John Rustad MLA (born 1963) is a Canadian politician who is the current leader of the Conservative Party of British Columbia. He first became a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Canadian province of British Columbia in 2005, representing Prince George–Omineca.[2] He currently represents the constituency of Nechako Lakes, which he has held since the 2009 election.[3] Previously a member of the BC Liberal caucus, he served in Premier Christy Clark's cabinet as Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation, and Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.
John Rustad | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader of Conservative Party of British Columbia | |
| Assumed office March 31, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Trevor Bolin |
| Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations of British Columbia | |
| In office June 22, 2017 – July 18, 2017 | |
| Premier | Christy Clark |
| Preceded by | Steve Thomson |
| Succeeded by | Doug Donaldson (Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development) |
| Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation of British Columbia | |
| In office June 10, 2013 – July 18, 2017 | |
| Premier | Christy Clark |
| Preceded by | Ida Chong |
| Succeeded by | Scott Fraser |
| Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Nechako Lakes (Prince George-Omineca; 2005–2009) | |
| Assumed office May 17, 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Paul Nettleton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1962 or 1963 (age 60–61) Prince George, British Columbia, Canada[1] |
| Political party | BC Conservative (2023–present) |
| Other political affiliations |
|
| Residence(s) | Cluculz Lake, British Columbia |
Background and personal life
Born in Prince George, Rustad is a lifelong resident of northern BC, and has lived with his wife Kim in Cluculz Lake since 2009.[4] Prior to provincial politics, he had worked in the forest sector for two decades, founding a consulting firm named Western Geographic Information Systems Inc. in 1995.[5] Between 2002 and 2005, he served as a trustee with School District 57 Prince George.[5][6]
Political career
BC Liberals
Rustad was first elected to the legislature in 2005 as a BC Liberal candidate, representing the riding of Prince George-Omineca. Following the riding's dissolution, he was re-elected in 2009 in the current Nechako Lakes riding.[3] In his first two terms, he served as Parliamentary Secretary for Forestry to the Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, and as a member of the Environment and Land Use Committee, Legislative Review Committee, Treasury Board, Select Standing Committee on Education, Select Standing Committee on Public Accounts and Select Standing Committee on Health.[4]
He retained his seat in the 2013 election, and was appointed Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation by Premier Christy Clark.[4] He kept his cabinet post following his re-election in 2017,[7] and added the role of Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations to his duties after Steve Thomson's election as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.[8] Rustad continued in both ministerial roles until that July, when the Liberal minority government was defeated in a non-confidence motion.
He was re-elected in 2020, and served as the Liberals' critic for Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.[5] After suggesting online that carbon dioxide emissions were not contributing to climate change, Rustad was removed from the Liberal caucus by leader Kevin Falcon on August 18, 2022;[9] he then sat in the legislature as an independent politician.[6][10]
Leader of the BC Conservatives (2023–present)
On February 16, 2023, Rustad joined the BC Conservative Party, giving the party representation in the legislature.[10] Rustad cited "irreconcilable differences" with Falcon in explaining his party change.[11]
On March 23, 2023, Rustad announced that he was running to be the leader of the BC Conservatives.[12] He was acclaimed as the leader of the Conservatives on March 31, 2023, succeeding Trevor Bolin.[13]
On September 13, 2023, BC United MLA Bruce Banman crossed the floor to join the Conservatives.[14] This gave the Conservatives the two MLAs necessary for official party status.[15]
Opinion polling
Since Rustad became leader, the BC Conservatives have overtaken BC United (formerly the BC Liberals until 2023) as the second most popular party in the province. An Abacus Data poll in December 2023 put the Conservatives' popular vote share at 26 percent, ahead of BC United at 17 percent but behind the BC NDP at 44 percent.[16]
Electoral record
| 2020 British Columbia general election: Nechako Lakes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | John Rustad | 4,611 | 52.24 | −2.15 | $17,423.82 | |||
| New Democratic | Anne Marie Sam | 3,031 | 34.34 | +4.53 | $9,236.20 | |||
| Christian Heritage | Dan Stuart | 413 | 4.68 | – | $991.53 | |||
| Libertarian | Jon Rempel | 403 | 4.57 | +0.32 | $0.00 | |||
| Independent | Margo Maley | 368 | 4.17 | – | $1,280.76 | |||
| Total valid votes | 8,826 | 100.00 | – | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | ||||||||
| Turnout | ||||||||
| Registered voters | ||||||||
| Source: Elections BC[17][18] | ||||||||
| 2017 British Columbia general election: Nechako Lakes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | John Rustad | 5,307 | 54.39 | +0.6 | $43,487 | |||
| New Democratic | Anne Marie Sam | 2,909 | 29.81 | +2.16 | $14,578 | |||
| Green | Douglas Norman Gook | 878 | 9.00 | +3.85 | $163 | |||
| Libertarian | Jon Rempel | 438 | 4.49 | – | $3,100 | |||
| Independent | Al Trampuh | 226 | 2.31 | – | ||||
| Total valid votes | 9,758 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 67 | 0.68 | ||||||
| Turnout | 9,825 | 59.06 | ||||||
| Registered voters | 16,636 | |||||||
| Source: Elections BC[19] | ||||||||
| 2013 British Columbia general election: Nechako Lakes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | John Rustad | 5,324 | 53.79 | –1.97 | $75,052 | |||
| New Democratic | Sussanne Skidmore-Hewlett | 2,737 | 27.65 | –7.64 | $56,108 | |||
| Conservative | Dan Brooks | 1,253 | 12.66 | – | $52,518 | |||
| Green | Colin Hamm | 510 | 5.15 | –1.15 | $1,599 | |||
| Advocational | Beverly Bird | 74 | 0.75 | – | $3,009 | |||
| Total valid votes | 9,898 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 42 | 0.42 | ||||||
| Turnout | 9,940 | 58.46 | ||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | +2.84 | ||||||
| Source: Elections BC[20] | ||||||||
| 2009 British Columbia general election: Nechako Lakes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Expenditures | ||||
| Liberal | John Rustad | 4,949 | 55.76 | $60,522 | ||||
| New Democratic | Byron Goerz | 3,133 | 35.29 | $7,480 | ||||
| Green | Gerard Riley | 559 | 6.30 | $350 | ||||
| Refederation | Mike Summers | 235 | 2.65 | $1,110 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 8,876 | 99.25 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 67 | 0.75 | ||||||
| Turnout | 8,943 | 54.80 | ||||||
| Source: Elections BC[21] | ||||||||
| 2005 British Columbia general election: Prince George–Omineca | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Expenditures | ||||
| Liberal | John Rustad | 8,622 | 51.71 | $87,794 | ||||
| New Democratic | Chuck Fraser | 6,180 | 37.06 | $64,805 | ||||
| Green | Andrej J. DeWolf | 1,393 | 8.35 | $2,139 | ||||
| Democratic Reform | Erle Martz | 479 | 2.87 | $983 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 16,674 | 100 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 91 | 0.55 | ||||||
| Turnout | 16,765 | 64.22 | ||||||
References
External links
Media related to John Rustad at Wikimedia Commons
