B.C. United Leader Kevin Falcon and Conservative Party of B.C. Leader John Rustad promised to work together during a highly symbolic news conference in Vancouver Wednesday afternoon after B.C. United suspended its campaign.
"In cooperation with John Rustad, we (B.C. United) will work together to assemble the best possible team of MLAs and candidates to conserve the best interests of British Columbians," Falcon said.
Rustad echoed Falcon's comments.
"This will be a process," he said. "We have committed to...working with the B.C. United party to make sure that we put the best field forward that we can to bring an end to the destructive policies of (Premier) David Eby and David Eby's government."
The move comes with B.C. United in third or fourth place in many polls and the Conservatives within single-digits of the governing B.C. NDP. But B.C.'s first-past-the-post electoral system raises the possibility of a split on the right side of the political spectrum. Falcon cited this possibility as a motivating factor behind the decision.
The suspension — first reported by Global News and later confirmed by Black Press Media — marks the end of a major reversal of political fortunes for both men. Almost two years ago to the day, Falcon kicked Rustad out of the B.C. Liberal caucus for comments Rustad made about climate change. Since then, Rustad has established the Conservatives as the main alternative to New Democrats reviving what was once a dormant party.
Falcon, meanwhile, led the rebranding of the B.C. Liberals into B.C. United, and watched it fall in the polls and lose personnel to the Conservatives. Falcon obliquely alluded to this downward trajectory.
"This is hard, it's really hard and I accept full responsibility, good and bad. (It) all rests on my shoulders. That is what leadership is about," he said. "But I also believe this. This is the right thing to do for the Province of British Columbia."
B.C. United suspended its campaign following discussions between Rustad and Falcon Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Their agreement sees B.C. United withdraw its candidates to give Conservatives a chance to draw from incumbent MLAs and other B.C. United candidates.
"This will be their decision," Falcon said.
Conservatives, meanwhile, have agreed to review candidates based on an improved vetting process to ensure what a release calls the "strongest team possible." That statement can be read as a concession to a recent run of controversies surrounding Conservative candidates.
Rustad said that work will begin as soon possible but implied it won't be easy.
"We have a ton of work to do together," he said.
When asked whether this process might mean that Conservative candidates might lose their status, he declined to give specifics.
"We are going to field the best team that we can. We are going through a process."
UBC political scientist Stewart Prest said B.C. United's decision to suspend its campaign less than two months before Oct. 19, the expected date of the provincial election, is surprising because of its timing. But he also said it confirms an already existing direction in favour of the Conservatives and "remakes" the upcoming vote.
"It really crystallizes the choice voters were facing between these two very different visions for the future of the province," he said.
Looking at across the electoral map, Prest said it remains to be seen how today's announcement will play out riding-by-riding. But he also pointed out that the risk of voting-splitting is no longer a threat. B.C. Conservatives can also be confident that they can make what Prest called "significant" gains in the Fraser Valley.
Prest also said that it "marks the end of an era in B.C. politics."
Voters had previously known B.C. United as the B.C. Liberals, a party that had first emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s as an alternative to the right-of-centre Social Credit. That party had shaped B.C. for decades after the Second World War, serving as governing party and anti-NDP vehicle.
The B.C. Liberals eventually replaced Social Credit as the preferred choice of what was often referred to as the province's free-enterprise coalition. It governed for 16 years between 2001 and 2017, when the B.C. NDP regained power thanks to an agreement with the B.C. Greens.
The B.C. Liberals formally re-branded as B.C. United in 2023 under Falcon, who had spearheaded the name change.
Falcon said he won't be running, but a handful of current B.C. United MLAs are expected to run as B.C. Conservatives. Neither Falcon nor Rustad mentioned any specific names. Black Press Media has reached to rumoured names.
B.C. United's decision comes after the party had spent the past weeks and days making major announcements on several subjects, including substantial policy announcements around taxes, mining and forestry. The suspension also comes after B.C. United had spent months criticizing the Conservatives as unserious and unprepared to govern.
When reporters asked Falcon about his past statements about Rustad and whether they are now frenemies, Falcon said on his "worst day John Rustad would a far better premier than David Eby on his best day, and I have never lost sight of the big picture."
Falcon also used his appearance to address B.C. United supporters, candidates and staff. He apologized for "not bringing them into the fold" citing the sensitivity of the discussions and acknowledged that the suspension will disappoint many.
"But I want them all to know that I have line of sight into a whole of range of areas that impact what kind of a campaign we can run and I can look them all in the eye and say, 'this is the right thing for us as a party and it's the right thing for British Columbia.'"
News of a possible suspension was starting to make the rounds Wednesday morning with Eby even receiving a question about during an unrelated event in Chilliwack.
"We will see what happens," he said when the suspension became confirmed. "This has already been a very eventful and confusing campaign among everyone who used to be a B.C. Liberal and what they are going to call and who they are going to run with."
"We know that they are the same people that for 16 years increased costs for British Columbians — user fees, MSP, tolls on bridges. They cut health care, they cut services people depended on and they didn't produce results."
B.C. United's decision to suspend its campaign not only changes the calculus of this year's provincial election, but also raises the question of how the Conservative Party of B.C. might be able to make use of any resources — financial and otherwise — that B.C. United had been gathering before suspending its campaign.
Spokesperson Andy Watson said Elections B.C. has not received any formal notice from B.C. United about its suspension.
"Under the BC Election Act, political parties are not permitted to transfer money, property or services to other political parties," he said.
-- with files from Jessica Peters
