BC United is suspending its provincial election campaign, leader Kevin Falcon said today at a press conference.
"What became apparent to me, as I've crisscrossed the province and heard from literally tens of thousands of people, is the No. 1 major concern that they had, and that is, 'Kevin, if you guys don't do the right thing and be the adults in the room and help bring together that free enterprise centre-right, common-sense coalition, you are going to help elect an NDP government," Falcon said.
"I will be withdrawing our candidate nominations."
Falcon added "this is the right thing to do for the province of British Columbia."
The BC Conservative Party will potentially draw from BC United’s pool of incumbent MLAs and candidates, said BC Conservatives' leader John Rustad.
He would not say which BC United candidates are going to run for the BC Conservatives.
"We are not going into details today," he said.
The right-of-centre party, formerly known as the BC Liberals, has been trailing in polls to both the BC NDP and BC Conservatives.
A Research Co. online survey earlier this summer, which is a representative provincial sample, found 41 per cent of decided voters would support the NDP while 38 per cent would cast a ballot for the BC Conservatives. The BC Green Party was in third place with 10 per cent, followed by BC United with nine per cent. Other parties and independent candidates had the support of 2 per cent of decided voters.
“I’ve known Kevin Falcon for 20 years, and while we haven’t always seen eye to eye, we both know there is too much at stake to let past disagreements get in the way of defeating David Eby and the radical NDP,” Rustad said.
“I’ve never doubted Kevin Falcon’s commitment to our province, and today, I applaud his decision to put B.C. first, as he’s done throughout his career.”
Peace River South MLA Mike Bernier told Canadian Press earlier today he has called an emergency meeting of the party caucus to discuss the future of British Columbia's official Opposition, and that he has been unable to reach Falcon amid reports the party is folding.
Bernier, who is still with BC United, said he called the meeting because there's "obviously something going on" but he was unable to say exactly what, and his phone has been "blowing up" with calls from concerned staff and other MLAs.
It is unclear what will happen to BC United's resources, such as money, data and use of the BC Liberal Party name, which it formerly used and now controls to prevent others from using that name.
Attempts by BC United and the BC Conservatives to forge an alliance to defeat the governing New Democrats had previously failed.
Premier David Eby said he does not care which party he stands against, because both will reduce essential services to British Columbians, according to Canadian Press.
"No matter what our opponents do, I'm focused on what matters to you—building more homes you can afford, lowering your costs, and strengthening your health care," Eby wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
"John Rustad is planning deep cuts that will cost you, just like he did before. That’s a risk we can’t afford."
BC Greens leader Sonia Furstenau said on X that her party is the real progressive alternative, and not the NDP.
"Democracy thrives on diverse voices, but BC's political landscape is narrowing with the BC Conservatives entrenched on the right and the BC NDP drifting away from their progressive values," she said on X.
Advocates of having what they consider to be a single free-enterprise coalition in the province were ecstatic with the announcement.
“It's a historic day in BC politics,” longtime BC United supporter and activist Jordon Bateman told BIV. “The free-enterprise realignment now is completely behind the BC Conservatives, and we should be grateful to Kevin Falcon for doing the unselfish thing and putting British Columbia ahead of his own personal interests.”
Falcon said he will not be running in the October 19 election.
University of British Columbia political scientist Stewart Prest told BIV that given that BC United was polling in the single digits, it is not a huge number of people who will be making the decision on whether to vote for the BC Conservatives, the BC NDP or to simply stay home.
When U.S. President Joe Biden dropped out of the race to be president and threw support behind the Democratic Party's current presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, polls showed that many voters who had previously been supporting the flagging presidential bid by independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. switched allegiances and started to support Harris.
When Kennedy then ended his campaign in swing states and said that he would be supporting Republican candidate Donald Trump, many pundits suggested that the Kennedy voters who remained were largely those who would have otherwise supported Trump.
Prest said that a similar dynamic may play out with the remaining members of BC United.
The party has seen many of its MLAs leave and join the BC Conservatives since this spring. Many organizers also made the switch.
One yet-to-be-answered question, Prest said, is whether those party members who remain are the ones who would be less willing to join the BC Conservatives.
“That remainder of BC United was holding onto something distinct about a centre-right party,” he said. “They will, I think, be giving a good look at the BC NDP or perhaps even staying home.”
Past BC United party member and ex-husband of former premier Christy Clark, Mark Marissen, who had already said that he will be voting NDP in the election said on X that many other federal Liberals will do the same.
"Actual Liberals (and there are a lot more of us in BC than most of the BC political elites think) will need to vote for the BC-NDP," he wrote on X.
--With files from the Canadian Press
