After serving 21 years in Victoria, John Rustad is calling time on his political career.
On Wednesday, the former leader of the Conservative Party of BC and longtime Nechako Lakes MLA announced he is not seeking re-election in next month’s provincial election.
Rustad was reinstated back into the provincial Tories on Monday by interim leader Lorne Doerksen.
After being expelled from the BC Liberals in 2022 over social media posts questioning climate science, Rustad joined the BC Conservative Party in 2023.
He became leader and steered the party from under 2% of the popular vote to winning 44 seats in the 2024 provincial election, making them the Official Opposition.
Rustad was ousted as party leader in December and was replaced by Kerry-Lynne Findlay who stepped down on Sunday following an infamous four-month tenure at the helm, which was highlighted by several MLA’s temporarily exiting the caucus as well as the removal of staff members.
Rustad is most well-known for his 17-year run with the B.C. Liberals (2005-2022) where he first claimed the Prince George-Omineca riding under-then premier Gordon Campbell.
He was re-elected in 2009 under the newly named Nechako Lakes riding, a seat he would hold for the remainder of his time in provincial politics.
After a surprise provincial election win in 2013, then-premier Christy Clark appointed Rustad as Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation.
In 2017, he added to his portfolio being named Forestry Minister. Rustad served as the forestry critic for five years as the NDP took over parliament.
The 2026 provincial election is October 24th.
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