Mike de Jong, one of B.C.'s longest-serving MLAs, has announced he'll be running as an independent in the federal election, after he said he was rejected by the Conservative Party.

Earlier this month, de Jong said the Conservative Party of Canada had rejected him as a candidate, after he had been working on his campaign for more than a year.

"This isn't the campaign I expected to run. But when Ottawa insiders shut me out of the Conservative nomination, I knew I couldn't stay silent. I'm running t…