“I tried to come to the table months ago when BCU and the Conservatives were evenly matched in the polls, so we would have the best chance of defeating the NDP. The answer we got was: “F–k Off.””

EVEN as a section of the media wildly speculated on the BC Conservatives and BC United cooperating to defeat the BC NDP following polls that showed the rightwing vote split benefitting the New Democrats, BC Conservative Leader John Rustad on Wednesday firmly rejected any such move in a tweet: “Not going to happen.”

Rustad tweeted on X: “I’ve worked jobs including cutting down trees, fighting wildfires, and running a small technology business in the resource sector.

“I never expected to be a politician, and I certainly never expected to lead a party. But I was pissed off with status quo, and I’ve never been the type of person to just give up and walk away.

“The truth is, I’m not who Downtown Victoria and Vancouver consultants want to be Premier, I’m not a wealthy lawyer or a hotshot urban mayor. I’m a small business guy from the North — and I have the chainsaw scars to prove it.

“When I joined the Conservative Party of BC, we were the last place party — now we’re first place in many polls and we’re competing for government.

“I tried to come to the table months ago when BCU and the Conservatives were evenly matched in the polls, so we would have the best chance of defeating the NDP.

“The answer we got was: “F–k Off.”

“So we worked even harder to build our party up and defeat the NDP on our own.

“We built this party with hard work piece by piece — now, people want to jump into the drivers seat and kick out our grassroots.

“Not going to happen.

“I’ve promised thousands of British Columbians and our thousands of grassroots members — who took the initiative to sign themselves up — to lead this party through the next election.

“I intend to keep my word.

“I hope [Port Coquitlam Mayor] Brad West decides to join our team — we’ve had months of discussion and we kept the riding open for him.

“He told us he wants to beat the NDP, and that he wants the top job down the road — I hope he’s willing to earn it.”