B.C. United throws support to B.C. Conservatives: Party leaders speak to media – August 28, 2024

good afternoon everyone and uh thank you for coming out on short notice today sorry for keeping you waiting I'm joined today uh by the president of the conservative party British Columbia Asia Estee always get have to worry about getting that name right as well as the acting president for the BC United party um Ryan Bruce Bruce yeah thank you as well of course the leader of BC United Kevin Falcon at this time I'd like to turn the podium over to Kevin to make some comments thank you John and uh thank you all for joining me um politics for me has always been about doing what is best in the interests of British Colombians I've spent my entire adult life fighting not only the NDP and their brand of leftwing socialism but also fighting to unite the center right I did that in the 90s when we were trying to bring together the provincial Reform Party and the BC conservative party at the time to co us together under the BC Liberal Party and now as a BC United party again the name is about trying to unite people but what became apparent to me uh as I've crisscrossed The Province and heard from literally tens of thousands of people is the number one major concern that they had and that is Kevin if you guys don't do the right thing and be the adults in the room and help bring together that free enterprise Center right Common Sense Coalition you are going to help elect an NDP government and all of you that know me know that there is nothing more important to me and my children and your children and grandchildren that we not give the NDP one more day in power than they absolutely have to have and that's why uh I made the decision uh that I made as leader of BC United to suspend our campaign I will be withdrawing our candidate uh nominations and in cooperation with uh John rustad we will work together to uh assemble the best possible team of mlaas and candidates that can serve the best interests of British Colombians that is not a decision that gets made today I know there's all kinds of speculation about different names we're not going to be going into all that because we still are going to have individual conversations with all of those folks uh it is a process that will take uh some weeks uh there's no doubt but I do want uh as I said to my candidates on a a call today I've had a couple of calls one was a call with the board of directors uh of BC United party who endorsed the decision that I'm making here today I also had a call with my caucus and my candidates and it wasn't an easy call and I knew it wouldn't be this is hard it's really hard and I accept all the responsibility good and bad all the op probium should rest on my shoulders that's what leadership's all about but I also believe this this is the right thing to do for the province of British Columbia this is the right thing to do for that next generation of British Colombians that want to grow up in a province like we grew up in where hope and optimism were not the exception but the rule and that's why I've made the decision that I made today uh I also want to say to John John and I met for many many hours this I know these things happen quickly that's just the nature of it uh already word and rumors getting out that's just the nature of our business but I want to say that John I appreciated the graciousness of you and your staff and I think it's important for all my people to know this that there was a genuine graciousness on both sides and a willingness to say let's park a lot of our own disagreements Etc and let's think about what's in the best interest of the broader population of British Columbia and so I want to uh thank uh all of my exceptional staff many of whom will be feeling extremely disappointed today and I know why they'll be feeling extremely disappointed but I want them all to know whether staff whether caucus colleagues whether candidates whether supporters I want them all to know that I have a line of sight into all whole range of areas that impact what kind of campaign we can run and I can look them all in the eye and say to them this is the right thing for us as a party and it's the right thing for British Colombians and with that I thank you turn it over to John thank you thank you Kevin and uh I have to say I want to Echo something Kevin said this is not an easy thing to be able to do um the the United party certainly has had 5050 candidates that are out there and it's not just candidates but it's their teams uh and all the staff that is behind it all the people working on these teams that is uh this has created a lot of disruption and I really feel for that because I know for example I mean we've got 83 84 candidates now uh out there and uh I know how they feel in terms of uh if we were in that same situation and it's not easy and this will be a process that uh we have committed to working between the uh BC United party with the conservative party to make sure that we put the best field forward that we can to bring an end to the destructive policies of David eie and David E's government I want to thank Kevin especially Uh Kevin has shown some real leadership in stepping up to the plate uh as he has in so many other things that he's done throughout both his political career and his working career I think Kevin has uh shown himself to uh to really you know put the interests of the province first uh and I can't thank him more for the work that he is doing we have a ton of work that we need to do together and that we need to do with all of us in British Columbia and I invite everybody that's been part of the United party that's been part of those teams uh to look and to join us we will have lots of opportunities to be able to be engaged and be involved in various things and we want to make sure that everybody feels welcome as part of our party because as I've always said it's not about being conservative or liberal or NDP or green for that matter it's just standing for what's right fighting for the average I person and bringing Common Sense change back to British Columbia there are so many things U that have been raised uh around the province with what David