David Eby has a problem with British Columbians: they don’t agree with him and he can’t figure out why. A week and a half into the campaign along with positions and platforms becoming clearer, what is also evident is the B.C. NDP can’t fathom that any sane person could even consider voting Conservative. The problem for Eby, of course, is that polls are now more and more consistently placing John Rustad’s BC Conservatives ahead of the incumbent NDP.
On Wednesday, Rustad and Eby, along with Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau, clashed on the radio as a warm-up for next week’s televised leaders’ debate. As is customary, both sides claimed victory afterwards. Voters will make of it what they will. However, one thing did shine through the different perspectives offered by Eby and Rustad: Eby’s utter contempt and disdain for Rustad and his Conservative team. It is not a winning strategy.
During the program, Eby raised more evidence of some rather bizarre tweets from Conservative candidates. What’s more, the opposition research file on the Conservatives assembled by the now-retired BC United was made fully public by radio host Jas Johal nearly a week ago. However, while some of the file’s contents include opinions that might raise eyebrows, it seems the public doesn’t care. Eby and the NDP can’t understand this — and they resent the people for it.
It’s fair to say candidates who insinuate that COVID-19 vaccinations aren’t safe are not in line with the broadly accepted science on the matter. However, in an attempt to reduce Rustad and the Conservatives to wacky conspiracy theorists, Eby and the NDP are missing the opportunity to talk about the major issues affecting British Columbians. Their smears are also failing to land because Rustad is difficult to cast as dangerous, even if he can be criticized for certain things. The mild-mannered man from northern B.C. just isn’t scary.
Further, if we are to reduce any political party to its worst tweets and bad moments, the NDP have more than their share. Some evidence of bad behaviour can be found in the party’s shameful treatment of Jewish MLA Selina Robinson, who was ousted from the NDP cabinet for stating that Israel was founded on a “crappy piece of land with nothing on it” in the wake of October 7, and who has since left caucus. Also notable is the NDP’s disqualification of Eby’s leadership race opponent Anjali Appadurai on dubious grounds.
So far, Eby has mostly insulted Rustad and treated him more like a misguided child than a serious former cabinet minister. It’s unbecoming and, worse for Eby, it isn’t working. Since day 1 of the campaign, the NDP playbook has been to go negative and try to scare B.C. into voting for them. British Columbians aren’t hearing that message.
Sky-high housing prices, a stagnant economy and public safety concerns are overriding any wacky tweets of yore and NDP fearmongering. As the Conservatives pointed out following the radio debate, there have been more than 14,000 overdose deaths in the province since the NDP came to power. That, and unaffordable rent, is far more salient to citizens who see the carnage in downtown every day.
The BC Conservatives were a small fringe party last election. That historical fact cannot be denied. However, the present reality is that they are a serious centre-right alternative to the B.C. NDP.
Polls aren’t showing strong support for Rustad and the BC Conservatives because the province is full of crazy loons and conspiracy-minded quacks. Quite the opposite is true. British Columbians are looking for a serious and common-sense alternative to what they view as a province in decline. If Eby and the NDP don’t wrap their heads around this reality quickly, we will be swearing in Premier Rustad after Oct. 19.
National Post
Adam Pankratz is a lecturer at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business.