Image Credit: CFJC Today / Adam Donnelly

By Doug Collins

One Man's Opinion

COLLINS: United we stand, united we…

Dec 15, 2023 | 6:00 AM

…FALL. That’s the word I’m looking for to complete the headline. It’s hard to imagine B.C. United falling from grace so quickly as to be in third place in popularity behind the arrogant NDP and the… Conservatives? A party with too many policies and ramming them down the throats of the taxpayers and a party with two MLAs, born from dissatisfaction with their previous party, and having put forth virtually nothing in the way of solid policy.

It’s like John Rustad and Bruce Banman got together and spent an all-nighter on a Zoom call, threw together a bunch of ideas and said, “Here we go. We now have a platform.” And while they haven’t pushed much of it to the public yet, so we don’t really know what they stand for, they have kind of endeared themselves to the people as these Two Musketeers fighting for the rights of the underdog. And with the two of them together, they are now an official party in the B.C. legislature.

Meanwhile, I am sad to say, B.C. United seems to be heading in the wrong direction. You know what they remind me of right now? One of those ghost ships you see in the movies from time to time. Heavy fog so thick you can’t see a foot in front of your face, a hazy outline, rudderless, powerless, just drifting on the sea. And on the deck of a passing ship, a crew member keeping watch says to the man standing beside him, “Cap’n, where do you think that ship is going?”

“Darned if I know, son, but if they don’t change direction, they’re going to self-destruct when they crash on that reef up ahead.”

B.C. United is without a captain. Kevin Falcon has no charisma to speak of. He is not, at least in my view, leadership material. I am not a fan of the NDP, its leader and cabinet or its style of ramming policies down peoples’ throats, but at least David Eby has presence when he gets up and speaks. Kevin Falcon may be good behind the scenes — no idea — but to the public, he comes across as appetizing as a bowl of cereal left too long to soak in the milk.

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It’s interesting that the three strongest United MLAs right now, doing their darndest to right the ship, get some power to run it and steer it in the right direction, all have a Kamloops connection. The three are lucky because they are in very strong public roles, but that aside, they are all extremely good politicians, and two out of three have a lot of experience while the third has a lot of experience dealing with the public. They face a tough job, but it can be done.

Right now, as far as I’m concerned, the highest profile B.C. United MLA is Surrey’s Elenore Sturko. She graduated from Kamloops Senior Secondary the same year as my son Morgan and B100’s Rich Woods. She has come a long way from those days. Even in high school, her stage presence was great. She worked on our team at the station for a while, went into the RCMP and became the face of the Surrey RCMP for years, highly respected and someone you could trust. She has dealt with the pressures that often come with being a member of the LBGTQ+ community. She is the critic for mental health, addictions and education — how much higher profile can you get?

Our two Kamloops MLAs are right up there. Those who know me know of my connection and respect for the Milobar family. Peter’s dad Tony was a councillor and was also a doctor I visited on many occasions. A great mayor in our city, Peter is now the critic for finance, another high profile position. His wife Lianne is someone I have a strong rapport with, and his daughter was the last person I had a hand in hiring in the CFJC newsroom before I retired, and who is now one of the top two or three newspeople in the city. I don’t know Todd Stone as well, but doesn’t he look like a premier? He did great work as transportation minister in a previous government, and now is his party’s house leader and critic for jobs, small business and economic development. Not too shabby.

Now that I have extolled my admiration, it is up to this trio of troopers from Kamloops to lead the way, with a handful of other MLAs, to get the B.C. United ship on course. Will the fog lift in time before next fall, or will October 24, 2024, be the day the ship hits the reef?

I’m Doug Collins and that’s One Man’s Opinion.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.