PENTICTON - Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad has accepted interim Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson's invitation to rejoin caucus, three days after Kerry-Lynne Findlay had the Clerk record him as no longer affiliated.He posted the decision to X at 1:27 p.m. PDT Monday in a statement issued after he spoke with reporters at the legislature.."Lorne Doerkson is now interim leader of the Official Opposition," Rustad wrote. "He is a quality individual. A lot of people in this province do not know him yet. They will. He asked me to come back to caucus. This afternoon I accepted. I am returning to do the work, not to run the next chapter from the outside.".Findlay resigned as party leader Sunday, effective immediately, and said she would stay on the Abbotsford-Mission byelection ballot. The board appointed Doerkson interim leader later Sunday after sitting MLAs recommended him. Article 12 of the March 1, 2025 constitution says an interim leader may not be a contestant in the leadership election that follows.Rustad had already told reporters Monday morning that Doerkson had texted him the invitation. Canadian Press carried that doorstep before the afternoon acceptance. He did not say then that he had taken it."Kerry-Lynne Findlay has stepped down as leader," Rustad wrote Monday. "That was the right thing for British Columbia. I thank her for it.""Last week was a hard week. Caucus spoke frankly, as a caucus should. Kerry-Lynne Findlay then made a difficult decision. That decision was hers. I respect it. I am not going back over the rest.".Rustad was the Conservative leader who took 44 seats on October 19, 2024. Twenty sitting MLAs delivered non-confidence statements to the board on December 3, 2025. He resigned the leadership the next day. Findlay won the extra-parliamentary contest May 30. On Wednesday he was one of the MLAs who asked her to quit at an emergency caucus in Vancouver. Rattée has named herself as one of those two on the record."If the new leadership wants my help, they will have it," he wrote. "I will not force my old vision onto them. It is time for an older generation of politicians to step aside. That includes former premiers Christy Clark and Gordon Campbell. Their time at the centre is over. They need to let this go. My time as leader is over too. Serving this province is not."He also put a number on the split that opened under Findlay."There have been talks about bringing Conservatives and CentreBC back together. Those talks should succeed. This province cannot afford two opposition parties while David Eby measures the timing of an election."CentreBC named Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar its leader Friday after Mike Bernier stepped aside. Eight sitting MLAs now sit with that party. Milobar had not posted a reply to Rustad's afternoon statement when this draft closed.."David Eby would rather call an election while this party is finding its feet than defend what his government has actually done," Rustad wrote. "Families in this province already know that record. I have not given up on British Columbia. I do not think the people who live here have either."Columbia River-Revelstoke MLA Scott McInnis accepted the same invitation Monday morning. He is the first of the nine sitting Conservatives who walked out on Findlay between August 14 and September 2 to come back. Rustad is not in that class. Findlay had him struck from the list Friday. Halford and Rattée have not posted an accepted return. Rattée said Sunday she will run Conservative in the next general election.The Legislative Assembly list stood at 25 Conservatives on Friday, not counting vacant Abbotsford-Mission. Surrey-Serpentine River MLA Linda Hepner told CBC Sunday she had resigned from caucus. The Clerk had not posted a refreshed count before Rustad's letter. His return, once recorded, would add one sitting Conservative. Findlay still has no seat.Advance polls in Abbotsford-Mission run through Wednesday. Final voting day is Saturday unless a general writ drops and cancels the contest under Election Act s. 24(2). Premier David Eby has not issued one.
