From a fringe party with no seats in the legislature just 18 months ago, the BC Conservatives have quickly risen to become viable challengers to British Columbia's ruling socialist NDP.
There will be no pre-election merger of right-wing parties in BC... | Western Standard | Paul Forseth:
May 20, 2024 - "The Conservative Party of BC has been riding a wave of popularity in the polls and promises to run a full slate of 93 candidates in the BC election due Oct. 19, 2024. It is a resurrection. After decades of irrelevance — the Conservatives have not elected an MLA for many years — BC's oldest party is rising from the political ashes. Now it faces questions about merger or cooperation with the BC United Party, currently the official opposition to the governing NDP.
"It would be a re-uniting of sorts: Both current Conservative caucus members — Leader John Rustad and Bruce Banman — were once members of the BC Liberal Party, the precursor to the BC United Party. Both leaders, Kevin Falcon of BC United and John Rustad of the BC Conservatives have admitted to third-party communications going back some months. The Conservatives attempted to open discussions with BC United in December 2023, but Leader Kevin Falcon was not receptive at that time, and is reported to have said bluntly to 'F#cl off.' His tune changed when the polling trends emerged....
"An actual merger is complicated and fraught with potential for error. And to be blunt, there's no time. A merger would require membership voting and a leadership race in addition to negotiations over basic policy declarations. Additionally, there would have to be a huge climb down by BC United Leader Kevin Falcon from his previous remarks about some Conservatives. He would also have to retract and apologize to John Rustad for giving him the boot from the BC United Party.
"The new political landscape is too raw for the parties to consider uniting.... Additionally, the policy perspectives of the two parties are quite different.... For Conservatives, a merger at this point would be seen as a dilution of Conservative values and would likely cause a membership revolt. These members now enjoy a resurrection in popularity and see no value in watering down their wine for a political maneuver. Consequently, based on what each leader has said, there will be no merger."
BC Conservatives reject BC United's non-compete offer | CHEK Media | May 24, 2024:
BC Conservatives and BCUnited — the favoured and the ‘also ran’ | Western Standard | Paul Forseth:
May 27, 2024 - "In the jostling to become the BC replacement for the stumbling NDP government, I wrote May 20, that there would be no merger between the BC Conservatives and BC United.... However, to save face, Leader Kevin Falcon of the BCUnited has taken the gloves off and is now in a full-blown hissy fit....
"The mistake was not about who had the gravitas to be the leader to oppose the NDP. It is about policy, going back many weeks and months.... BC Conservatives leader Rustad has been consistent in saying that his reading of the political landscape was that the BC Conservatives have been more correct on policy as reflected in the polls.... Policy differences were clarified by Falcon’s leadership positions, as his exclusion decisions led to the BC Conservatives gaining official party status in the BC Legislature in September 2023. Subsequently, policy statements magnified the differences between the two parties. When the voters looked at it, they chose the BC Conservatives in poll after poll....
"The BC Conservatives have been helped in public reputation by the popularity of the Federal Conservatives [while] Falcon has been associated with the unpopular PM Justin Trudeau. The ... BC Conservative ... platform ... has proved more popular than the BCUnited positions. The recent expensive TV ad campaigns by BCUnited have not moved the political dial one bit. Now ... BCUnited appears to ... have slammed the door on the old coalition of the non-NDP voter. Each free enterprise [sic] party is now firmly on its own, seeking electoral favour on Saturday, October 19, 2024. I bet that the voters who cannot abide another NDP term in office will coalesce behind the BC Conservatives."
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