BC Conservative Leader John Rustad listens during a news conference with BC United Leader Kevin Falcon in Vancouver, on Wednesday, August 28, 2024. The political landscape in British Columbia has shifted with John Rustad's Conservatives now carrying the centre-right banner heading into a fall election campaign. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
VICTORIA – The emotions were still raw at the British Columbia Legislature on Thursday, after the bombshell announcement that the Official Opposition BC United would not contest the fall election.
At least one BC United staff member was in tears as she walked into the legislature.
Incumbent BC United legislators and other candidates who had been expecting to run under the party’s banner on Oct. 19 were meanwhile facing a shakeup of massive proportions after Leader Kevin Falcon’s surprise decision to withdraw their nominations, urging voters to instead support one-time rival, the B.C. Conservative Party.
Candidates were to be pooled, said Falcon and Conservative Leader John Rustad, on Wednesday, and nominations reassessed in light of the deal between the two leaders.
But there will be only 93 ridings up for grabs and BC United and the Conservatives have jointly listed 140 candidates, meaning that the unified list of nominees standing under the Conservative banner must be reduced by a minimum of 47.
Some veteran members of the 23-member BC United caucus indicated their future plans Thursday.
Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Todd Stone told a news conference in Kamloops he would not be seeking re-election and urged supporters to instead back Conservative candidate Ward Stamer, mayor of nearby Barriere.
Peter Milobar, who represents Kamloops-North Thompson for BC United, thanked Stone for his service on social media, but did not indicate his own future, and could not be immediately reached for further comment.
Peace River South MLA Mike Bernier said he would run as a Conservative if asked — but was not ruling out campaigning as an independent.
Bernier said he was waiting for Rustad to ask him to run in the staunchly conservative Dawson Creek area riding, which he has represented since 2013.
“If he wants to have me, as I think I am the best candidate for Peace River South, then that means he needs to go to the person who’s been nominated for the B.C. Conservatives and say, ‘sorry, you’re not running now,’ ” said Bernier.
He had said Wednesday that everybody in the BC United caucus and party staff were “blindsided” by the day’s events, which were arranged in secrecy the night before between Rustad and Falcon.
Bernier said he organized an emergency Zoom meeting of confused caucus members that took place about 90 minutes before the Falcon-Rustad news conference about the deal.
Bernier said Falcon participated in the call, but suggested his presence was brief and tense.
“(We) felt really blindsided,” he said. “To all of a sudden out of nowhere get a call, saying, ‘Oh, by the way we’re not going to be supporting nominations for anybody and Kevin Falcon is basically, as he says, jumping on the sword to make sure we don’t have an NDP government.'”
But Bernier said that by doing that, Falcon “basically threw us all out there into the wind.”
Bernier, who was BC United’s forestry critic and a former cabinet minister in the party’s previous incarnation as the BC Liberals, said he wanted to run and constituents were urging him to seek re-election.
“I am already getting numerous texts and calls from people in my riding saying, ‘don’t let this deter you, run as an independent, you’ll still win,'” said Bernier.
Neither Rustad nor Falcon would say outright Wednesday that previously chosen candidates for either party would be replaced, although it appears inevitable — BC United’s website says it has 57 nominated candidates and the B.C. Conservatives website says it has nominated 83.
Elections BC reports that 30 BC United candidates and 64 B.C. Conservative candidates have submitted nomination papers.
Bernier said he respected Falcon’s decision to suspend BC United’s campaign to prevent a centre-right vote split, but he still wants to be part of the effort to defeat Premier David Eby’s New Democrats.
Prof. David Black, a political communications expert at Greater Victoria’s Royal Roads University, said the candidate transition faced deadline pressures, with the official campaign period set to start in less than a month, but it could help strengthen the Conservative team.
“There is a lot of logistical work ahead, but that is an acceptable price to pay given the advantages this brings to the Conservatives,” he said. “They get an expanded pool of incumbent BC United MLAs to draw upon, who have governing experience, are known to their constituents, and come pre-vetted.”
He said the Conservatives can also draw upon BC United’s experienced support staff and some incumbent candidates could help win seats in currently held urban B.C. ridings.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2024.
