British Columbia Conservative Leader John Rustad is hoping he can flip at least two ridings in the weekend recount to try his luck against a narrow-majority government, as it’s clear the leader of the British Columbia Greens Briton, Sonia Furstenau, does not want to help him or his party in any way.

Furstenau admitted this bluntly on Wednesday during a press conference.

“Some Conservative candidates have made comments that are truly disturbing, dehumanizing, homophobic and conspiratorial,” she said at a media event at the Greens’ campaign headquarters in downtown Victoria.

“Some of these candidates were elected. And I have yet to see a satisfactory response from John Rustad on this.

It’s unclear exactly what kind of response Furstenau expects from Rustad, but it appears he is expelling candidates from his party who don’t meet his standards.

Unlikely, says Rustad.

His party received 888,630 votes, or 43.6 percent of the popular vote and 45 seats according to preliminary results. This represents five times more votes than the Greens, five times the popular vote and 22 times the seats. Additionally, Rustad won his own riding, something Furstenau failed to do in Victoria-Beacon Hill.

“I think Sonia is obviously not a big fan of democracy,” Rustad told me.

“Residents from various constituencies have spoken out on who should be elected and who should not be elected. So I must honor it.

Furstenau’s lecture, however, carries unusual weight. She leads two MPs whose votes are desperately needed by the NDP or BC Conservatives to maintain the balance of power in the legislature.

So, Rustad has to sit there and take criticism from someone who has failed to muster a fraction of his electoral success.

“I think it’s really up to John Rustad to demonstrate the type of leadership he has at this point,” Furstenau said.

“I would like to know what kind of measures she is considering in this regard,” Rustad replied. “And you know that especially in light of some of the comments that his own candidates have made in the past as well.”

That clapback was in reference to a video posted online by CKNW host Jas Johal that appears to show BC Green Surrey North candidate Sim Sandhu suggesting that students be given puberty blockers in Surrey schools.

The Greens say Sandhu was kicked out of the party after those comments, but Sandhu was still on the Elections BC ballot on election day.
Of course, Sandhu’s comments pale in comparison to the great flaming trash can of hate and truly appalling nonsense being spouted by many conservative candidates. Some of these candidates — like Brent Chapman of Surrey South — are now elected MPs.

Voters, for whatever reason, chose to elect these people. That’s democracy. It is not up to Furstenau, now, to undo this.

The back and forth between Furstenau and Rustad must have left BC NDP strategists smiling.

By choosing to rip Rustad publicly, Furstenau made what we were all thinking, that she is only willing to negotiate to support the NDP. Leader David Eby now no longer needs to exert so much effort to reach an agreement.

Much still depends on the weekend recount, as well as Elections BC’s final tally of the 65,000 mail-in ballots.

The NDP must organize a recount of the two ridings – Juan de Fuca-Malahat and Surrey City Center – and flip two Conservative ridings in order to free themselves from the Greens and obtain a stable majority. Without this, the NPD negotiates power with Furstenau.

The Conservatives need to eliminate two ridings – either by recount or final tally – from the NDP in order to unseat a Green-backed NDP government. But realistically, they need three districts to be able to achieve a stable majority.

We’ll see what happens. But Furstenau made it clear she already had an idea.

“The mission is how can government best serve the people of British Columbia,” she said.

On his terms, it seems. Not to mention half the province which supported the Conservatives. And speaking only to the BC NDP.

Rob Shaw has spent more than 16 years covering BC politics, now reporting for CHEK News and writing for Glacier Media. He is co-author of the national best-selling book A Matter of Confidence, host of the weekly Political Capital podcast and a regular guest on CBC Radio.

(email protected)