BC Conservative Leader John Rustad better hope he can flip at least two ridings in the weekend recount to get his shot at a slim majority government, because it’s clear BC Green Leader Sonia Furstenau wants no part in helping him or his party whatsoever.
Furstenau made the blunt admission in a press conference Wednesday.
“There have been comments made by Conservative candidates that are truly disturbing, dehumanizing, homophobic and conspiratorial,” she said at a media event at the Green campaign headquarters in downtown Victoria.
“Some of these candidates have been elected. And I have yet to see a satisfactory response from John Rustad around this.”
It’s not clear what kind of response Furstenau expects from Rustad, but the suggestion appears to be that he eject candidates from his party who don’t meet her standards.
Not likely, said Rustad.
His party picked up 888,630 votes, 43.6 per cent of the popular vote and 45 seats in preliminary results. That’s five times as many votes as the Greens, five times the popular vote and 22 times the seats. Plus, Rustad won his own riding, something Furstenau failed to do in Victoria-Beacon Hill.
“I think Sonia is obviously not a big fan of democracy,” Rustad told me.
“The people of various ridings have spoken, as to who should be elected and who shouldn’t be elected. So I have to honour it.”
Furstenau’s lecture, though, carries unusual weight. She leads two MLAs, whose votes are desperately needed by the BC NDP or the BC Conservatives to hold the balance of power at the legislature.
And so, Rustad has to sit there and take the dressing-down by someone who was unable to muster a fraction of his electoral success.
“I think it’s really up to John Rustad to demonstrate what kind of leadership he has at this point,” said Furstenau.
“I’m interested in knowing what sort of steps she’s thinking about in terms of this,” replied Rustad. “And you know especially in the light of some of the comments her own candidates have made in the past as well.”
That clapback was in reference to a video posted online by CKNW host Jas Johal, which appears to show BC Green Surrey North candidate Sim Sandhu suggesting students are being given puberty blockers in Surrey schools.
The Greens say Sandhu was removed from the party after the comments, but Sandhu was still listed on the ballot by Elections BC on election day.
Of course, Sandhu’s comments pale in comparison to the large, flaming, dumpster of hate and truly appalling nonsense spouted by numerous Conservative candidates. Some of those candidates — like Surrey South’s Brent Chapman — and are now MLAs-elect.
Voters, for whatever reason, chose to elect those folks. That’s democracy. It’s not up to Furstenau, now, to undo that.
The back and forth between Furstenau and Rustad must have left BC NDP strategists smiling.
In choosing to rip Rustad publicly, Furstenau tipped her hand to what we had all assumed, which is that she’s only willing to negotiate to support the NDP. Leader David Eby now doesn’t have to try quite so hard to get a deal.
Much still hinges on the weekend recounts, as well as the final counts of 65,000 absentee ballots by Elections BC.
The NDP need to hold the two recount ridings — Juan de Fuca-Malahat and Surrey City Centre — plus flip two ridings from the Conservatives in order to shake free of the Greens and secure a stable majority. Anything less, and the NDP are negotiating for power with Furstenau.
The Conservatives need to reverse two ridings — either by recount or final count — away from the NDP in order to be able to topple a Green-backed NDP government. But realistically, they need three ridings in order to then run a stable majority.
We’ll see what happens. But Furstenau made clear she already has an idea.
“The mission is, how does government best serve the people of B.C.,” she said.
On her terms, it appears. Without acknowledging the one-half of the province that backed the Conservatives. And by only talking to the BC NDP.
Rob Shaw has spent more than 16 years covering B.C. politics, now reporting for CHEK News and writing for Glacier Media. He is the co-author of the national bestselling book A Matter of Confidence, host of the weekly podcast Political Capital, and a regular guest on CBC Radio.
