Ron Hovanes' campaign to represent B.C. United in the provincial legislature literally died at the door of a voter.
The former mayor of Oliver had been knocking on doors since the morning hours, completely unaware of the decision by B.C. United Leader Kevin Falcon to suspend the party's campaign following discussions with Conservative Party of B.C. Leader John Rustad Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.
While news of the suspension started to circulate through media circles at the same time when Hovanes was pounding the pavement, he – like almost all B.C. United caucus members, candidates and staff – had no idea of the coming political earthquake until the encounter at the door.
Hovanes said the homeowner must've been watching the news because he'd just heard on the TV the campaign was over.
"I said, 'Well, thank you for letting me know,' took off my name badge, went back to my car and drove home," he added, finishing off the anecdote with a chuckle. "Initially, I found a little bit of humour in it."
Hovanes, who secured the nomination just before Christmas last year, said he been working very hard since then. "I have been holding fundraiser, get-to-together, meetings with the public and doing what we need to do (to win the riding) and then just have it end quickly."
Hovanes later participated in an all-candidates phone call with Falcon before the leader's joint appearance with Rustad in Vancouver.
"Initially, pretty much everybody was pretty much stunned," Hovanes said, when asked to describe Falcon's rationale for the suspension and candidates' reactions.
"His messaging was ... that his No. 1 goal was to not have the NDP form another government and to continue with the incredible spending and the incredible debt and basically services not getting any better," Hovanes said.
He added that "history will tell us" whether Falcon is right.
Hovanes' region crystallizes in many ways not only the issues facing the province as a whole, but also the political calculus that ultimately contributed to the suspension of B.C. United's campaign. The riding of Boundary-Similkameen stretches from Keremeos in the west through the South Okanagan, south of Penticton to Grand Forks in the east.
Issues include the cost of housing and public safety, but also the state of healthcare, with South Okanagan General Hospital in Oliver routinely making the list of health-care facilities with overnight ER closures.
Local farmers, whether they are growing cherries or grapes, are also dealing with the effects of climate change and the aftermath of the B.C. Tree Fruits Cooperative's closure. The Grand Forks area has also had to deal with issues around healthcare and natural disasters, flooding specifically.
New Democrat Roly Russell, the parliamentary secretary for rural development, represents the riding and his party has paid attention to the region, having held its caucus retreat there in the spring. Premier David Eby had also toured the region with Russell in the fall of 2023.
But the riding has had a long history of electing right-of-centre candidates under various banners, including former legislature speaker Bill Barisoff, John Slater another former Oliver mayor, Linda Larson – all having run as former B.C. Liberals.
Hovanes for his part felt confident.
"When I started this campaign almost a year ago, I recognized it was an uphill battle. I was going up against an incumbent government and an incumbent MLA ... if there was a path of victory, it was getting stronger and stronger as time went on, even with all of the political muck that was going on."
Hovanes, however, was not the only right-of-centre candidate running in Boundary-Similkameen, with Donegal Wilson running for the Conservatives.
Boundary-Similkameen could have been the site of vote-splitting on the right side of the political spectrum given the "many, many, many things" in common between the two parties. Hovanes said he regularly heard this concern while door-knocking.
"Everybody recognized that the (right-of-centre) vote was going to get split by having the two parties and would not be a good outcome for probably anybody, but only time will tell," he said. "You got to love B.C. politics. There is a never dull day. "
Twenty-four hours after one of the most exciting days in B.C. politics, Hovanes said he feels conflicted.
"Life is going to go on, but it was a little bit of a shock."
One of the big questions looming over Falcon's decision to suspend his party's campaign is the question of what will happen to sitting B.C. United MLAs and candidates, as well as Conservative candidates.
Neither Rustad nor Falcon offered any clues during their joint appearance, but reports point to pre-existing discussions between Rustad and Falcon about who might run where. It is also unclear how many B.C. United voters will heed Falcon's appeal to support Conservatives given Falcon had spent the last few weeks and months questioning the calibre and competence of Conservative candidates.
Some B.C. United MLA have already signalled their choices.
Kamloops-area MLA Todd Stone Thursday morning endorsed Conservative Ward Stamer as the candidate in the Kamloops-North Thompson riding as part of his announcement to retire from B.C. politics. Todd told Kamloops-area media that he had told Falcon about his retirement Tuesday, but waited until Thursday to make it public. Stone also said he was unaware of Falcon's plans.
It is not clear where Hovanes fits into the Conservatives' future.
"I'm as much in the dark as you are."
When asked whether he would be interested in running for the Conservatives, Hovanes said it is up to the Conservatives.
"I have not been approached. But we are not that far away from Oct. 19."
Until then, Hovanes has to iron out a few practical matters, including what to do with his campaign material.
"Come look at my drive-way – I have got 75 ... four-by-four signs with my smiling face on them that are absolutely useless."
