BC Conservative Leader John Rustad, right, pauses to confer with BC United Leader Kevin Falcon while responding to questions during a news conference, in Vancouver, on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. A series of candidates for British Columbia's upcoming provincial election have disappeared off the B.C. Conservative's website with some BC United nominees taking their place. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A series of candidates for British Columbia’s upcoming provincial election have disappeared from the B.C. Conservatives’ online list of nominees, as some former BC United members move into the Conservative fold after last week’s reshaping of the province’s political landscape.
Some former candidates complained that the Conservatives were being infiltrated by the Official Opposition – whose leader Kevin Falcon ended his party’s campaign last Wednesday – and at least one said they planned to run as an independent.
Falcon and B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad last week announced a deal to pool candidates under the Conservative banner to avoid vote splitting that could favour Premier David Eby’s NDP in the Oct. 19 election.
Some of those whose names no longer appear on the Conservatives’ website took to social media to complain about the changes and accuse the party of shifting its values.
In a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Dupinder Kaur Saran says she will now be running as an independent in Surrey-Panorama because another Conservative had been “bullied” into standing there instead.
Former Prince George-Mackenzie candidate Rachael Weber – whose social media content about the “5G Genocide” had drawn criticism from BC United – confirmed in a Facebook post that she had been replaced in what she called “a matter of deep sadness for me.”
“I believe this Conservative Party of BC is no longer Conservative but running under the guise of the name Conservative. They have allowed many BC United (Liberal) candidates to infiltrate the party and have lost sight of the real Conservative values we as Conservatives hold dear,” Weber said.
“Your new Conservative candidate for this riding will more than likely be BC United Liberal opposition.”
Former BC United candidate in Burnaby North Michael Wu will now represent the Conservatives there, with the party’s former nominee, Simon Chandler, moved to Burnaby East.
Former BC United nominees Scott McInnes in Columbia River Revelstoke, and Keenan Adams in Port Coquitlam, become the Conservative candidates in those ridings instead.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 3, 2024
