Political scientists, pollsters and a former premier all believe that success for non-NDP parties rests in economic, not social, issues
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The key to repairing rifts among the disparate factions that make up B.C.’s centre-right is to unite under one banner and build an agenda focused more on the economy, observers said this week, as ex-Conservative MLAs met in Surrey to hash out a path forward.
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Former premier Christy Clark, who led the B.C. Liberal government from 2011 to 2017, told Postmedia News that the centre-right can’t afford a split because of the historic strength of NDP support in the province.
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“It’s an old recipe in British Columbia, and it goes back to 1952. That recipe is to recognize that British Columbia has more NDP support as a percentage of the total vote count than I believe any other province in the country,” said Clark.
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Sunrise
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Going to the start of the 1970s, the B.C. NDP have only dipped well below 40 per cent of the vote once — in 2001 when Gordon Campbell and the B.C. Liberals almost wiped Ujjal Dosanjh’s NDP party off the map after a decade of rule.
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In recent weeks, nine MLAs have left the B.C. Conservative party over concerns about Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s leadership. The party is now down to 28 MLAs from the 44 it had following the 2024 provincial election.
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Findlay didn’t respond to Postmedia’s request for an interview.
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Clark said the problem with the B.C. Tories under Findlay is that they have divided the centre-right by focusing too much on “culture war” issues rather than the economy.
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Much of the success of the B.C. Liberals, Clark said, under her leadership and Campbell’s, was that they were able to get their MLAs to leave any differences they had on issues like abortion, LGBTQ rights or Indigenous issues at the door.
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Clark said the message she gave to her caucus was: “The culture war issues are ones that you know people can have and believe in, and that’s not going to be part of our political agenda.”
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Instead, they chose to focus on “a bigger economy, lower taxes, smaller government.”
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“We focus on those things that unite us, and we leave the rest of those things for people to carry in their own conscience, based on their own views.”
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Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar confirmed Wednesday that eight of the nine ex-Conservative MLAs met at the headquarters of the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association in Surrey.
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Milobar said he was joined by Ian Paton of Delta South; Áʼa:líya Warbus of Chilliwack-Cultus Lake; Rosalyn Bird of Prince George-Valemount; Bruce Banman of Abbotsford South; Brennan Day of Courtenay-Comox; Scott McInnis of Columbia River-Revelstoke; and Donegal Wilson of Boundary-Similkameen. Teresa Wat of Richmond-Bridgeport was invited but couldn’t make it.
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The association’s CEO, Chris Gardner, was also in attendance.
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Milobar said the meeting was designed to bring together and recognize the only way to defeat the NDP and supplant Findlay’s Conservatives is to unite behind “strong, common sense, right-of-centre governance and direction.”
