EVEN as BC United Leader Kevin Falcon announced that his party was suspending his party’s campaign and encouraged supporters to unite behind BC Conservative Leader John Rustad, the NDP highlighted what Falcon and his BCU MLAs have said about Rustad:
“Frankly, I don’t think there’s any scenario in which John Rustad would be remotely ready to step into the position of Premier.” – Kevin Falcon, CKNW, November 30, 2023
“From a values point of view, our group couldn’t run with candidates that try to equate vaccines with Nazism and apartheid, et cetera.” – Kevin Falcon, Global, May 17, 2024
“There won’t be a merger, as I’ve said before, there’s practical reasons why, but there’s also many of their candidates are, frankly, too extreme. I can’t merge with a party that has candidates that equate vaccinations with Nazism and apartheid. It’s just not going to work. Or candidates that say that getting a vaccine shot, Covid shot is going to turn you into a magnet. That’s not serious.” – Kevin Falcon, Media Availability, May 16, 2024
“People calling in to tell you their thoughts on the B.C. Cons: a radical right party, anti-climate change, anti-indigenous rights, no policy platforms, anti-environment are just a few of the comments.” – Ian Paton, June 21, 2024
“British Columbians deserve to know whether John Rustad’s B.C. Conservative party continues to endorse the views of the Reclaiming Canada conference, including the anti-immigrant and racist views of Lauren Southern, and a wild conspiracy theory that the government is trying to force people to eat bugs. These views are not only extremist but completely out of touch with the values of mainstream British Columbians.” – Peter Milobar, July 12, 2024
“Rustad’s idea of a big tent party is, ‘I don’t care if you have crazy conspiracy theories where you think the earth is flat or 5G is part of the antichrist and some of those weird things we’ve been hearing. John’s idea is I’ll let people have crazy ideas. That’s his idea of a big tent.” – Mike Bernier, August 27, 2024
“Lorne [Doerkson] has decided to align himself with John Rustad — a leader who has proven to have very poor judgment in so far as recruiting a range of candidates, many of whom have extreme views on a wide range of topics, Lorne is now going to have to defend those positions as a member of that team.” – Todd Stone, June 2, 2024
“We [BC United] have good, sound policy that focuses on the affordability challenges, focuses on the crime issues, focuses on the healthcare issues– and right now, I don’t see that from provincial Conservatives.” – Dan Davies, June 25, 2024
