Former BC Green Party leader Andrew Weaver slams Premier David Eby, praises Conservatives' John Rustad

Weaver praises B.C. Conservative leader Andrew Weaver is criticizing Premier Eby's leadership and showering praise on an unlikely target, the B.C. Conservative leader.

Former BC Green Party leader Andrew Weaver is treading back into B.C. politics, slamming NDP Premier David Eby in an opinion piece in the Vancouver Sun, and showering praise on BC Conservative Leader John Rustad. He echoed those sentiments in an interview with CTV News Wednesday.

“(Rustad) reminds me a lot of John Horgan in that he's a listener. He's somebody that will listen to you, will disagree with you, but is open to change his views,” said Weaver.

Weaver is a climate scientist and one of the architects of the province's climate plan: CleanBC. He forged an alliance – and famous bromance – with Horgan that propelled the NDP to power in 2017, but he's critical of Horgan's successor.

“What we're looking for is someone who's authentic, who’s willing to talk to us, who’s willing to listen,” he said.

John Rustad opposes the carbon tax and CleanBC. He was kicked out of BC United for his views on climate change, but Weaver says they aren’t that far apart on the environment.

“He reacts as some do, and frankly I do too, to some of the alarmist rhetoric that’s out there,” said Weaver Wednesday.

Rustad welcomed Weaver's praise on Wednesday, and returned the volley.

“Quite frankly, I think he would make a great candidate for us if we could ever find a place if he would be interested in running for us,” said Rustad.

Rustad says climate change exists – and humans are contributing to it – but argues it isn't an existential threat or a crisis.

“I don't even think that it’s the worst thing we're facing in this province, in terms of British Columbia,” he said.

Environment Minister George Heyman told CTV News Wednesday that Rustad’s comments on climate change are frightening, and he is disturbed by the possibility that Rustad could destroy everything he has worked on for the past seven years, including with Andrew Weaver.

Weaver's comments are evidence of more momentum for the BC Conservatives, said UBC political scientist, Gerald Baier.

“It certainly suggests that there is still quite a lot of coalescing around the BC Conservatives as the alternative to the BC NDP,” said Baier.

It’s momentum that the premier acknowledged Tuesday, saying he'd "probably" be running against Rustad when asked who his main opponent will be this fall.

Weaver said Wednesday he has no plans to run for office, but would be happy to be a climate advisor to Rustad, a position he said is more like an economic advisor.