{"id":228826,"date":"2025-10-21T07:46:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T07:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/228826\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T07:46:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T07:46:12","slug":"b-c-conservatives-down-another-mla-after-amelia-boultbee-quits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/228826\/","title":{"rendered":"B.C. Conservatives down another MLA after Amelia Boultbee quits"},"content":{"rendered":"

Penticton-Summerland MLA Amelia Boultbee has quit the B.C. Conservative caucus and called on the party’s leader to resign.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am leaving because John Rustad\u2019s failed leadership needs to end,\u201d Boultbee said during a press conference on the front steps of the legislature Monday morning. \u201cI have witnessed the unravelling of John Rustad.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has invited me to \u2018get the F out\u2019 if I don\u2019t like it, and I\u2019ve taken him up on that offer,\u201d Boultbee said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Boultbee called on Rustad to resign.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as John Rustad remains the leader of the Conservative Party of B.C., he is handing the NDP a victory in the next election.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rustad accused Boultbee of leaking internal caucus information to the media.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was leaking everything to everyone and obviously those leaks cannot carry on,\u201d said Rustad, speaking shortly after Boultbee’s press conference.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WATCH | B.C. Conservative leader asks MLAs to turn over cellphones:\"\"<\/p>\n

John Rustad requests MLAs hand over phones in search for Conservative party leaker<\/p>\n

B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad asked his MLAs to turn over their phones so the caucus can find out who is leaking internal information. As Katie DeRosa reports, it\u2019s the latest political saga facing the Official Opposition. <\/p>\n

Last week, Rustad admitted he searched his MLAs’ phones, looking for the person who leaked private information from a caucus meeting.\u00a0He initially said he didn\u2019t find anything that caused him concern. <\/p>\n

Speaking to CBC’s Radio West, Boultbee denied she leaked information, calling that “a bold-faced lie.” She said if Rustad keeps repeating it, she will take legal action. <\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Rustad brought up concerns about Boultbee’s stances on various issues, as well as what he described as her health.<\/p>\n

“With regards to Amelia’s health, I mean, I see concerns when she’s in tears. Staff are telling me that she’s very confused,” Rustad said. “And so, I mean, I had some concerns. I mean, she’s had some issues in the past.”<\/p>\n

Boultbee said she told Rustad a few months ago that she was struggling with her mental health as she dealt with a disturbing child abuse case as the party\u2019s critic for the Ministry of Children and Family Development. Boultbee said the fact that Rustad would try to use that against her speaks to his character as a leader. <\/p>\n

WATCH | Boultbee says Rustad weaponizing personal information:\"\"<\/p>\n

‘Misogyny is so deep’: Departing B.C. Conservative MLA takes shots at party leader<\/p>\n

Penticton-Summerland MLA Amelia Boultbee has left the B.C. Conservative caucus, which has lost five MLAs since the last election. After her departure was announced, Conservative Leader John Rustad said that “with regards to Amelia’s health, I mean, I see concerns \u2014 when she’s in tears, staff are telling me that she’s very confused and so, I mean, I had some concerns.” Speaking to the CBC News, Boultbee said Rustad was weaponizing personal information, calling it “utterly shameful.”<\/p>\n

Conservative MLA Brennan Day slammed Rustad’s comments,\u00a0 writing on social media: “To weaponize or trivialize someone\u2019s health condition, mental or otherwise, is harmful to those who already face stigma in silence.”<\/p>\n

At the press conference Monday morning, Boultbee said she would return to the Conservative Party if it had a new leader.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said Rustad has denied his MLAs the ability to have a say on his leadership.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rustad survived a leadership review in September with nearly 71 per cent support<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That same day, Rustad ejected Sturko from his caucus, accusing her of undermining his leadership.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

So what does it mean for the makeup of the legislature?\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Official Opposition B.C. Conservatives are down five MLAs from their seat count of 44 after election day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WATCH | Sturko kicked out of B.C. Conservative caucus:\"\"<\/p>\n

MLA Elenore Sturko kicked out of B.C. Conservative caucus<\/p>\n

Surrey MLA Elenore Sturko has been kicked out of the B.C. Conservative caucus, following the results of John Rustad’s leadership review, in which he maintained support from a majority of those who cast votes. As CBC’s Katie Derosa reports, Sturko says she did not see her removal coming.<\/p>\n

Two MLAs \u2014 Dallas Brodie and Tara Armstrong \u2014 formed a new party called One B.C. earlier this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brodie was kicked out of the Conservative caucus in March after Rustad accused her of mocking residential school survivors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jordan Kealy \u2014 who left in solidarity with Brodie \u2014 and Sturko sit as Independents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Boultbee said she considers herself a centrist when it comes to her political leanings. But, she says, that\u2019s not what pushed her out of the party.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s happening right now isn\u2019t actually about that spectrum because John has somehow managed to alienate people on the left and the right,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

As for whether Boultbee will join Sturko to form a new centrist party, both say it\u2019s too early to make that decision. Both said they will work together on issues that are important to them.<\/p>\n

\"AElenore Sturko, the Surrey-Cloverdale MLA who was booted from the Tory caucus, said that Rustad’s leadership was the reason for the splintering of the party. (Ben Nelms\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Sturko said Rustad\u2019s lack of trust in his MLAs has caused the party to splinter.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that he\u2019s searching cellphones, he\u2019s accusing every Tom, Dick and Harry of leaking information, when the reality is that failure of leadership lies with him,\u201d Sturko said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe right of centre is more splintered now than it was before I ever joined the Conservatives.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rustad initially said he believes in free speech and would not whip his MLAs into voting as a block.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But he broke that promise in the first week of the fall session, when he told his MLAs to abstain from voting on an NDP motion that condemned a Christian lobby group.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rustad said Boultbee had been uncomfortable with the party\u2019s position on \u201cparental rights and the changes that are needed with SOGI.\u201d <\/p>\n

SOGI refers to sexual orientation and gender identity, which are teaching materials meant to make classrooms more inclusive.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Allie Blades, a political strategist with Framepoint Public Affairs, says the dysfunction in the party has distracted from its ability to hold the NDP to account.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The MLAs are doing a fantastic job of holding the NDP accountable. The leader is distracting from that work for being in the headlines for these issues that may be avoidable,” Blades said. <\/p>\n

Rustad insists the party has one direction and one direction only, and that\u2019s bringing down Eby\u2019s NDP.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Penticton-Summerland MLA Amelia Boultbee has quit the B.C. Conservative caucus and called on the party’s leader to resign.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228827,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-228826","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}