Close X
Tuesday, October 8, 2024
ADVT 
National

Choice is between BC United and NDP, says Kevin Falcon, shrugging off Conservatives

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 21 Dec, 2023 04:22 PM
  • Choice is between BC United and NDP, says Kevin Falcon, shrugging off Conservatives

The leader of British Columbia's official Opposition, the BC United party, says he'll make sure voters have a clear choice in the election next fall. 

Kevin Falcon said in a year-end interview that voters will have the opportunity to decide between the "unaffordable" New Democrats or the results-oriented BC United. 

Competition with the B.C. Conservatives, who have two seats in the legislature and are riding high in opinion polls, and the name change to BC United from the BC Liberal Party, will not be major deciding factors in the October 2024 campaign, Falcon said.

Vote splitting on the political right has always been an issue in B.C. elections, but the potential threat to BC United from the provincial Conservatives will fizzle when voters realize they are not Pierre Poilievre's federal Conservatives, said Falcon.

"I'm not concerned and I'll tell you why," he said. "It's because I've been around for a while and I know that the polling is frankly b.s."

He said much of that is confusion from people thinking they would vote for Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the federal Conservatives.

Falcon, 60, said most people in B.C. could not recognize John Rustad, the B.C. Conservative Party leader, if he stopped them on the street.

"The support out there isn't because John Rustad has suddenly captured the imagination of the public," he said. "My God, of course not, it's Pierre Poilievre and the federal Conservatives."

B.C.’s long-dormant Conservatives achieved official party status this year with Rustad and Abbotsford South MLA Bruce Banman, both elected as former B.C. Liberals, joining forces in the legislature.

Rustad, 60, became Conservative leader last March after being dumped from Falcon's caucus in August 2022 for supporting climate change deniers on social media.

Banman, a former Abbotsford mayor, defected from BC United in September, saying the Conservatives would allow him to speak freely on issues of concern to his constituents.

Falcon said he had no regrets ejecting Rustad from the party caucus.

"I said, what you can't do when you are part of a team is just keep tweeting out climate denial stuff that hurts the entire team," said Falcon. "John refused to adhere to that fundamental basic discipline you have to have when you are part of a party."

Falcon said he perhaps could have done more to keep Banman from jumping to the Conservatives.

With about 10 months before the fall election, Falcon said voters will see BC United as the challenger and alternative to the NDP government of Premier David Eby.

"People are going to look and see a team that's ready," he said. "The BC United is the common-sense party that is going to fix the challenges we face in B.C., and is going to get us back so people can feel optimistic about the future."

Affordability, heath care, crime and the ongoing overdose crisis will continue to be issues of focus for BC United as the election approaches, Falcon said.

"Right now, we have become the most unaffordable province in the entire country under seven years of NDP government," he said, citing high housing prices and rising rents.

BC United will make affordability changes if elected, including removing the provincial taxes on all fuels and cutting the carbon tax completely if the Conservatives are elected in Ottawa and drop the federal tax, Falcon said.

BC United will provide free addiction recovery treatment in response to the illicit drug overdose crisis that has resulted in more than 13,000 deaths since the province declared a public health emergency in 2016, he said.

"You don't help people get better by saying, 'We're going to make sure you have access to free, government-supplied drugs,'" he said.

"I am appalled, frankly, at the reckless decriminalization of hard drugs that the government introduced. We're the only government in Canada that's doing this crazy experiment."

Falcon said he is not concerned about recent polling that suggests the NDP holds a solid lead over BC United, saying polls suggested the New Democrats were on their way to a massive victory in 2013 only to lose to Christy Clark's B.C. Liberals.

 

MORE National ARTICLES

Atmospheric river passes in southern B.C., but area rivers still rising

Atmospheric river passes in southern B.C., but area rivers still rising
Rainfall warnings across Vancouver Island and the inner south coast have lifted in most areas, but the effects of British Columbia's first atmospheric river of autumn could take a little longer to ease. The B.C. River Forecast Centre posted flood watches across western Vancouver Island and for the Englishman River near Parksville, warning of levels seen only once every 10 years on some waterways.

Atmospheric river passes in southern B.C., but area rivers still rising

Tentative deal ends job action by teaching support staff at Simon Fraser University

Tentative deal ends job action by teaching support staff at Simon Fraser University
Nearly 1,600 members launched job action on Sept. 26 after being without a collective agreement for 19 months, forcing the cancellation of tutorials, labs, lectures, office hours and the marking of assignments. Key issues included wages, class size and pensions for instructors.  

Tentative deal ends job action by teaching support staff at Simon Fraser University

Overdose homicide in Nanaimo

Overdose homicide in Nanaimo
Mounties in Nanaimo say they're investigating the fatal drug overdose of a woman back in March that they now believe was a homicide.  The Nanaimo R-C-M-P says its serious crime unit is looking into the death of 52-year-old Wendy Head, who was found dead at a home in the city on March 7th.   

Overdose homicide in Nanaimo

Escalating theft and violence aside, London Drugs not considering closures: president

Escalating theft and violence aside, London Drugs not considering closures: president
London Drugs president Clint Mahlman says the company has no plans to close stores due to escalating violence and theft, though the issue has reached a "crisis point" for Canadian retailers. Mahlman says the company was disappointed to learn that a Vancouver city councillor said on social media that London Drugs was considering closing one of its main stores in the city, at the intersection of Granville and Georgia streets, due to crime. 

Escalating theft and violence aside, London Drugs not considering closures: president

Funding for BC hospitals

Funding for BC hospitals
Hospitals in Merrit, Oliver and Salmon Arm will get 7.5-million-dollars in permanent funding from the province to help stabilize physician emergency-room coverage. Health Minister Adrian Dix says challenges like worker recruitment and retention and the ongoing toxic-drug crisis are more prominent in rural and remote communities.  

Funding for BC hospitals

IHIT officer testifies to executing DNA warrant of man accused in B.C. murder trial

IHIT officer testifies to executing DNA warrant of man accused in B.C. murder trial
Sgt-Maj. Heather Lew told a B.C. Supreme Court murder trial that she collected a few drops of blood from Ibrahim Ali's finger on Sept. 9, 2018, two days after his arrest and almost 14 months after the girl's body was found. Ali has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of the teen.

IHIT officer testifies to executing DNA warrant of man accused in B.C. murder trial