NDP formally asks RCMP to probe Rustad's claim of MLA blackmailers
The chair of British Columbia's NDP caucus has written to the RCMP requesting an investigation into allegations that former members of the BC Conservative Opposition tried to blackmail their ex-colleagues.
The letter from Stephanie Higginson to Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald comes after BC Conservative Leader John Rustad wrote a letter to his caucus warning about the alleged blackmail by three MLAs and their staff.
One former party member said he welcomed the probe, saying Rustad made the blackmail allegations to 'distract and change the conversation' about how his leadership was reconfirmed at the annual general meeting of the party.
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Conservative leader accuses political rivals of blackmail
Independent Jordan Kealy said he had already asked for an independent audit of the leadership review.
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'Maybe the Conservative Party, if they've got nothing to hide, will then open their books and actually show to their constituents, voters and members, that they're telling the truth,' Kealy said in an interview.
Higginson said in the open letter written on behalf of the NDP caucus that there's a significant public interest in determining the facts.
She said if any MLA or their staff are engaged in blackmail, British Columbians deserve to know, and perpetrators should be prosecuted.
On Monday, Rustad confirmed that he wrote a letter obtained by The Canadian Press in which he tells his caucus that their former colleagues and staff were threatening to release 'blackmail materials,' including secretly recorded phone conversations and text messages.
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Rustad said in an interview then that he did not personally have recorded evidence of blackmail, but would not say if the party possessed it.
'As I said earlier, I am not sure what has been provided to our legal staff around it. I don't personally have it,' he said.
Asked if Rustad was available for an interview on Thursday, the BC Conservative Party said it had received advice not to comment further on the matter.
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Higginson said British Columbians deserved to know whether Rustad has any evidence to support his accusations.
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'Given the accusations of criminal activity, it seems appropriate for police to examine any relevant information in Mr. Rustad's possession to determine if additional investigation and/or criminal charges are necessary,' Higginson wrote.
Premier David Eby said earlier this week after learning of the blackmail allegations that Rustad needed to take the claims to police, and if he didn't, then the NDP would.
'It is a profound and serious allegation that also strikes at the core of this place behind me and the public's confidence in the fact that legislators and staff members need to be able to do their work for the people without interference,' Eby said during a news conference outside the legislature on Tuesday.
Rustad has not named the former Conservatives he is accusing, but Dallas Brodie, who was ejected from the caucus in March, said in a statement on Monday that his letter consisted of 'wild lies' about her new OneBC party, launched with fellow former Conservative Tara Armstrong last week.
Brodie was thrown out of the BC Conservatives over remarks about residential schools, prompting Armstrong and Kealy to quit the party in sympathy.
Kealy, who is not a member of the new OneBC party, said Thursday that he was 'completely fine' with the RCMP being called to investigate.
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John Rustad takes aim at former BC Conservative MLAs
'I've got nothing to hide if they want to talk to me,' said Kealy.
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'I have chosen to leave it to people who are in the position to properly investigate this thoroughly and to look into whether or not they are allegations are being made falsely,' said Kealy.
Armstrong said on social media this week that 'Rustad and Eby can throw around the accusations all they like but rest assured, the truth will always prevail.'
Higginson's letter was copied to Rustad.
Brodie has said Rustad and his team 'rigged' the Conservatives' March annual general meeting that endorsed his 'Team Rustad' slate of executive candidates, allegedly stacking the meeting with South Asian supporters paid 'to vote the way Mr. Rustad wanted.'
Rustad's letter denied any wrongdoing at the meeting.
— With files from Wolfgang Depner in Victoria
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