VICTORIA – A political expert says the expulsion from the B.C. Conservative caucus of Elenore Sturko by Leader John Rustad will limit the appeal of the party and place more pressure on him.
University of B.C. political science lecturer Stewart Prest says the initial decision of Sturko — a former RCMP officer and member of the LGBTQ2+ community — to join the Conservatives last year showed it could be a “big tent party” where people from diverse backgrounds were welcome.
But Prest says Sturko’s dismissal before Monday’s caucus meeting “suggests that perhaps that’s not the case” and the party is really just for “right-of-centre, populist types.”
Conservative member Brennan Day questioned Sturko’s dismissal before going into the meeting, saying that if the party wanted to broaden its base, then Sturko’s firing was “definitely a short-sighted-move.”
Day declined to speak to media after the meeting, and Rustad says Sturko’s dismissal “had nothing to do” with a letter that 13 Conservative MLAs had signed last December 2024, in which they asked Sturko to apologize for criticizing a former Vancouver Police Board member, who had complained of “woke culture” as well as gender transitions.
Prest says Sturko’s dismissal also reveals a party leadership that is less interested in expanding the party and more inclined to shrink it, “so that those who remain can still be led.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2025.
