Please Advise! Is John Rustad a One-Hit Wonder?

[Editor’s note: Steve Burgess is an accredited spin doctor with a PhD in Centrifugal Rhetoric from the University of SASE, situated on the lovely campus of PO Box 7650, Cayman Islands. In this space he dispenses PR advice to politicians, the rich and famous, the troubled and well-heeled, the wealthy and gullible.]

Dear Dr. Steve,

First it was former Stephen Harper deputy Dimitri Soudas going after Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. Now B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad has received a letter from the party executive asking him to resign. “The current sitting members of the Management Committee of the Board of Directors cease to have confidence in your leadership. We ask that you immediately step down as leader,” it read.

Are Conservative leaders becoming an endangered species, like Spinal Tap drummers?

Signed,

Rusty

Dear Rusty,

Fans of the mockumentary know that Spinal Tap drummers met various fates. One exploded. One choked on (somebody else's) vomit. Canada's Conservative leaders appear to be performing variations on one or the other. Poilievre, for example, appears to be the one doing the vomiting, leaving others to choke on it, while Rustad is just blowing himself up. Real good.

A party leader functions as both drummer and lead vocalist — a political Phil Collins, as it were. The leader lays down the backbeat for the band and also sings the melody. Rustad is failing at both. He definitely seems to have lost the beat, and his vocals are reminiscent of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. performing “Stayin’ Alive.” The Conservative Party of BC executive have delivered their verdict: It's a “no” from us, dawg.

On the other hand, rock stars are famous for going off the rails. Thrust into the spotlight too soon, they are often unprepared for the sudden rush of attention, spiralling into bizarre behaviour and hotel-room-smashing dysfunction.

Rustad has that part down cold. The B.C. Conservative boss was an overnight success, the Lil Nas X of B.C. politics. He was rapidly transformed from a marginal figure and BC United cast-off to leader of a party that came within a whisker of forming the provincial government. Too much, too soon, you might say — except perhaps for the “too soon” part. In Rustad's case it might be more accurate to say: “Too much, ever.”

Over the past year Rustad has lost five MLAs from his caucus, including Elenore Sturko, who until her ouster was the obvious choice for party MVP. This wasn't like the Beatles firing Pete Best — more like dumping Paul McCartney. Rustad then launched into a chorus of Black Sabbath's “Paranoid,” demanding to examine caucus members' phones and offices, searching for leaks.

It would of course be inappropriate to suggest that this witch hunt cast doubt on Rustad's mental health — except that Rustad himself appeared to do just that to Penticton-Summerland MLA Amelia Boultbee after she quit the Conservative caucus. “I had concerns when she's in tears, staff are telling me that she's very confused,” Rustad told reporters.

It was this last vocal performance that seemed to inspire the Conservative executives' call for Rustad to leave the group. Considering the recent electoral history of the party, alienating the committee is a remarkable achievement. Imagine having a near-chart-topping hit and your record company says, “Umm, know what? We kind of think you suck. There must be better ways to make money.”

When it comes to music, there is no accounting for taste. Politics, too. Elections across North America have made it clear that politics is a field with the lowest possible bar for entry. You can be voted into the highest and most powerful positions in the world despite having the morals of toe fungus and the intellectual capacity to match.

In that context, the backlash against both Poilievre and Rustad is somewhat reassuring. It seems Canada has not yet crossed into that twilight zone where infantile deviants, alcoholic domestic abusers, puppy snipers and psycho celebrity quacks will be allowed to run free through the pulverized halls of government.

Around here, successful or not, a political leader can still be drummed out. It's just a question of whether Rustad knows he's beat.