Jordan Kealy says he has “lost faith” in John Rustad after the B.C. Conservative leader ejected MLA Dallas Brodie over comments made on residential schools.
In a scathing message posted to the Peace River North MLA’s Facebook page, Kealy said the party has become “toxic,” noting that the worst bullies sit in the legislature – his party being no exception.
“I stood up for a fellow MLA who was harassed for speaking the truth, only to become a target myself,” said Kealy. “The party has created an environment where some so-called ‘Conservatives’ would rather throw cheap insults than deal with facts. There were no apologies, no accountability, and I refuse to stand with those who either enable or ignore that kind of behaviour.”
He goes on to challenge the notion of what it means to be a “real conservative” before accusing the party of backroom games and turning into “Liberal United Conservative 2.0.”
“People don’t want fake, scripted politicians. They want real, honest leadership,” says Kealy. “This is why I have lost faith in John Rustad as a leader and his Azim team. If he cannot stop people from being bullied then I will.”
Following what Rustad described as a showdown in the Conservative caucus room on Thursday, Dallas Brodie challenged her colleagues to fire her and asked for a vote on her removal before walking out.
“As a result of her decision to publicly mock and belittle testimony from former residential school students, including by mimicking individuals recounting stories of abuses — including child sex abuse — MLA Brodie is not welcome to return to our Conservative Party of BC Caucus,” Rustad said in a statement on Friday.
In remarks aimed directly at the Member for Vancouver-Quilchena, Rustad said he believed strongly in free speech “however, using your stature and platform as an MLA to mock testimony from victims alleging abuse, including child sex abuse, is where I draw the line.”
Brodie’s removal comes after she posted on social media last month that “zero” child burials had been confirmed at the Kamloops Indian Residential School. Brodie also questioned the “apparent mistreatment” of a lawyer who had asked for the rewording of Law Society training material about residential schools.
She also said it was important to have “the truth” about residential schools, “not his truth, her truth, my grandmother’s truth … this stuff has to stop.”
Brodie used a high-pitched singsong voice as she mimicked those she disagreed with.
Rustad, who highlighted Brodie’s use of the “childlike whining” voice in his statement, said her ejection “has nothing to do with whether or not there are undiscovered remains at Kamloops Indian Residential School, where it is objectively true that no new bodies have been found.”
“This is about an elected MLA using her position of authority to mock testimony of survivors of abuse, including child sex abuse,” said Rustad, a former minister of aboriginal relations and reconciliation.
Brodie had claimed in the video that she had the support of about 20 MLAs who were “100 per cent behind” her, including Kealy.
But other Conservatives have expressed concern about the situation, including Brennan Day, who posted a photo with Warbus on Thursday saying he was “proud to stand behind” her.
Kealy saying that this is just the start of a new path and a new party that respects Conservative values.
*With files from the Canadian Press