Letter to the Editor: BC NDP’s best friend

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Before anyone jumps to any conclusions regarding my political leanings, I am devoutly non-partisan and despise party politics. With that out of the way, it’s time to address the elephant in the room for the upcoming election: the fact that the BC Conservatives have handed the NDP a landslide victory for this next election.

For those who don’t believe me, take a moment and review polling and projections for yourself. The moment that BC Conservatives became relevant was the moment that the stats projected a landslide victory for the NDP. The party went from getting a projected 56 of 87 seats to getting 78 projected seats. That’s what happens when you split votes on the right. It’s how the Alberta NDP won their election in 2015 when the Wildrose and the PCs split the votes on the right. Those parties quickly found a way to merge in 2017 to stop the vote-splitting.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: As of February 1st, 338Canada projects the NDP will gain 81 seats in the upcoming election)

The BC Conservatives are campaigning on a “common sense” plan seeking to reverse NDP policies on many issues. If their goal is to reverse NDP policies, they ironically don’t have any common sense to accomplish that. Splitting votes on the right accomplishes the exact opposite: it entrenches an NDP victory in the next election.

The BC Conservatives gained popularity due to a couple of BC United members crossing the floor and joining the BC Conservatives. One became the new BC Conservative leader, John Rustad.

In 2022, there was a leadership race in the now BC United Party. Mr. Rustad, along with Dan Davies, backed one of the more right-leaning candidates in the party: Ellis Ross. Mr. Ross lost to one of the more moderate candidates, Kevin Falcon. Not long after, Mr. Rustad crossed the floor, citing “irreconcilable differences” with Mr. Falcon. Sounds like a celebrity divorce.

I have a few questions for Mr. Rustad, given that his actions are causing an NDP landslide victory for the next election. Did he leave the BC United Party because his horse lost the leadership race (i.e., is he a sore loser)? Did he want to be in the spotlight as a party leader (i.e., is he a vain opportunist)? Did he think that his actions would lead to more conservative policy being enacted (i.e. is he stupid)? Did Mr. Eby send him a nice Christmas gift for removing all the stress for this election season?

Again, I am really non-partisan. It is just a bit too easy to pick on the BC Conservatives, given the contrast between their words for what they stand for (anti-NDP policy) and the logical result of their actions (i.e., a landslide NDP victory). It would be nice to have a diversity of parties whereby people can feel confident to vote for the party that reflects their position on all issues. Unfortunately, that is not feasible in a first-past-the-post system. The only way for multiple parties to coexist and not cause this self-defeating vote-splitting result is via electoral reform to a proportional representation system. Have the seats reflect the actual votes that the party got, and everyone will be further encouraged to vote and vote precisely for whose policies are the best.

For all those NDP supporters out there, make sure to go out and thank your local BC Conservative candidate for running. The longer this divide continues, the longer the NDP will continue to win elections.