BC NDP launches ads ahead of provincial election campaign

It appears the NDP is going on the offensive, a day after BC United announced it was suspending its campaign in the upcoming provincial election.

The BC NDP is releasing its first set of campaign-style advertisements on Monday, ahead of the Oct. 19 vote.

The TV and digital ads highlight the work the New Democrats have done while leading the province, in areas such as affordability and housing.

However, the spots also take aim at BC Conservative Leader John Rustad and his “20-year history of cutting services and protecting the status quo.”

“We have known for some time that we would be running against John Rustad but to many in B.C., he is a bit of a mystery,” said BC NDP campaign director Marie Della Mattia.

“Voters may have heard recently about the strange views of his candidates but most people don’t know that John Rustad is a 20-year career politician with a record of cutting services and costing people more. This second ad invites them to take a closer look.”

On Wednesday, BCU Leader Kevin Falcon announced, in addition to suspending his party’s campaign, that he was encouraging supporters to back the BC Conservatives, “to prevent another four years of disastrous NDP government.”

“I got back into politics because I wanted to build a bright future for my two daughters and for the next generation of British Columbians,” Falcon said Wednesday. “Today, I’m stepping back for the same reason. I know that the best thing for the future of our province is to defeat the NDP, but we cannot do that when the centre-right vote is split.”

He explained BC United nominations for candidates “will be withdrawn to enable the Conservative Party of BC to draw from BC United’s pool of incredible incumbent MLAs and candidates.”

Prior to BC United officially confirming its move, Premier David Eby said the New Democrats are still committed to their promises — regardless of who they come up against in the election.

“For us, for me, you look at John Rustad and Kevin Falcon who worked as colleagues and partners in the BC Liberal Party for a generation. John Rustad was a BC Liberal MLA for longer than Kevin Falcon was. I really don’t see a huge distinction between them except that neither of them are running as BC Liberals this time because of their record. They are so embarrassed with how they ran the province they both have changed their party names and want to avoid any association with the 16 years they were in government. And I understand why that is,” Eby said.

“It’s a very tumultuous time, I would say, in B.C. politics on the right-hand side of the political spectrum. It’s still not totally clear to me who we’ll be running against in the next election, what they’ll be called. But, regardless, it doesn’t change our focus.”