In a highly emotionally charged Christmas Eve twitter message, Aaron Gunn, the MP for North Island-Powell River, announced that he will not be running for the leadership of the Conservative Party of BC. Instead, he will continue to serve as the Conservative representative for the North Island-Powell River riding. Gunn described this decision as the toughest of his life.
He acknowledged the overwhelming support he has received from constituents encouraging him to run.
“Over the past few weeks, literally thousands of you have reached out over social media, email and text urging me to run, and I share all of your concern about the future of our province.”
Gunn proceeded to blame the NDP government for most of BC’s current problems:
“The NDP have flooded our streets with drugs. They’ve abandoned our resource sector, especially the forest industry, with new mills closing almost every single week. They have undermined property rights and scared off investment with vague and dangerous legislation like DRIPA (Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act). While they have doubled the provincial debt and their reckless spending and economic mismanagement has led to a cost of living crisis, especially on housing that has spiralled completely out of control. Young families and millennials like me, not to mention seniors on fixed incomes, can’t afford to live in the province in which they were born and raised.”
A recent Angus Reid poll found that most British Columbian respondents share his frustrations. Respondents agreed the NDP had done a poor job overseeing the economy (58%), housing (80%), the cost of living (78%), health care (75%) and street crime (74%).
Support for the NDP’s handling of First Nations issues has declined, from 49% last March to 40%. Meanwhile the number of critics has grown from 34% to 42%.
However the poll did not suggest this dissatisfaction would have translated into a Conservative victory if the election had been held in December. The relative percentage of popular votes were: NDP – 43%; Conservatives – 40%; Greens – 11%.
On the National scene, 338Canada’s most recent national projection, made Sunday December 28, showed the Liberal and Conservative parties in a virtual tie (39% to 38%, respectively).
Gunn declared, “ However, as a member of Parliament, I must consider first and foremost the interests of my constituents and above all the interests of our country. Last April, Canadians elected a Liberal minority government. Since that time, Mark Carney has pursued a deliberate and transparent strategy to bribe or otherwise convince morally bankrupt MPs to cross the floor with an aim of achieving an undemocratic majority government, a government that Canadians didn’t vote for; a result that would be entirely unacceptable for my constituents and the vast majority of Canadians.”
He was referring to the two Conservative MPs who have joined the Liberal party. In a December 29, 2025, interview with Sarnia News Today, Dave Epp (Conservative MP for Chatham-Kent-Leamington, ON) confirmed that his colleagues Chris d’Entremont (Acadie—Annapolis, NS) and Michael Ma (Markham-Unionville, ON) have both crossed the floor.
Epp denied the rumours that he was joining them, explaining, “Am I going to cross? The answer is no. You can print that, scream that from the top of rooftops,”
As regards the two MPs who have defected, he added, ”I think the more honourable route would be if someone is dissatisfied to the point of resignation from your own caucus, they should sit as an Independent and then seek the legitimacy from the folks you represent.”
Matt Jeneroux, the Conservative MP for Edmonton Riverbend who resigned after Carney announced their budget in November, said he will focus on “my family and to the responsibilities that come with that.”
Gunn stated, “ While the risk is small that my departure could upend the balance of power in Ottawa and give the liberals that majority government any risk is too great a risk for me. Secondly, since this fall, there has been a deliberate and orchestrated attempt by Liberals and some in the media to undermine the leadership of Pierre Poilievre. While he has always made clear that he would support whatever decision I made, it is also clear to me that the media and Liberals would attempt to spin my departure as some sort of loss of confidence in Pierre or, worse, a betrayal. A fact that would undermine his leadership and our Conservative vision that I believe is so essential for this country – for Canada – to live up to Its truly awesome potential and for me to be able to deliver the needed change for the people of my riding.”
“I have always said that I will make this decision based on what I believe is in the best interest of the constituents that I represent and our country. That I will always speak the truth and stand up for what is right, not what is politically correct. The truth is that right now I believe that I can best serve my constituents in Ottawa.”
It has been not quite a month since John Rustad resigned as of the Conservative Party of BC.
As of December 30, 2025, Darrell Jones formerly President of the Jim Pattison Food Group is the party’s only official candidate for leadership. Aaron Gunn, Former Premier Christy Clark, and the party’s interim leader Trevor Halford are among those that have all stated they are not interested.
David Black, a political communications professor at Royal Roads University, described it as the ‘best job in BC politics that no one wants.’
Top image credit: Cropped image of Pierre Poilievre and Aaron Gunn at a Powell River rally during the 2025 Election campaign – from Aaron Gunn’s twitter feed
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