A former BC United MLA who defected to the BC Conservative Party in June has been accused of being a “Manchurian candidate” Thursday morning by the former vice chair of the Vancouver Police Board.

The accusation comes after 13 BC Conservative MLAs – including three Central Okanagan MLAs – called on BC Conservative leader John Rustad earlier this month to take action against MLA Elenore Sturko over her public comments about former vice chair of the Vancouver Police Board Comfort Sakoma.

But while the infighting amongst the BC Conservative caucus has become public over the past week, Rustad says the different opinions held within his caucus is a “sign of strength.”

The dust-up began back last month when Sakoma posted comments to her Instagram about a number of issues, including her concerns over the erosion of Christian values in Canada, immigration and “a woke culture that has led to the removal of Canadian heroes like Terry Fox from our passports, and the erasure of veterans from the same.”

She also said children have been pitted against their parents because “parents can be incarcerated for refusing to let their minor child undergo gender transitions and irreversible body alterations."

“We often forget that one of the largest slave trades was the Arab slave trade,” she said. “Have the Arabs apologized to anyone?”

On Nov. 22, the chair of the board asked for Sakoma resignation, saying her comments "do not reflect the values of the board and are inconsistent with our code of conduct."

Local MLAs call for apology

In an interview with the CBC, BC Conservative MLA and former RCMP officer Elenore Sturko said she agreed with the board's decision, noting Sakoma comments were offensive and “erode the public's trust or their comfort with the police service.”

This led to 13 Conservative MLAs, including Tara Armstrong (Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream), Kristina Loewen (Kelowna Centre) and Macklin McCall (West Kelowna-Peachland), to co-sign a letter denouncing “cancel culture,” and asking Rustad to “invite” Sturko to write an apology to Sakoma for her comments, or offer an apology on behalf of the Conservative caucus.

“It is our view that the statements caused undue harm to Ms. Sakoma and called into question our commitment to the core values shared by Conservatives,” the letter stated.

Sturko has since stood by her comments and refused to apologize.

Sturko was elected as MLA for South Surrey in a 2022 byelection under the BC United banner, but she crossed the floor in June to join the BC Conservative Party. She was re-elected as a Conservative MLA in the Surrey-Cloverdale riding in October.

A 'Manchurian candidate'?

Thursday morning, Sakoma posted online that Sturko's views differ from the Conservative Party's “core principles.”

“I believe that her transition from BC United to the Conservative Party may have been with the aim of undermining or distorting the conservative values that the party holds dear. This should be of serious concern to all Conservatives,” Sakoma wrote.

“I urge the party and its members to recognize this and act accordingly – either by ensuring she is held accountable through the party's internal mechanisms or by testing her views at the polls.

“Is Elenor (sic) a 'Manchurian candidate' working to subvert the Conservative Party from within?”

Supporting free speech

Speaking with Castanet Thursday morning, Rustad reiterated that he supports free speech, which includes the members of his party's caucus. But he didn't directly answer whether he thinks Sturko is trying to “distort the party's values.”

“Ms. Sturko has her own values that she wants to be able to promote,” Rustad said in response. “She has found a home with us as the Conservative Party, I suspect that's going to be rocky, just like there are some other people who have found a home on different sides of the political spectrum. That is normal.

“Do I agree with Elenore Sturko and her position? No, I don't and I came out publicly and said that, as many of our caucus members did, but I defend her right to have that position, because that's what freedom of speech is. That's what her job is, to represent her values or represent her riding, just like it is for the other MLAs in our caucus.”

Rustad said he wants to allow his caucus members to be able to speak their minds, rather than maintain a singular party voice.

“It could create problems. I'm sure there's a reason why all the other political parties use their whip to keep everybody in line and make sure everybody has the same speaking notes, but I think quite frankly, people in this province are looking for something different and that's what we're going to try to achieve,” Rustad said.

“Are we going to have some differences? Clearly, you've already seen it in terms of that, but I think that's a sign of strength to be able to have those differences in our caucus while we are pushing on the NDP on all these big issues.”

Paraphrasing a quote from B.C.'s longest serving premier W.A.C. Bennett, Rustad said the job a political party is to make “forever be making the tent bigger."

“So that's what we're trying to do. And that means we're going to have people from across the spectrum that will be able to find a home in who we are as the Conservative Party, and that could make some other people uncomfortable but I'm OK with that.

“That doesn't change what we're going to be doing with our platform, that doesn't change in terms of those values that we have espoused certainly during the election and going forward.”