BC Conservatives reject ‘non-compete’ agreement with BC United: Falcon

The leader of the BC United party says Conservatives leader John Rustad has rejected a non-compete agreement in order to defeat the NDP come October.

The proposed agreement would have seen the two parties agree not to run candidates against each other, not to attack each other, and not merge with each other.

Falcon says Rustad rejected the “reasonable” offer, putting at risk another David Eby led NDP government.

“In doing so, John Rustad placed his own ambition above the best interests of British Columbia,” Falcon said Friday.

Multiple recent polls have shown United — the ruling party in this province for 16 years before 2017 — trailing far behind the Conservatives, which as of this time last year didn’t have a single seat in the legislature.

United currently has 16 seats in the Legislature to the Conservatives two. If the proposal was agreed to, it would have seen the Conservatives run in 46 seats, and United in 47 seats.

“As British Columbians continue to ask John Rustad and myself on the campaign trail why we could not find common ground, I can confidently say that BC United did everything possible to secure a free enterprise, non-competition framework,” Falcon said.

In response Friday afternoon, Rustad shared that “with certainty,” the two parties will not be merging before the coming election.

“Kevin Falcon declined our offers in December 2023 to discuss a possible merger,” he stated.

“On May 23, 2024, a mere 4 months before the election and now that the BC United is tied with the Green Party at 12% in recent polls – he finally presented our Conservative Team an ‘offer.’

“Time and time again, and in this ’offer,’ Kevin Falcon has demonstrated that he will always put himself first and will do absolutely anything for power: before the BC United Party, before his own candidates, and ultimately before the province.”

Rustad went on to say that any off Falcon has presented has been “completely unserious and dishonest.”

“As I have previously promised, the Conservative Party of BC is committed to running candidates in all 93 provincial ridings.”