B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad holds a media availability following election results at the legislature in Victoria, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Energeticcity.ca

BC Conservative Party

Peace River North MLA calls for B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad to resign

Jun 28, 2025 | 9:57 AM

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The Peace River North MLA is calling for the B.C. Conservative party leader’s resignation.

On Tuesday, June 24th, Jordan Kealy posted on X – the platform formerly known as Twitter – calling for John Rustad to resign for what he says is “the good of British Columbians.”

He stated Rustad’s leadership is “building on a weak foundation that he created, and it’s cracking” in the same week that it was revealed voting for the party’s leadership had started.

Speaking to Energeticcity.ca, Kealy said he called for Rustad’s resignation after the leader accused Kealy and two other former Conservative MLAs of blackmail.

The trio – who left the party in March amid controversy over residential school comments made by MLA Dallas Brodie – all deny the accusations.

Stay Ahead of the Curve with Kamloops' Trusted Property Manager - Rohit Kumar

May 20, 2025

SOUND OFF

Supporting families with reproductive services

14h ago

ONE MAN'S OPINION

COLLINS: The NDP continues its ignorance

17h ago

Brodie and the third MLA, Tara Armstrong, have now created a new party called One B.C.

“He has not produced any information whatsoever to the RCMP,” claimed Kealy. “[Premier David Eby] even called him out.”

In a letter posted on X on June 16th, Rustad alleged the former Conservative MLAs – without naming them explicitly – had made “several attempts” to blackmail Conservative staffers.

“From what I have been told, the threat is framed something like: ‘we will pay you handsomely to join with us and we will damage you if you refuse,’” reads the letter.

It also claims the MLAs recorded phone calls and took pictures of texts between themselves and party staffers.

Meanwhile, Kealy is calling for a third-party independent review of the Conservative annual general meeting (AGM) which took place in March.

He alleges the meeting was not done in compliance with party’s bylaws.

“Everything that was delivered throughout that meeting was biased,” said Kealy. “On the ballots themselves, they actually had ‘Rustad’s team’ underneath certain individuals and under other individuals they were named ‘independents,’ even though they were part of the Conservative party.”

Kealy said the rhetoric “needs to stop” and if Rustad were to resign, Kealy would contemplate re-joining the party.

Rustad has denied all allegations, saying in the letter that the AGM voting was “100 per cent in line” with the party’s 2024/25 constitution.

“Between two lawyers who served as our AGM chairs and another third-party expert who administered votes, I have been assured by all parties that all rules were followed – including the rules for membership, delegate fees and delegate selection.”

He added “none of the independent scrutineers chose to make any complaints or challenge the validity of the board election.”

Energeticcity.ca has reached out to the Conservative Party’s communications representatives for comment but did not receive a response.