(UPDATE) BC Conservative leadership vote heading to Fort St. John

Updated July 25th, 9:20 a.m.: Updated to include a statement received from the Conservative Party of BC.

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. —  The Conservative Party of BC has begun in-person voting on the leadership of John Rustad, and ballot boxes are coming to the Peace River region starting next month.

The party began the voting process without announcement before June 24th in some ridings, with the process estimated to take up to six months. 

On August 9th, BC Conservative Party members can gather to cast their ballots in the leadership review vote at the Fort St. John Curling Club on 96th Street from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Peace River North MLA Jordan Kealy, a former member of the Conservative Party, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to speak about the vote and encourage his Conservative constituents to vote. 

“I believe [Rustad has] created a lot of problems, and now we’ve got confusion in policies and direction of where the party wants to go,” Kealy told Energeticcity.ca.

“I think there could be a better leader that is more conservative…that will offer a true Conservative Party to help balance or create balance within our government.” 

In a statement to Energeticcity.ca on July 24th, the Conservative Party said voters in the region “deserve better.”

“We look forward to visiting Peace River North, where so many residents feel betrayed but not only the NDP but Jordan Kealy, who after months of campaigning as a Conservative, immediately quit our party to sit as an independent,” a Conservative Party spokesperson said. 

“Kealy conned us and the region. He is no Conservative.”

In May, Kealy and two other former-Conservative MLAs called for a review of the party’s annual general meeting, claiming it was “rigged” in Rustad’s favour. 

In June, Rustad indirectly accused the three MLAs who left the party – Kealy, Tara Armstrong and Dallas Brodie – of blackmailing Conservative Party members and staff and dividing the party. Shortly after this, the BC NDP party called for an RCMP investigation.

Kealy, Armstrong and Brodie have all denied the allegations.

In his July 10th social media post, Kealy called Rustad’s leadership style “controlling and undemocratic,” and said his political position had moved “too far from conservative grassroots values,” leading to the creation of “splinter parties” such as One BC.

One BC was founded by Brodie and Armstrong in June after their departure from the Conservative Party in March. 

Kealy also alleged Rustad had removed “true Conservative candidates” from the party to “install Liberal-aligned figures.”  

“A real conservative leader doesn’t dodge accountability or blame their staff for every failure,” Kealy wrote.

Kealy encouraged all Conservative members of the party living in the riding to remember the strength of conservative leadership and representation in the northeast.