After his 'my way or the highway' ultimatum over the Thanksgiving weekend, only 14 people defected from John Cummins and his leadership of the B.C. Conservative party.
And according to a newly elected member on the party's board of directors, the embattled leader has support from northern B.C.
"Northern B.C. is behind Cummins all the way," said Dan Brooks.
Brooks, who lives just outside of Vanderhoof, became a director-at-large during the mid-September annual general meeting of the BC Conservatives in Langley. He was elected along with the rest of a pro-Cummins slate, up against another group who were calling for a leadership review.
A party member since last November, Brooks said voters should be prepared to see a Conservative candidate in every northern B.C. riding.
"The party is united up north," he said, categorizing those calling for Cummins's resignation as centered geographically on the Lower Mainland.
The 70-year-old party leader, who Brooks called "an honourable man," has a background in fisheries that helps him relate to those in the north - like Brooks - who is a guide outfitter.
The governing Liberals stance on wildlife allocation was what drove Brooks to join the B.C. Conservative party in the first place.
The government's Wildlife Allocation Policy is threatening to shut down his business and guide outfitters like him, Brooks said.
In the spring, the second-generation outfitter, who runs Crystal Lake Resort, put together a 40-page report that he sent to the party outlining ways to amend the policy - which went ignored by the Liberals, he said.
Allocation is the process that divides available wildlife harvest between outfitters and resident hunters.
The new policy, which Brooks outlines in his report as unfairly weighted to give guide outfitters a distinct disadvantage, could lead to a 75 per cent loss in business.
"So when the government becomes the problem, you've got to get involved with government to fix it," he said.
According to Brooks, the B.C. Conservatives are "really starting to blossom" in the north, adding there has been exponential growth from a smaller membership base.
"I think most people were kind of satisfied to let the Liberals run things up here," he said, categorizing many northerners as small-C conservatives who didn't want to split the vote.
"Now that the Liberals have have brought in some things which are very damaging to northern B.C., things like the carbon tax which unfairly penalizes northerners, people are turning to Conservatives as the alternatives."
As a director-at-large, Brooks said his role is to bring the concerns and issues facing northern B.C. voters to the party and help find solutions as well as good representation.
"I think the north is going to elect a Conservative MLA in the next election," he said.
