BC Conservatives fight for the people: Rustad
A lot of people in British Columbia feel they don’t have a voice anymore, something John Rustad, the Conservative Party of BC leader, and Nechako Lakes MLA, hopes to change at the next Provincial election in 2024.
Unlike many other MLAs in the province, Rustad has already established a reputation for giving his constituents a voice and representing their needs, rather than towing the party line. A former member of the BC Liberal Party (now re-branded as BC United), Rustad was kicked out of the party last August for refusing to hold the party line.
“I was elected to represent my riding,” Rustad said. The farm emissions reduction strategy, the issue that caused him to be ejected from the BC Liberals, is an issue that’s important to the people who elected him, he said, and he would represent his people.
As the new leader of the Conservative Party of BC, Rustad says he plans to ensure that Conservative MLAs, when elected, will be able to represent their constituents and vote how the people want and not be obligated to hold the party line.
Rustad spoke to a group of Peace Region residents during a meeting at the Charlie Lake Hall on June 28, about the challenges facing the province and some of the things the Party intends to do to make life better for all British Columbians.
“Who is standing up for the average person?” he asked.
There are three basic things that people need to survive, Rustad told the group. Housing, energy, and food.
“Fifty-three per cent of people can’t afford to put food on the table. Carbon tax is not making people use less fuel. You can’t say we’re saving the environment when you’re just putting people into poverty.”
The cost of food is increasing rapidly. “You know how much organic food costs?” Rustad asked.
Forty per cent of the world’s food supply is produced using nitrogen-based fertilizer. If fertilizer use is prohibited, everything will have to be priced as organic, he said.
“This will lead to billions of people starving. How can we save the planet by putting people into poverty and starving them?”
Rustad says the best thing British Columbia can do for the environment is export natural gas. If the BC Conservatives win the next provincial election, Rustad plans to do just that.
“We’ll extend the other three pipelines. The LNG plants will use natural gas for compression, not electricity," he said. "You would need three-quarters of Site C’s production to power one LNG plant with electricity.”
His party plans to step up the construction of LNG plants.
“As a province it should not take ten years to build an LNG plant. We should find willing First Nations and get one built every two years.”
As the former Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Rustad spent a lot of time working with First Nations, and says legislation passed in BC to support UNDRIP has caused issues for industry in the province.
“It means that you can’t get approval to do anything without first consulting First Nations,” he said.
Beetle killed timber and deadfall need to be removed, for example, but aren’t, because of disputes over territories. In those cases, permits are not issued, and no work is being done, and mills don’t have logs to process.
“There is a better way. The Haisla First Nation went from 65 per cent unemployment to 15 per cent, they solved a lot of social and economic issues,” said Rustad. “That comes with creating opportunities and potential.”
It’s getting harder to find employees, trades are hard to find, residents told Rustad.
“British Columbia is an uncompetitive province,” he said. “We put up every barrier we can to prevent and discourage work.”
“It’s the highest cost jurisdiction. You can’t get timely permits. You have two landlords, the government, and First Nations. It’s hard to justify the expenditure.”
“If you had $250 million to sink into a plant, would you do it in BC?”
“As a party, we need to run on values. On doing what’s right for people. “
Healthcare is another big concern. The system is not working, Rustad said.
“We need to hire back the approximately 7,000 healthcare workers who were fired due to mandates. Nurses shouldn’t have to work back-to-back shifts to cover the shortage.”
Rustad said that a surgeon recently told him that he was only working eight hours a week. “He could actually work between 20 and 30 hours, if there was enough staff.”
“It’s a myth that our healthcare system is the best. It’s not. There are six or seven people dying per day while waiting for surgery,” he said. “The NDP said the system is more important that patient suffering. We need change, and we (BC Conservatives) are going to fight for it.”
Rustad is in favour of working with healthcare professionals to create a model that would work to heal the healthcare system. “I’m not sure what the model would look like at this time, but I would personally like to see less administration.”
The province needs a shake-up, Rustad said. “United can’t win. We need a coalition to win.”
The BC Conservatives plan to run 93 candidates in the 2024 provincial election, and Rustad believes they have a reasonable shot at forming government.
“As a party, we need to run on values. On doing what’s right for people. It’s not just about trust. Only ten per cent of the population trusts politicians.”
“Look at the principles I’m standing on,” Rustad said. “I’m standing for the average, everyday person. For transparency – political parties don’t want you to know what they’re doing. Political parties want all candidates to read from the same song sheet."
But not the BC Conservatives.
"We want candidates who will fight for their riding and speak out. We expect candidates to champion things that are important to their riding.”