Listen to this article
Estimated 5 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
The Conservative Party of B.C. has confirmed former leader John Rustad will not seek re-election when voters head to the polls next month.
The Nechako Lakes MLA was ejected from the Conservative caucus in the leadup to Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s resignation as leader, but was invited to rejoin by interim leader Lorne Doerksen.
Rustad foreshadowed his departure in a statement posted to social media on Monday, when he said it was “time for an older generation of politicians to step aside.”
The party statement said it would never have reached where it is today “without his conviction, hard work and willingness to stand up when few others would.”
Rustad was a former B.C. Liberal cabinet minister, before he was kicked out of the party by then-leader Kevin Falcon over social media posts questioning climate science.
He initially sat as an Independent before joining the Conservatives in 2023, giving the party their first seat in the legislature in decades.
Rustad led the Conservatives during the 2024 election. Though the NDP managed to hold onto government in that election, the Conservatives were very close runners-up.
He officially ceased being leader of the party he’d led out of the electoral wilderness on Dec. 4, 2025, citing concerns that trying to stay in power would lead to a “civil war.”
4 NDP ministers not running
He joins several other high-profile candidates in his decision to bow out of the 2026 race, including several former cabinet ministers with the B.C. NDP.
On Wednesday Brenda Bailey became the fourth NDP minister to announce she wouldn’t seek re-election.
Bailey stepped away from the B.C. finance portfolio in August, after being diagnosed with early-stage cancer.
She subsequently underwent surgery and has been declared cancer-free, but says she is still regaining her strength.
“While I’m not back to 100%, I’ll be out on the campaign trail helping support my [B.C.] NDP team,” she said in a statement posted to social media.
“While this trade war and the threats to our sovereignty are scary, I know we are going to be a stronger province and country on the other side.”
Another three former NDP cabinet ministers — Health Minister Ravi Kahlon, Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Minister Kelly Greene, and Agriculture Minister Lana Popham — have each pulled out of the race since NDP Leader David Eby called the snap election on Tuesday.
B.C. Greens leader to run in Saanich North
On Wednesday, B.C. Green Party MLA Rob Botterell announced he would step aside to allow party leader Emily Lowan to run in Saanich North and the Islands, a seat held by the Greens since 2017.
“I know she will take the time to meet people and listen to what concerns them,” Botterell said in a social media post.
“That is important in a riding like ours, where the concerns on the islands aren’t always the same as those on the peninsula.”
Lowan, 26, has been without a seat for just shy of a year.
“I’m thrilled to have the chance to represent Saanich North and the Islands. It’s the place where I grew up, swimming off the coast of this peninsula … what it instilled in me is a reverence for this coastline,” she said in a statement.
She said the Greens would focus their attention on the South Island region, but intended to run candidates in all 93 provincial ridings.
Andrew Weaver running for CentreBC
Former B.C. Greens leader Andrew Weaver has been named as CentreBC’s candidate in Oak Bay-Gordon Head.
Weaver became the first Green Party MLA elected in the province in 2013, and left to sit as an Independent in 2020.
In a statement issued Wednesday, CentreBC leader Elenore Sturko said Weaver’s experience was an asset.
“I look forward to working with Andrew on this campaign and I thank him for choosing to step forward,” she said.
Meanwhile, CentreBC’s Mike Bernier, who handed the leadership reins to Pete Milobar last week, has yet to decide whether he will run again in Peace River South.
Milobar has since rejoined the Conservative caucus.
“I know I only have a couple of days to decide,” Bernier told CBC News.
“Right now, I’m working as a campaign strategist and I’m really enjoying that.”
Bernier was the member for Peace River South for more than a decade, but was defeated by B.C. Conservative Larry Neufeld in the 2024 election.