eie is doing in this province and I won't bother boring you with all the details here at at the moment uh but what I can say is when I traveled around the province people are saying enough is enough they want change they want to see a positive future when one in three British Colombians were thinking about leaving this province when one and two youth are thinking about leaving this province that says something very strongly about the the despair that this province has realizing under an NDP government and that's why quite frankly 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 happening in British Columbia and to make sure that people can be positive about building a good future so with that um I'd like to uh take any questions Kevin and I would both like to take any questions once again Kevin thank you very much thank you appreciate that John thank you all right Kevin it's Jordan Armstrong from Global News I wanted to ask you that given the statements you've had in the past including the recent past you said in November quote frankly I don't think there's any scenario in which John rustad would be remotely ready to to step into the position of Premier that's what you said in November and more recently in May you said quote from a values point of view our group couldn't run with candidates that try to equate vaccines with Nazism and apartheid Etc how do you square statements like that recent statements like that with what you're saying today sure well I one of the things that I appreciated in our meeting with John is we talked about uh the importance of selecting the and Fielding the best possible group of candidates and we're both in in agreement on that and John acknowledged that their vetting process isn't quite as rigorous as ours is uh but there's a commitment to work together to make sure that that the BC conservative party Fields the best possible candidates and I think that's the right way to move forward look in politics uh especially when you're fighting each other this fight would have continued right into the campaign and uh all I will say is this uh that I appreciated John's willingness to recognize that let's agree on one thing and that is to field the best possible candidates in the next election how would you describe yourselves now I mean you guys were political friends and enemies are you friendenemies now like what are you look um honestly um you know we you know in in politics John and I are the same and that we're both uh pretty straight up people and that's how we speak to each other and even last night John I think you wouldn't mind me saying this I I said John John I may only agree with about 75% of what you might uh believe in but I do know this that on his very worst day John rustad would be a far better Premier than David Eevee on his very best day and I've never lost sight of that bigger picture because right now I can tell you in British Columbia that we are facing a situation where we've got a government that in eight short years has doubled the provincial debt to over 100 billion giving us the largest deficits in provincial history tied to the worst outcomes we've ever seen in healthcare crime Public Safety drugs last question do you have a job lined up in the private sector no I don't any offers I doubt I'll get many but uh who knows hi there Penny daffos from CTV News Uh Kevin just yesterday morning um you told reporters at an announcement that seemed like your campaign was very healthy and you said quote we feel very good about our prospects what happened overnight well you know the thing about uh negotiations like this is you have to understand uh that you have to continue moving forward as a party well you're having a two-track discussion that's just the way it is you can't stop everything and then just start having conversations uh which is why I appreciate it John and I spent many many hours together there's a lot of tough issues we had to go through but there was a spirit of graciousness and a spirit of understanding that we're doing this for the broader public interest so we have to park some of our preconceptions and all the rest of it and work together for the right outcome and and we did that I don't know if you want to add anything to that you're good second question is for John anyhow I think that voters uh they're going to be obviously paying a lot of attention to this even though Kevin had said that voters aren't paying attention to politics in the summertime clearly they will today so can you tell people right now which candidates which policies from BC United do you plan to adopt within your party if any uh so like I said uh we plan to work together to look to go through a process uh Our intention is to field the best uh candidates we can make sure that we got the best team possible uh for the betterment of British Columbia the will be a process that we go through we're certainly going to have a conversation about some policy as well in terms of some of the things that they're thinking about and some of the things that we're thinking about and there may be some things that we consider uh adopting as part of what we will be doing as the conservative party thank you um this is for Mr Falcon I'm darl Greer from the Canadian press um some of your party insiders did not know this was even going on today what would would you say to those staffers that you were talking about their disappointment what would you say to them now that this uh kind of unexpected turn of events has transpired well because uh what I would say to them is I'm I'm sorry that I couldn't bring them all into the fold but you can imagine that these are extremely sensitive discussions and candidly I wasn't even certain that we would get to a good conclusion in these discussions but what was so important to me was that I needed my team to know and our supporters to know our supporters that were saying to me Kevin we're not going to we can't support two parties um and I needed to know that I could look them in the eye and say I made every effort to do the right thing for the province and I didn't have any um strong sense that it would end in a successful outcome but I think given John and his staff's