B.C. United suspends campaign, joins forces with B.C. Conservative Party

has been a mammoth shakeup in BC's political landscape the official opposition BC United is suspending its campaign and asking supporters to back the BC conservatives for his part United leader Kevin Falcon the official opposition leader in BC is stepping down we will have extensive coverage of our top story tonight we're going to go first to a little bit of analysis from Gerald Byer he watched as we took the news conference with uh with John rustad and Kevin Falen live we spoke with him earlier in our CBC News special coverage this afternoon and asked him what he thinks of this move it was a tough choice obviously for Falcon uh tough personally probably uh you know he's giving up his own Ambitions tough uh interpersonally for the candidates uh and fellow members of caucus that he's had to let down um he's going to uh you know step away probably I don't think there's a lot of opportunity for him to shape what this conservative party looks like even though he's kind of helping them along what the the character of the conservative party is going to be uh isn't necessarily changed overnight you know the some of the contest here is now changed it's it's a a bodal contest really now between the NDP uh and the BC conservatives uh but the BC conservatives are not suddenly more moderate because of this change um you know their their positions are what they had you saw Mr rustad had an opportunity to address uh climate change issues he did not he kind of evaded the question uh talked about uh you know the the positions of the party are essentially uh the same so as as voters get to know those uh there's certainly lots of folks who are going to support that uh but I think uh the the Alternatives will become much clearer now uh for voters in British Columbia as we progress and March toward that October election date Kevin Falcon asked about the fact that some staffers within BC United did not know about this decision him saying I apologize I couldn't bring them into the fold and because he said we were not certain we would get to a good conclusion on this what does that say about the state of the party do you think uh I mean I think it you know there were negotiating needs that he had in mind uh not make making sure to kind of you know hold his cards close to his chest there's going to be a lot of people burned both candidates and staff um you know they're going to be feel burned about their experience in politics about their uh you know their y to whatever alternative now exists uh who they're going to work for uh in the future I think you know they'll be they'll be unhappy people in the conservative party too uh as the sort of candidate uh sorting process takes place and they figure out who's doing who's going where so I think in in a lot of ways this is not uh easy for a lot of people um you know it was never going to be easy Once the election was over there were going to be people who no longer were in staff positions no longer uh you know in the legislature uh but but for for sure you know today's a bad day for a lot of folks because of the decisions of you know the the elites and the and the upper up top people in their political parties Gerald Byer UBC political scientist we always appreciate your Insight thank you very much for joining us and rest assured we will be coming back to you as we head toward October 19th thanks again jery my pleasure Dan the cbc's LI Liam Britain now with the stunning fall and of one party and the rise of another just 16 months ago Kevin Falcon and the BC liberals changed their party name to BC United hoping a Rebrand would help them win October's provincial election changing the party name is something that we need to look at and we need to make a decision as a party but with less than two months before election day that effort is now over 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 amid low polling and fundraising challenges BC United is suspending its campaign and asking supporters to back the BC conservative party and leader John rustad United is withdrawing its candidates nominations and Kevin Falcon is no longer running the move comes after earlier attempts at some kind of merger fell flat this is hard it's really hard Falcon says party supporters and donors sent him a clear message we were struggling on the financial fund raising side yes I do acknowledge that they're saying to me is we're not going to support any of you guys until you figure out how to make sure you don't split the vote conservative leader John rustad says the parties will work together to feel the best slate of candidates to deny the NDP another term when one in three British Colombians are 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 now this could be seen as the culmination of the Resurgence of the conservative party in the last election they were basically a fringe party getting less than 2% of the vote but this time they are at least set to be the unquestioned standard Bears on the right of the political Spectrum in August 20th Main Street poll Peg support for the conservatives at 36% well ahead of United at 10% and Three Points above the NDP however poll aggregator 338 Canada projected as of August 14th the NDP had a 79% chance of winning the most seats and still given the withdrawal of BC United those results May no longer be accurate the premier argues the choice between BC United and the conservatives wasn't a stark one anyway you know what John rustad has planned deep cuts to the Health Care System they're going to make weights longer and Health Care worse uh and he's done it before he's going to do it again what exactly happens next is still unclear falcon didn't say BC United is dissolving both he and rustad a talks around policy are still to come as well as which BC United candidates if any will run under the conservative Banner both parties have dozens already nominated 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 Falcon and rustad say the most important reason to put their differences aside is to try and slam the door on David eie and his new Democrats and Liam Britain joins us now with more Liam United raised money for its campaign War chest like most parties what happens to that cash now well that's a question several reporters asked at today's event Uh Kevin Falcon says BC United will use its money to pay vendors settle debts and pay staff from its operations and elections BC confirmed to us that United can cannot just transfer money property or services to another party John rustad says the conservatives will have a final list of candidates a candidates ASAP and voices from both parties will be at the table the deadline for candidates to change party or declare as Independence is September 28th the election is October 20 sorry October 19th Dan Liam Britain thanks very much