Aaron Gunn says he won’t seek B.C. Conservative leadership

One of the potential frontrunners for the B.C. Conservative Party’s upcoming leadership race has decided he won’t be running after all.

North Island-Powell River MP Aaron Gunn announced his decision on Christmas Eve, citing the need to remain in federal politics to prevent Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals from gaining majority status.

“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,” Gunn said in a statement. “I must put my constituents first.”

The Liberals are currently one seat shy of a majority, after former Conservative Michael Ma crossed the floor earlier this month.

Gunn is only months into his first term as MP after being elected under Pierre Poilievre’s party earlier this year. The Vancouver Island politician still said he was “seriously considering” a bid to replace ousted B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad in a recent social media post.

After confirming he won’t enter the race Wednesday, Gunn told supporters he also “will not be silent” during the process of choosing Rustad’s successor.

He called it “essential” that the future of the party not be decided by “downtown Vancouver consultants or large third-party organizations” but by “hardworking, taxpaying British Columbians.”

Gunn’s election campaign was mired in controversy over online remarks he’d made about Canada’s residential school system, which prompted several Indigenous and municipal leaders to demand his removal from the ballot.

In one post that drew criticism, the MP claimed Indigenous groups in Ontario had “asked for” residential schools, which he described as “much-maligned.”

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Todd Coyne