graciousness and the ability and the recognition that working together is better than fighting each other um we were able to come to a solution so my my message to the staff many of whom I didn't have an opportunity to talk to is I'm sorry I didn't have that opportunity but that is the nature of very very highly sensitive negotiations and uh for Mr rustad uh when you say that the best field is going to be put forward does that mean that candidates in your party who already have the nominations uh may be uh replaced or supplanted by former BC United candidates um that we aren't going into any details today we are putting together a group between the two parties to do a review and make sure that we are Fielding the best team possible so is that a possibility though that people who have already got nominated through the party's process can be we're not making any decisions like that today we are going to be going through a process between the two parties to make decisions as to who would be best to be able to field to bring an end to David eie and the destruction he's bringing to British Columbia so yes or no is it a possibility yes or no we're going to field the best team that we can we're going through a process I apprciate thank you U my question is about money about political donations what happens now to BC United what BC United has raised uh well we will have to make sure that working with the board and working with our staff we will make sure that we uh pay off all our vendors and make sure that we deal with all our staffing issues there's a whole number of issues that we'll have to deal with uh but uh I'm pleased to have the board and executive support to make sure we do that responsibly does the money get transferred to I'm not going to get into those kind of details right now so there's there's far too many minuti details like that that I just wouldn't or couldn't have the answers for you right now and just a final question was there a specific turning point that made you come to this point because there has it has been a rocky road there has been you know it's been going along for a while what what was the real like Turning Point yeah you know it uh it it doesn't happen overnight uh but candidly as I criss-crossed The Province um I was there was a dichotomy that was happening but I'm still getting really good crowds showing up at my events and all that kind of stuff and yet you know the media are all reporting in the polls that we're doing really terrible and who knows but I do know this that even the people showing up would be saying to me Kevin we're here for you because we know you and we know your team in your track record but we're really concerned about the vote split that and I'm sure John heard variations of the very same thing and you know at some point as I looked at the entire landscape of what's in front of us and the outstanding caucus members and candidates we have many of whom will be very disappointed in me candidly and I understand that but I'm also thinking about them because honestly I would rather as I said to them today in the call rip off that Band-Aid now and preserve these outstanding candidates that could be future potential candidates or may even still run in the next election with John's with John's party then have to wait until October the 20th and look at a unfortunately at the potential of a newly elected NDP government that will destroy this province I really believe that and that's why I made the decision I made so was this the end of the BC liberals well you know uh yes for now certainly in this election but I cannot predict what you know a future board may want to do um but uh for certainly for this election yes your relationship uh broke down a couple years ago over party discipline and climate change so Mr rustad are you moderating your views on climate change do you still believe it's not a crisis and that the science suggesting we're causing it is false um as the conservative party of British Columbia we are welcoming this opportunity to be able to work with the United party um as I have said all along uh we're not changing our principles and the values that we stand for we're going to continue to fight for what we think is right for the people in British Columbia and sorry the BC United is not dissolving you're not uh changing your party's status you're just suspending the campaign and then and withdrawing our our nominated candidates house they'll have the opportunity and do you have a timeline what have you secured in terms of commitments from BC conservatives have they agreed to a certain number of candidates a timeline for the vetting process uh I'm not going to get into those details except to say that there was agreement that we would sit down and go through uh all of the mlas and candidates with the eye to Fielding the best possible uh Team of candidates okay and what about the caucus Revolt that was rumored over your decision today what what happened there look well I I don't know I don't speak to rumors but you know um I wouldn't be surprised at all if some of my caucus colleagues were deeply disappointed I wouldn't be surprised at all and I and I understand why I do but I I've always said I'm I'm always going to put the interests of British Columbia ahead of my own interests um my entire adult life if you look at my history has always been about fighting to bring together people to unite people together and to defeat NDP governments and today um that's why I'm doing what I'm doing and I'm going to you know sacrifice for it I I'm not running myself in the next election uh but I'm going to be doing everything I can to support Jon and his team and make sure that they become the next government of British Columbia thank you st couple more yeah we got a couple more just a couple more so just in terms of donors who uh gave to BC United and now it sounds like so what's going to happen to their money is it going to go to the conservatives who maybe they don't support their policies maybe they don't want to have their money going towards that that party no there's election laws in place that deal with all those things that limit your ability to do things like that so no what