Kevin Falcon (foreground) and John Rustad. (Image Credit: The Canadian Press)

By James Peters

Two and Out

PETERS: With the collapse of BC United, there will be a lot of nose-holding at the ballot box this fall

Sep 6, 2024 | 12:30 PM

THE DOLLAR STORES IN BC are about to sell out of clothespins.

The buyers? All those people who will need to plug their noses when they cast their ballots in the upcoming provincial election.

On one hand, it will be tough for many to cast a ballot for the governing NDP.

While the Eby government has thrown billions of dollars at housing projects, at harm reduction measures, at the healthcare system, it’s hard to see anything getting better.

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Especially in the many smaller communities that are seeing repeated closures of emergency rooms, the annotated list of expenditures Health Minister Adrian Dix is keen to recite rings hollow.

The NDP government appears to be in the spending business but not the results business.

On the other hand, there is the BC Conservative Party, now existing as a Frankensteined collection of right-wing OG true believers, unvetted social media minefields, and scorned, orphaned BC Liberals.

They are led by John Rustad, someone who was booted from his former party because his views on climate change were so out of step with the accepted consensus.

When the scientific community is telling us climate change is the defining crisis of our time, it will be hard for many to vote for a party led by someone who feels climate change is not a crisis at all.

Ask the people of Lytton if climate change is a crisis. Or Merritt. Or the Venables Valley.

It’s no wonder the MLA for all three — Jackie Tegart — decided, after years of fighting for those communities, she couldn’t look voters in the eye running for a leader like Rustad.

Some of the former BC Liberals who did choose to run for the Conservatives are no doubt doing so for very pragmatic reasons.

They want to unseat an NDP government they see as destructive and in the process, will try to move the Conservatives away from the right wing fringes — sanding off the roughest edges of regressive social views and climate denialism.

Eventually, either a new centre-of-the-road party will rise up or the Conservatives will widen their tent to include all of those who were left politically homeless by the dissolution of BC United.

For this election cycle, though, there will be a lot of folks casting their ballots very reluctantly, then going home and taking a shower.

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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.