The fallout from the bombshell collapse of BC United less than two months before B.C.’s provincial election continued Thursday, with many of the party faithful saying they were “blindsided” by the move.
On Wednesday, BC United Leader Kevin Falcon announced he’d pull the party from the race in order to prevent splitting the right-of-centre vote with the BC Conservatives.
The move caught BC United MLAs, candidates, staff and volunteers by surprise, with some learning just hours before and others hearing it on the news.
“Those of us who are still MLAs, we were locked out of our BC United systems yesterday, money was gone from our accounts,” said West Vancouver-Capilano MLA Karin Kirkpatrick.
“We are concerned that because we were blindsided, many of my colleagues have made commitments to campaign expenses, to office space, they have ordered their signs … who is going to pay for this now?”
Three-term BC United MLA Mike Bernier, who represents the staunchly Conservative Peace River South riding in the Dawson Creek area, said he still wants to represent his constituents and would likely accept an opportunity to seek re-election as a BC Conservative, but if the offer does not arrive, he may run in the riding as an independent.
Falcon and Rustad said Wednesday the two parties would work together on a process to field the best candidates for the upcoming election, but have not released details of the plan.
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But several major BC United names have already withdrawn from the race. Key MLAs Shirley Bond in Prince George-Valemount and Todd Stone in Kamloops-South Thompson both announced Thursday they would stand down ahead of the October vote.
“It was the right time for me to enter public life back in 2013. But my gut tells me that now is the time for me to step back,” he said.
“(BC Conservative candidate Ward Starmer) is a good man. I’ve known him and his parents Val and Derek Stamer for a lot of years. I know him and his commitment to B.C. and I wish him well.”
Falcon and Rustad say the two parties will jointly work out a process to field the best candidates for the Oct. 19 election, but the details have yet to be arranged.
BC United’s fortunes began to flag after a Falcon-led rebrand from the BC Liberal identity that saw the party win four back-to-back majority governments before falling to the NDP in 2017.
As the party sagged in the polls, it faced several high-profile defections.
But political strategist Kareem Allam, who managed Falcon’s leadership bid and the recent ABC Vancouver municipal election wins, said a less visible exodus of paid staff and long time organizers was even more important.
“The people that actually make a political party work,” he said.
“When that part hollows out, you can’t replace the expertise of some ex-Harper, ex-Mulroney, ex-Campbell staffers who are reliable advisors who are great at crafting policy, who have a Rolodex of intelligent people to craft a platform with.”
The move clarifies the electoral stakes in the upcoming election, now shaping up to be a straight left vs. right contest.
But Allam said it also leaves a pool of potentially politically homeless voters in the centre, who are not comfortable with Rustad’s harder right positions on climate change and LGBTQ2 rights in schools or candidates who have shared conspiracy theories online.
“Some of those positions he has taken don’t run with the mainstream of B.C.,” he said.
“Ultimately, this campaign is going to be won by who British Columbians feel is best representing them, whether it is on the economy, health care, education, affordability, all those issues But it is going to be hard for JR to confront those issues when he is having to answer questions about vaccines and 5G.”
With files from the Canadian Press
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