I've been clear about is that what we will do is make sure that we deal with our outstanding vendors make sure that we pay our bills that we look after our staff and that will be what the money will be used for and so did your party simply run out of money we've been hearing that donors and guarantors wouldn't give you a line of credit that uh basically directors would have had to finance this election themselves okay so that's not true I want to be very clear about that but we were struggling on the financial fundraising side yes I do acknowledge that that was an issue that was uh an issue and and it's not because people didn't want to support us uh and you may have heard some of this too John I won't speak for you but what they're saying to me is we're not going to going to support any of you guys until you figure out how to make sure you don't split the vote and elect an NDP government that was a very common thing I heard from thousands of people you talk about the hours and hours of discussion and the turning point in traveling the province when did those discussions begin when did you turn to Mr rad and begin the conversation yeah um so I mean there's been some discussions that have gone on and off for um many many months but obviously as being reported in the media those were fruitful uh however more recently there has been some discussions that went on at a low level between the party the first time that Kevin and I actually met uh to actually have a a straight up discussion about what we can do to bring an end to David eie and the policies and approaches in BC was last night at around 9:00 and so we went many hours uh through that in discussing our approach and then cated that in uh in additional discussions this morning and we talk you Mr Falcon mentioned many some weeks in terms of the candidates and the process and You' talked about the board we are only 6 weeks out from that election do you have a Target date by which you want to have the Slate of candidates confirmed and approved and ready to go as soon as possible but you have an estimate of how long it could take I'm assuming that it'll be done and with a top priority to get done as soon as possible this is okay thank you uh my question is for Mr Falcon um you say that there will be mlas that will be disappointed but were there mlas and and candidates that told you they were going to go over to the conservatives if you didn't make that deal no what I made uh what I made really clear to the mlas and the candidates that this will be their decision you know uh and that's important we're not saying you must or whatever but what we're saying is it we'll work through the process that John described uh and those that are willing to do so will have the option to do so if there's a position that's available I I meant prior to that um deal you made prior to did you have mlas yesterdays and the yesterday and the days before telling you if you're not making this deal we go to the conservatives no no I did not no I want to be very clear about that no I did not coms yeah go ahead sure I'll to well look I I'll just uh close my comments uh with with what I said at the opening uh I came back to politics from the private sector uh for the same reason I left for my children not them specifically I retired from public life in 2013 you may recall because my wife Jessica we had a 2-year-old daughter and my um my other daughter was still in in J Jessica's stomach and that wasn't public yet but I knew and I decided that I'd done 12 years in public life and I wanted to leave and be a a present dad with my wife Jessica raising our two daughters who I love more than anything and uh I came back to politics for them not them specifically but for their generation because I was genuinely concerned about the direction of British Columbia um especially under David eie in the direction he's taking the NDP which I would argue is an extreme left not like the more moderate uh party of John Horan and that's why I made the decision I made today because I'm not just thinking about my kidss I'm thinking about their generation and I'm looking at a situation where we are seeing young people I met them all the time that are leaving British Columbia they've given up hope living in the most unaffordable province in this country and that's why I'm at peace with my decision it doesn't mean I won't get a lot of flak I will but I'm at peace with the decision because I think this is the right thing for British Columbia it is the right thing for my children's generation to get a new government that is going to focus on getting different results so that we can have a Health Care system that is there when we need it that we can have streets that are cleaner and safer and that we can help people not just provide them free government drugs but free treatment so we can help people struggling with addiction get get better just want to close once again by by thanking Kevin um thanking Ryan and thank their whole team in terms of this I know how difficult this is British Columbia um used to be a place where people would come to build a future everybody here in this room everybody in this province whether they're here five or six Generations even longer or whether they've just came here came here with the same hope to be able to build that future came with the same hope to be able to build what they wanted for themselves but with more importantly what they wanted for the kids for the grandkids you heard that in what Kevin has just said in terms of his his children and that dream and that opportunity of British Columbia has been lost and we're in a situation today where one and two youth are looking at leaving this province and that to me is a tragedy that's our future that is what British Columbia's future should be and they shouldn't be leaving this province instead they should be looking at this province with hope and optimism about a province that they can build a future that they can buy a home that they can raise a family that they can be proud of be called British Colombians that's what we want to restore just that Common Sense change for all of British Columbia thank you everyone for coming today [Applause]