Shortly after sending the last issue off to press, the BC Liberals United announced they were suspending their campaign and throwing their hat in with the BC Conservatives.
The Conservatives have, over the course of the last few months, gone from being a fringe party to leading in the polls, and BC Lib…United leader Kevin Falcon said: “I know that the best thing for the future of our province is to defeat the NDP, but we cannot do that when the centre-right vote is split.”
However, he made this announcement with little to no discussion with his own party, and the day after the announcement, one of the key liberal MLAs, Shirley Bond, sent out a press release through the official BC United media source, stating that she was withdrawing as a candidate. “The decision made by BC United party leader Kevin Falcon to suspend our party’s election campaign came as a complete surprise to me and I have spent the past 24 hours with my family thinking about what my next steps should be. Together, we have decided that I will be withdrawing my name as a candidate in the upcoming provincial election.”
She is joined by MLA Todd Stone, who also declared he was not planning on running, putting his support behind the BC Conservative candidate for the Kamloops-North Thompson riding.
Others have been recruited by the BC Conservatives. Former BC United MLAs Trevor Halford of Surrey-White Rock, Peter Milobar of Kamloops North and Ian Paton of Delta South have moved over to the BC Conservatives, while Dale Parker in Nanaimo-Gabriola, Michael Wu in Burnaby North, Scott McInnes in Columbia River-Revelstoke and Keenand Adams in Port Coquitlam, who had previously planned on running as BC United Candidates, are now wearing the BC Conservative colours.
But in the South Peace, current MLA Mike Bernier, who said he would entertain an offer from the BC Conservatives, has decided to run as an independent.
Mere days before Falcon pulled the BC United from the election, Bernier was on the attack against the Conservatives, specifically against Prince George-Mackenzie candidate Rachael Weber.
According to a press release from BC United, Weber posted in August 2021 that “The anti christ comes before the rapture… microchips, no cash/just plastic, Marshall Law, Total Government dependency/control.” She further stoked fear by saying, “We are seeing a lot of ‘firsts’ since January. Can our minds and bodies handle what’s coming?”
She also, went on record for saying that 5G cell signals are a genocidal weapon linked to Covid.
“Once again we have been shown that John Rustad’s party is not a conservative party, it is a conspiracy party,” said Bernier in response. “The fact that John Rustad stands by his handpicked candidate, while she spreads weird conspiracy theories about cell phones serving as death rays and credit cards summoning the Antichrist, is simply bizarre.
“Can you imagine having a Minister of Infrastructure who believes we need to halt 5G tower construction because they are secretly weapons, or having a Minister of Job Creation and Innovation who believes credit cards will summon the Antichrist? Well, that’s what you could get with John Rustad’s conspiracy party.” said Bernier.
So on September 4, Bernier announced he would be running as an independent, saying he did not want to bend his morals and values by running with the provincial Conservatives, describing some of the party’s candidates as holding views that are “anti-women’s rights, anti-climate change” and “anti-First Nations.”
Bernier has represented the BC South Peace since 2013 when he was first elected, and says he will not let John Rustad and Kevin Falcon decide in a board room in Vancouver who they think is the best person to represent the Peace Region. “I got into politics to fight for the Peace Region,” he says. “That’s something I am always going to do. I have always fought for this region, and I will continue to fight.”
(For her part, Weber has also found herself party-less as she was booted from the Conservatives. She has since accused the party of “running under the guise of the name Conservative” while allowing BC United to “infiltrate” its ranks.
Provincially, there are 93 seats available, and between the two parties, there are still about 140 candidates who have been endorsed by one side or the other. Over the next couple of weeks, those candidates need to be whittled down.
However, just to add to the confusion, it was recently announced that a number of candidates may still run for BC United, so the party can maintain its party status.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
