Provincial politicians deal with fallout after BC United announces it is suspending its campaign

Many politicians across the province say they are now reevaluating their futures in response to Kevin Falcon’s decision to pull the BC United Party from the upcoming election.

UBC political scientist Stewart Prest points out that Falcon’s abrupt exit puts BC United MLAs in a tight spot.

“It’s just seven weeks before the the election,” he said. “To have to build a team of your own from scratch, that’s a daunting possibility.”

Prest says he anticipates that John Rustad’s Conservatives will handpick key BC United members to join their party. One of those lucky few could be Peace River South MLA Mike Bernier, who says he would join, but he hasn’t received the call yet.

Either way, he wants to be on the ballot.

“I might have been abandoned by my party, but I’m not going to abandon my constituents,” he said.

Bernier adds he would take a few days to reflect before making a final decision.

BC United MLA and candidate Ian Paton says he was blindsided when leader Kevin Falcon made the announcement.

“None of us really saw this coming,” he said.

Paton is one of the few former BC United candidates in a riding without a declared BC Conservative.

He says since the BC United campaign ended, he’s spoken with BC Conservative Leader John Rustad about moving over.

“I absolutely honour my colleagues and the policies we have and I enjoyed everything I did with the BC Liberal Party and BC United, but now that the door is open, I have to make that decision,” he said.

He says he expects to make a firm decision by the weekend.

Meantime, Kelowna West MLA Ben Stewart tells 1130 News Radio that Falcon apparently broke the news to members just minutes before going public.

He says the caucus was rattled at the time, but a second meeting Thursday helped clear things up

“Once you kind of hear his side of It, the reality is that we actually needed to do something … we just could not afford to vote-split,” said Stewart.

Meanwhile, Bernier says his anger hasn’t dissipated at all. If anything, it’s gotten worse.

“I really feel like my party and the leadership has let me down, because I’ve been told everything’s fine, thanks for the work you’re doing, you’re going to win your riding,” he said.

“You know, I definitely feel like I got driven over by a bus.”

This follows the major update from both Shirley Bond and Todd Stone — two veteran MLAs — calling it quits Thursday.

Prest says we are now witnessing the human side of all this.

“We are seeing long time MLAs, who gave a lot to a party, now having to find a different way forward,” he said.

BC NDP Premier David Eby says he put out a call to displaced BC United voters to rally behind his party.

“My phone is blowing up with people who previously have voted BC Liberal, have always voted BC Liberal, but this time cannot bring themselves to vote for John Rustad and the BC Conservative, and I can understand why,” Eby said.

According to BC United’s website, the party had already confirmed 57 candidates, 10 of them incumbent MLAs. The BC Conservatives’ website shows 83 candidates, many of them in the same ridings.