CentreBC Leader Mike Bernier kicks off province-wide tour as party seeks political middle ground

Bernier argues there is growing dissatisfaction with both major parties, creating an opportunity for a centrist political movement.

“We have a government that’s not facing them, and we also have an opposition in the B.C. Conservatives that right now are just spending most of their time fighting and not moving forward as an opposition,” he said. “CentreBC is growing like crazy over the last month since I became the leader.”

The tour will take Bernier across the province for roughly 25 meetings over nine days as he works to raise the party’s profile and gather feedback from voters.

British Columbia’s political landscape has largely become a contest between the NDP and Conservatives following the collapse of BC United, but Bernier believes many voters are searching for an alternative.

“What we’re really out there doing is providing an option for people who are frustrated with British Columbia polarization that we have in politics right now,” he said.

Bernier contends that both major parties have moved further toward opposite ends of the political spectrum.

“We have the NDP who feels like they just want to go further left under David Eby. We have the B.C. Conservatives going further right.”

He says CentreBC is targeting voters who feel politically disconnected.

“What we’re really hearing from people around the province is they feel politically abandoned or orphans. They need an opportunity to have a party that has that centrist, centre-right, big tent feel again.”

University of the Fraser Valley political scientist Dr. Hamish Telford says Bernier is trying to fill what he describes as a significant gap in B.C. politics.

“Creating a new party and inserting it into the party system is always a tall order,” Telford said. “It’s a very difficult thing to do, and it’s going to be a big challenge for him.”

Still, Telford believes the province’s evolving political landscape may provide an opportunity.

“There is a gaping gap now between the NDP and the Conservatives, with the Conservatives moving considerably to the right,” he said.

The challenge, however, is convincing moderate voters that supporting a new party won’t unintentionally help the NDP by splitting the centre-right vote.

“Those voters are caught between a rock and a hard place about not wanting to support the Conservatives, not wanting to support the NDP, but knowing if they support a new party, it could help the NDP,” Telford said.

Despite that hurdle, he believes CentreBC has a path forward if it can establish credibility and attract support from current elected officials.

Bernier is openly courting moderate politicians who may be reconsidering their political future following divisions within the Conservative Party. He confirmed he has extended invitations to current and former Conservatives.

“I’ve definitely put that offer out there,” Bernier said.

Bernier believes CentreBC is already attracting supporters from across the political spectrum.

“If you look just over the last month, a big part of our base, people who are buying memberships, people who have approached me that want to run for us in the next election, are actually from the B.C. Conservative tent and even from the NDP,” he said. “We’re getting people from all sides who are frustrated who want to join us.”

Telford says recruiting sitting MLAs could be the key to CentreBC becoming a serious political player.

“The real key, and it’s the same recipe that John Rustad used for the B.C. Conservatives, is to get a couple of MLAs somehow, some way,” he said.

Telford pointed to Independent MLAs such as former BC United members as potential recruits, arguing that even a small caucus would dramatically boost the party’s visibility and credibility.

“If they joined, that would give his party a huge boost,” he said.

Telford also believes CentreBC’s chances may improve if the party focuses on issues voters deal with every day.

“What’s really going to help him here is the Conservatives’ focus so far on fringe issues and really appealing to that base, which is way outside the mainstream,” he said.

“If Mike Bernier and others that he’s able to recruit are able to talk about bread-and-butter issues, focus on the government deficit, focus on public safety, the cost of living, the things that really matter to British Columbians, then he could get some traction.”

While Bernier says gaining official party status in the legislature would accelerate CentreBC’s growth, he acknowledges that building the party’s profile is currently the top priority.

“The best thing that will happen for us in the near future is some more people joining the party, possibly some MLAs, and we get that official party status in the legislature,” he said.

Telford notes that Bernier faces the same challenge as most leaders of new political parties: raising awareness while lacking a seat in the legislature.

“The idea of being able to recruit some sitting MLAs is that it gets the party’s name out there and makes it a lot more credible than one man touring around the province and saying, ‘Hey, I’m the new leader of a party you’ve never heard of,'” Telford said.

For now, Bernier is betting that dissatisfaction with the province’s current political choices is enough to create room for a new movement. Whether CentreBC can translate that frustration into electoral success remains one of the biggest questions in British Columbia politics heading toward the next provincial election.

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Email: Adam.Berls@pattisonmedia.com

by Adam Berls

CentreBC Leader Mike Bernier kicks off province-wide tour as party seeks political middle ground

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