Former BC United MLA Teresa Wat speaks during a news conference after she joined the B.C. Conservative Party, in Richmond, B.C., on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. Wat is the fourth member of the legislature to defect to the Conservative Party of British Columbia ahead of a provincial election this fall. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
RICHMOND, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA – Teresa Wat says quitting the Opposition BC United Party to join John Rustad’s British Columbia Conservatives is the only path available for a free-enterprise coalition to defeat the New Democrats in the fall election.
Wat, an 11-year veteran at the B.C. legislature and a strong multicultural representative of the suburban Vancouver City of Richmond, says getting rid of David Eby’s New Democrats is her top priority and Rustad’s Conservatives offer the best opportunity.
Wat, the fourth BC United member of the legislature to join Rustad, told a news conference today it has become clear to her the B.C. Conservatives are in the best position to defeat the NDP.
She says she was being approached daily by constituents – including while she was at a local pet shop having her cat groomed – to make the right decision to fight the New Democrats.
Wat says she is disappointed the BC United party has suggested she’s taken sensitive voter information with her to the Conservatives, saying she did nothing untoward and will follow election rules.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2024.
