A petition has been launched calling on BC Conservative-turned-Independent MLA Tara Armstrong to resign and run again in a by-election.
Organizer Nikki Sinclair argued it was "only fair" that the constituents of Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream make the final decision about who represents them and which party they belong to.
"In the last provincial election, we, the constituents of Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream, elected the Conservative representative as our MLA," Sinclair said. "That MLA, Tara Armstrong, has now resigned from the Conservative Party and indicated that she intends to sit as an Independent — a decision we were not part of and do not agree with."
She added that it was "essential to remember" that Armstrong's decisions "impact us and the Party we chose directly," and that "the policies we backed and the party we align ourselves with are now undermined."
"We believe that when the representative that we duly elected changes their political alliance, it's only fair that we, as constituents of Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream, get to voice our opinions once more," Sinclair declared.
"In the name of democracy, we demand that Tara Armstrong immediately resign and that a by-election be held so that we, the electorate, can decide who truly represents our voices, our rights, and our community."
As of Thursday the petition had garnered over 300 signatures.
Armstrong left the party on March 7 on the heels of MLA Dallas Brodie, who was kicked out over comments she made about residential schools.
"British Columbia voted for me and other BC Conservative MLAs because we promised to stand up for them and for what is right, no matter the cost," she wrote in a post on X, "but under John Rustad's leadership, one compromise after another has transformed that party into something I no longer recognize."
Armstrong accused the leader of having "abandoned the truth and his moral compass in a quest for power," and suggested "he will end up with neither."
In an interview with the Western Standard, Rustad explained that while Brodie was "correct" to point out that no mass graves have been located at residential schools, she "went far beyond that" during an appearance on a podcast with former professor Frances Widdowson, in which the MLA discussed those who treat lived experience as evidence.
"I guess there's a person in our party who's indigenous," Brodie said, referring to House Leader and Chilliwack-Cultus Lake MLA Á’a:líya Warbus. "She was super angry and went to town and joined the NDP to call me out."
Brodie went on to argue that it was of utmost importance to promote the truth, "not his truth, her truth, my grandmother's truth ... it's gotta be the truth." These words she delivered in what Rustad referred to as "belittling" and "childlike voices."
"They need to decide whether they're going to be in favour of truth, or social pressure," she said of those in power, suggesting that those in her party who she deemed to have chosen the latter "belong in the NDP."
Rustad said it was "when [Brodie] started talking in childlike voices, belittling the horrific experience that survivors and families had gone through" that she crossed the line.