In the lead-up to this year’s provincial election, supporters of British Columbia’s free enterprise economic coalition have watched creative destruction play out, with poll after poll showing BC United collapsing as the BC Conservatives surge.
Phone lines and text chats across the province have burned up as political operatives and observers process the stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
Anyone involved in B.C. politics knows good people — MLAs, candidates and campaigners — stuck in bad situations.
As a new reality sinks in, many understandably don’t know what to do. Step down? Switch teams? Go down fighting? Or follow orders and march glumly forward into the mouth of grim fate? Their predicament deserves sympathy, not scorn.
But the reality is undeniable. Kevin Falcon took the wheel of a vehicle that once won races, insisted he knew a shortcut and drove off a cliff.
Gawking at the car crash and wondering what happened has left us sitting in a political traffic jam worse than the Massey Tunnel. It’s time for economically minded voters to stop staring at the wreckage, put B.C. first and move forward together.
That starts with swallowing some hard truths. There will be no pre-election merger. There will be no fairytale comeback for BC United. For people who want a change of government, BC United is now an obstacle, not a vehicle.
This election is a two-car race. The guy driving the orange NDP car isn’t the same as the last guy, who drove closer to the middle of the road.
Our province is in crisis. We can’t wait four more years to get serious, end the chaos and get B.C. back on track. It’s time to set aside ego, perfectionism and purity tests and get the job done.
John Rustad has built the Conservative Party of British Columbia into a new home for the economic coalition — or, at minimum, the cornerstone of a new post-election political order. But it is new, fragile and incomplete, having been built quickly in uncertain conditions. Its architects know that and want help.
It’s time for B.C.’s economic coalition to stop sifting mournfully through the ashes of our old home, put up scaffolding around a new one and throw open the doors. We must complete the work of consolidating a serious new government-in-waiting, ready to serve the people.
Premier David Eby needs this to be a culture war election because his record is nothing to be proud of — health crisis, housing crisis, drug crisis, crime and safety crisis, food crisis, government bloat and economic stagnation all mark his time in office.
Total employment has decreased for threemonths in a row. The last two years have seen public sector employment grow 11.8 per cent while private sector employment has grown only a paltry 0.3 per cent. Our GDP per person ranks 48th out of 60 provinces and states, and economists and bond rating agencies are ringing alarm bells about the NDP’s deficits and debt. Of course the party would rather talk about American politics!
A growing majority of British Columbians want change. So, an NDP government re-elected because of a vote split would have a strong electoral mandate but a weak democratic mandate. A bunkered Eby NDP would likely spend the next four years locking in the kind of radical policies you’d expect from a party that knows exile is inevitable — far different from the moderation John Horgan showed as he pursued re-election.
Whether the Conservatives become the official Opposition or form government will depend on securing middle-of-the-road voters; people whose focus is on common-sense policies that support investment, private sector jobs and economic growth — the rising tide of prosperity that lifts all boats and pays all bills.
Whether the Conservatives have the balanced toolkit to win — and to govern well — will require people sitting on the sidelines to set aside their reservations and get into the game.
The increasingly frantic business community and the surging Conservatives stand awkwardly like teenagers on either side of a gym, worried about how they’ll be judged by their peers for who they dance with. We’re running out of songs — it’s time to tango.
Three years ago, I ran to lead the BC Liberal Party because I believed the province’s economic coalition needed deep and authentic renewal to be relevant again. I believed a better B.C. for people and families meant looking to the future, not the past — with new energy, new ideas and new leadership.
My closing message in that campaign was about unity: moving forward together to defeat the NDP and form a new government for the people of British Columbia.
Today I believe the same, but the context has changed. I’m calling on the economic coalition to put B.C. first and rally behind the Conservative banner — and I’ve just announced my candidacy in Kelowna-Mission.
Let’s complete the work of building our new home, win this election together and get B.C. back on track.
It’s not too late.
National Post
Gavin Dew is a Kelowna-based father of two, entrepreneur and business leader. He ran to lead the BC Liberal Party in 2021.