British Columbia’s official Opposition is presenting a united front, days after a messy caucus dispute spilled over into front page news.
None of the 13 BC Conservative MLAs who signed a letter singling out colleague and Surrey-Cloverdale MLA Elenore Sturko was willing to speak to the matter Tuesday as they headed into a caucus meeting in Victoria.
But both Sturko herself and party leader John Rustad sought to downplay the apparent rift in the party.
“Would I have rather had this as a private conversation? Of course. And I am sure now in hindsight many of my colleagues feel the same way,” Sturko told media, adding it is OK for party members not to agree on everything.
“I came here with no ill will towards anyone in my party. I don’t have any trepidation to show up here today, and I am looking forward to the conversation.”
The issue flared up after an interview with CBC News in which Sturko said she supported the ouster of Vancouver Police Board vice-chair Comfort Sakoma over controversial social media posts.
In the posts, Sakoma claimed secular education was leading to the erasure of kids’ Christian values and that immigration was undermining shared Canadian identity she asserted is based on Christian values, mused that Hinduism could become the “dominant cultural influence” in Canada and alleged “woke” policies on gender identity were pitting children against parents.
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The 13 MLAs then penned a letter to Rustad suggesting Sturko had participated in “cancel culture” and pressing the party leader to have her apologize to Sakoma.
On Monday, Rustad shared photos and videos of him meeting with Sakoma, writing that he disagreed with her removal and suggesting Sturko meet with the former police board member, but he added that his MLAs are free to speak their minds.
Sturko responded with a social media post of her own saying she stood by her comments and would not meet Sakoma.
“All members of the caucus have the right to say things, and the right to be able to bring forward issues, and I look forward to the discussions,” Rustad said Tuesday.
“We don’t whip our people to say what they want to say.”
Rustad wouldn’t say how the issue would be addressed at Tuesday’s caucus meeting.
As for how the 13 rebel MLAs handled the matter, Rustad chalked the issue up to inexperience.
“With 36 new people, it’s going to be expected that there is going to be some issues in terms of how everybody learns the ropes and what they do, so this is just one of those things that happens,” he said.
Both Rustad and Sturko downplayed suggestions that the incident had exposed a rift in the caucus.
“I came here, I joined the party, I crossed the floor, you guys were there,” Sturko told reporters.
“I did that so I could work side-by-side with John Rustad. I am going to continue to do that.”
University of the Fraser Valley political scientist Hamish Telford said the MLAs’ letter represented a direct challenge to Rustad’s leadership.
“This is a real fundamental moment when John Rustad has to decide what kind of a party this is going to be — quite clearly the baker’s dozen want it to be a socially conservative party and they’ve issued that challenge to him,” he said.
Rustad, he said, now faces the tricky job of presenting a clear party identity to voters, while adhering to his position that the caucus can speak freely on issues where they may not agree.
“It’s difficult to run an open, pluralist party with people running hither-tither with different viewpoints. It doesn’t look like it’s a coherent party, a coherent opposition,” he said.
“And if they can’t agree among themselves, how can they run a province is always the challenge for a pluralist party committed to free votes.”
The “baker’s dozen” of signatories to the letter includes MLAs from regions across the province.
It includes Tara Armstrong, Rosalyn Bird, Dallas Brodie, Brent Chapman, Reann Gasper, Sharon Hartwell, Anna Kindy, Jordan Kealy, Kristina Loewen, Macklin McCall, Heather Maahs, Korky Neufeld and Ward Stammer.
The party will have more than two months to hash out its differences before MLAs return to the legislature for its next sitting.
Members are due back in the house on Feb. 18 for the speech from the throne.
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