Letter to the Editor: The topic of vote splitting in BC continues

NOTE: The topic of vote splitting in B.C. REALLY does continue between Tyler Holte and Alan Forseth. The back and forth between the two was sparked after Holte’s original Letter to the Editor, “BC NDP’s best friend.” All the responses that followed can be read by heading to the Opinion section on Energeticcity.ca.

KAMLOOPS, B.C. — Thank you again for your thoughts, Tyler, however, you have missed what should be the main point of our democracy: my vote cannot be split – it should be earned and not taken for granted.

Given the fact that Conservative support has consistently grown over the past 6+ months, while BC United support has steadily declined, it should lead one to conclude the name BC United was a poor choice of name.

Now, as to your last 3 points:

• Electoral reform and how a first-past-the-post system creates an unhealthy environment for a multitude of parties.

I remain a proponent that we need a healthier system that better represents the support parties have with British Columbians. My preference is a ‘ranked’ ballot.

• Your inflammatory remarks regarding John Rustad because his actions are giving the next election away to the NDP and that it makes him a hypocrite.

Why should Rustad and the Conservatives throw in the towel? After all, it is Falcon’s BC United who are the 3rd place party

• Mr. Rustad was ousted after a long line of behaviour that violated the rules of membership that he agreed to within the party, and he refused to meet with Kevin Falcon to discuss.

Other than his legitimate concern that some policies regarding climate change could be open to interpretation, Rustad has clearly stated that “he believes climate change is happening and that humans are contributing.” I think the reality is Falcon was not open to any questioning of his authority, and the easiest way to end that was to boot Rustad from caucus.

I have said this before, and I will say it again: Falcon and BC United were going to lose this Fall’s election, regardless of whether the Conservatives were on the ballot. The question is, who will pick up the pieces of centre-right supporters? For me, the answer is the Conservative Party of BC.