The view from Pete

Welcome to BC Politics, unfolding drama # 123243

This time it’s the seeming crash of the BC United Party as several of its candidates and MLA’s cross the floor to the upstart BC Conservative Party.

Ordinarily I wouldn’t care as I support neither of these two parties, but I see a trend that should be talked about and called out.

Crossing the floor happens in politics from time to time, yes..but what of the voters who had counted on a moderate disposition of their BC United candidates and MLA’s only to see some of them flee to the party they once deemed so intolerant.

Is it pure ambition and the desire for power at all costs that drove these folks to abandon their electoral communities? Or are they finally being honest about who they really are..

The BC Conservatives haven’t adapted to attract these bcup candidates and mla’s; in fact they’ve dug their heels in on the very sort of intolerance that made them radioactive in the first place. The difference? Polling numbers. the bccp is benefitting from anxieties in the economy and antipathy towards the federal liberals.

So while some BCUP’s candidates and MLA’s feel the heat to abandon their party, remember that BC itself is not socially conservative. The BC Conservatives continue to position themselves as transphobic, opposed to BC’s Reconciliation Act, opposed to almost every housing reform made, deny climate change. These are positions WELL outside the prevailing mindset of average folks in BC.

To the average voter who might not have any warm feelings to any political party, will remember that BC, while facing challenges, is doing well relative to every other place in this country and is leading in economic growth and job creation. They’ll see the BC Conservatives and BC United scrap it out over their chosen narrative of trying to avoid ‘splitting the vote’, they can see that there is little reason to change to this experimental extremist party to govern.

This isn’t the 1950’s, we cannot revert back to a social order where some folks were underneath others. This also isn’t the BC of the 1990’s either – where conservative power brokers looked at the map of the province as a chess board.

Its my view that the BCUP and the BCCP have foolishly miscalculated in this ongoing drama and I’m not about to help them out of it. They can both get the rightfully owed drubbing they deserve.

My2bits