NEW WESTMINSTER — The old saying goes, “With friends like these, who needs enemies?”
John Rustad just got a brutal reminder of how true that is — except in his case, the “friends” were supposed to be on the same side of the centre-right.
Elections BC has confirmed what few expected: the now-defunct BC United party was behind the firejohnrustad.ca website and smear mailer that hit Rustad in the final weeks of the 2024 provincial election campaign. They even got slapped with a $4,500 fine for it.
Rustad, appearing on The Mike Smyth Show Tuesday, didn’t mince words. He said he never imagined the attack came from within BC United.
“I didn’t put it past the NDP to do it, but there was no evidence or proof there,” Rustad said. “I just didn’t even, couldn’t even dream. I couldn’t even fathom that former BC United would actually be trying to work on behalf of the NDP to prevent us from being government."
“This is the kind of dirty politics that goes on that turns voters off,” Rustad continued during his Tuesday radio appearance.
The timing couldn’t have been much worse either. The Conservatives came within a handful of seats — with at least one riding decided by as little as 22 votes — of forming government. Rustad believes this sabotage may have suppressed conservative turnout and cost them victory.
Here’s where it all gets a bit galling.
Several of the people tied to that old BC United operation are now major players in the BC Conservative leadership race, set to wrap-up on May 30.
Caroline Elliott, former BC United vice-president and Kevin Falcon’s sister-in-law, is a front-runner. Peter Milobar’s former campaign manager, Mark Werner, has been linked to the effort and recently stepped aside. And Kevin Falcon himself has been actively campaigning for Elliott behind the scenes according to Rustad, who said as much during his radio appearance on Tuesday.
Elliott, Falcon, Milobar, and Werner, have all denied any involvement in the Fire Rustad website and campaign.
Rustad called those blanket denials of knowledge “not plausible” and “not credible” on Tuesday.
Fellow MLA Harman Bhangu appears to disagree — at least when it comes to Caroline Elliott’s potential involvement. The member for Langley-Abbotsford, who dropped out of the leadership race in March to endorse Elliott, rushed to her defence on X.
“Caroline did the honourable thing,” Bhangu wrote. “She chose not to run because of the situation surrounding the collapse of BC United." Bhangu’s framing of the situation suggests timing is exculpatory. “She had also stepped down as Vice President well before that.”
Bhangu further added that Elliott, along with her friend, and recently departed campaign manager for federal Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, Katy Merrifield, came out from Vancouver to knock on doors for him in Langley during the campaign. “With all due respect, John — the truth matters.”
Merrifield herself jumped in on Tuesday as well.
“It is preposterous to suggest the individual who led the BCU fold to BCC had anything to do with that ludicrous website,” she wrote. “Caroline wanted to put BC first and knew a fractured right would help the NDP. I know — I was there. You’re lying.”
All of this comes on the heels of what appeared to be a potential non-confidence vote on the Eby government’s proposed DRIPA pause, which would have triggered a snap election.
Whether an election is near or far, one thing is certain: with “friends” like these inside the tent, the BC Conservatives don’t need the NDP to sabotage them. They’re doing a fine job of it themselves.