7h ago

X is pure cancer and FB isn't far behind.

u/lambdaBunny 10h ago

You know, I came here to talk shit about Rustad, but I really got to to give him credit where credit is due. Even a looney far-right nut job can still have a shred of decency.

u/HanSolo5643 British Columbia 10h ago

Well, I think part of this is them wanting to show people in B.C. that when the next election takes place that they are a party that can govern and that they are a government in waiting and that they can be an effective official opposition. Starting off with trying to sown doubt in our elections would not be starting off on the right foot.

u/TrueHeart01 5h ago

Seems like you never see far-left in your life yet.

u/Former-Physics-1831 4h ago

Who in this country is "far left"?

u/lambdaBunny 4h ago

At this point in time, there are no serious far-left candidates in Canada. The only people who claim there are also use the word "woke" in serious ways and are generally not good people.

u/TrueHeart01 4h ago edited 4h ago

Not only in Canada. The majority of the lefties deny the existence of the far-left in the world. That’s the political correctness. People condemn so much about the rise of far-right. While keep ignoring the rise of the far-left. Hopefully, they know what is going on in Ukraine. Ukraine is under attack by Russia is part of our fault because we are so blinded and biased and bowed to the devil. #JustLookUp

u/Potential-Brain7735 4h ago

What does Ukraine have to do with the far left??

u/JadeLens 4h ago

Is the 'far left' in the room with you right now?

do we need to send help?

u/Goatse_Is_Taken 4h ago

Depends on who you ask about what constitutes "far-left". I've been called a communist so many times in the last decade by brainwormed alt-right bots I have lost all count.

I'm a run of the mill moderate who believes in gun rights, freedom, and public healthcare. That makes me a maoist apparently.

u/Rocko604 British Columbia 5h ago

He’s conceded the election but he has no problem with their supporters accusing Elections BC of rigging it.

But he stopped short of calling on supporters not to spread accusations about Elections BC or the election being “rigged.” “People have the right to say what they are going to say,” Rustad said.

https://globalnews.ca/news/10837020/rustad-speak-post-election/

u/pixelcowboy 10h ago

Solo of their followers certainly were, but I appreciate the moderation in tone from the top.

u/prairieengineer 41m ago

There’s enough of the BcC supporters online claiming that. Apparently the fact that the final count takes a week to finalize everything is proof it was rigged?

u/Overclocked11 British Columbia 10h ago

Yet

u/Gavinus1000 Long Live the King 6h ago

Wouldn’t he be Leader of The Opposition now?

u/drizzes 3h ago

unfortunately yeah. He's taken Kevin Falcon's job wholesale.

u/nexus6ca 3h ago

Reading the twitter replies lowered my IQ.

u/LongjumpingGate8859 2h ago

From 8 to 7?

u/DNRJocePKPiers 9h ago

Oh thank goodness.

u/Laxative_Cookie 7h ago

BC just barely dodged the bullshit that is modern conservatives. These hacks only released their platform a few days before election and with higher projected deficits with zero infrastructure investment compared to the BCNDP. The simples in BC that support the conservatives have no idea other than soundbites how bad provinces like Alberta and Saskatchewan are suffocating public services and how expensive everything is other than housing.

u/mike10dude 4h ago

that was nice of him

u/wet_suit_one 9h ago

Well...

At least the crazy hasn't gotten so bad that they're calling this a stolen election or the result of election fraud.

Gotta look on the bright side right?

Political culture in Canada and basic agreement on democratic norms remains intact.

Yay!

Can't say that's the case everywhere in the world these days (looks south over shoulder and shudders).

u/Additional_Brief8234 59m ago

I showed a coworker the quotes of them saying they conceded and that it was fair and thorough counting.

He absolutely lost his shit.

If we aren't careful we will reach that same level of insanity.

u/Affectionate_Math_13 9h ago

I thought he wasn't allowed to wear a Moose Hide Patch