BC United suspending election campaign to avoid vote-splitting on the right
CTV
The party that currently forms B.C.'s official Opposition has called off its election campaign and is urging its candidates and supporters to unite with the BC Conservatives to defeat the governing NDP.
The party that currently forms B.C.'s official Opposition has called off its election campaign and is urging its candidates and supporters to unite with the BC Conservatives to defeat the governing NDP.
BC United Leader Kevin Falcon and BC Conservative Leader John Rustad held a joint news conference to announce the move, which they stressed was being made to prevent potential vote-splitting on the right after the Conservatives emerged from near-obscurity to blow past United in the polls.
Falcon said the decision was difficult and drew the ire of some in his caucus, but also described it repeatedly as the right thing to do and a necessary move in the face
"There is nothing more important to me, my children, and your children and grandchildren, that we not give the NDP one more day in power than they absolutely have to have," he said, later adding that it is his genuine belief that a victory for the BC NDP will "destroy" the province.
Falcon likened the choice to ripping off a Band-Aid, saying it was preferable to continuing a campaign where defeat seemed all but inevitable and where people who turned out to BC United events told him they were struggling to throw their support behind a party that did not seem like it could win.
Rustad acknowledged that the move, less than two months before voters go to the polls, "created a lot of disruption." Like Falcon, he was explicit that the end goal is to defeat Premier David Eby and the BC NDP.
"I'm so thrilled and pleased that we're able to bring this together, even though I know it's very tough on a lot of people. But by doing this, we are going to have the best opportunity possible to bring an end to these radical policies, to the destruction that's happened in British Columbia, and to make sure that people can be positive about building a good future," he said.
