By Chris Beach

Northern View

The Northern View#41: The BC Conservative Surge

Apr 11, 2024 | 7:09 AM

It’s about 5 months to go, or less, until we go to the polls to elect the next BC government, and wow, things are getting very interesting.

The last time we saw anything like this was way back in 1991 when the former Social Credit Party and government virtually disintegrated allowing the upstart BC Liberal Party to swoop in and capture Official Opposition status, going from zero to 17 seats overnight.

The split on the centre-right between the newly independent BC Liberals and the Socred holdovers, and 5 years later between the BC Liberals and the shortly-lived BC Reform Party, handed the NDP two majority governments that ruled BC for ten years until 2001.

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And that is precisely what is unfolding in BC right now: a centre-right split between the former BC Liberals – now BC United, and the upstart BC Conservatives, who like the BC Liberals in 1991, haven’t elected an MLA for decades.

Today about 40% plus of the population seem to be content with the governing NDP and are willing to stay the course, leaving the BC United and the BC Conservatives to battle it out for the other 60%, and that makes the math pretty simple: a 35 or 40% vote which once came second in many ridings is now leading because the United and the Conservatives are splitting the rest.

What’s adding fuel to the fire is that in some ways BC politics has changed drastically. We live in a much more polarized world due to the onslaught of 24/7 social media; the influence of American politics; and new, extremely challenging problems, like the drug and homelessness crisis in our downtown cores; criminal gang violence; and an overcrowded, understaffed, and some say, mismanaged, health care system that often appears to be teetering on the verge of collapse.

In this more polarized world it’s the BC Conservatives who seem to be capturing the support of the discontented voter lately and in one recent poll have been projected to win as many as 40 seats.

But a lot could happen between now and October. Even here in PG in our soon to be 3 ridings are all too close to call and could end up in either of the BC United, NDP or BC Conservative column.

Which means it’s even more important than usual that we all get out to vote and make our voices heard on election day, which is just around the corner.

I’m Chris Beach and this is the Northern View.

Editors note: The views expressed in this column do not necessarily represent the views of Pattison Media.