Turmoil on the Right in British Columbia Politics
Guest: Stewart Prest, University of BC
On this edition of Journal: What has happened to the centre-right coalition that ran British Columbia for so many years, under various names (SoCreds, BC Liberals, etc.)?
The latest iteration was cobbled together just before the last provincial election when John Rustad, who had been kicked off the BC Liberals before they became BC United, joined up with the dormant Conservative party – and then Kevin Falcon, the BC United leader, pulled his party out of the race.
And we’re seeing the same kind of division on the right at the municipal level in Vancouver.
Ahh, BC politics.
And unbelievably, this party with virtually no money, no organization, and a lot of newbie candidates almost won the election. Such was the unhappiness with the NDP government and Premier Eby.
Now, one might have thought that such a surprisingly good result would have given this new group hope and enthusiasm for the future. But no. Instead of all pulling together in the same direction with one eye on the future, the backstabbing and innuendo began.
Whispers and more whispers: John Rustad, the man who brought them so close to victory would be gone by Monday, or next week, or next month.
One year later, five MLAs have left or been kicked out of caucus and a majority of the Conservative Party executive have called for Rustad’s resignation, as have the presidents of five Metro Vancouver ridings. And yet, John Rustad is becoming more and more prominent on social media, talking about issues such as Cowichan, affordability and EV mandates.
To help us understand the machinations of politics in this province is my guest this week, Dr. Stewart Prest, a lecturer in political science at the University of BC.
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