The shockwaves from the BC United Party collapse continue as two supporters opted Monday to publicly endorse the BC NDP in their ridings rather than BC Conservative candidates, albeit for very different reasons.
The NDP announced Monday that Will Davis, a former BC Liberal (now called BC United) candidate in Coquitlam-Maillardville, will endorse NDP candidate Jennifer Blatherwick rather than the Conservatives’ pick, Hamed Najafi, in the Oct. 19 election. Davis ran in both the 2020 BC election and the 2021 federal election, that time for the federal Liberal Party.
Former BC United candidate Amrit Pal Singh Dhot has also confirmed he’s backing the NDP candidate, housing minister Ravi Kahlon, for his third run in Delta North, but is disputing the NDP’s statements about his support.
Many former BC United candidates have opted to support the BC Conservative candidates, but Davis stressed that’s not a given. He said a number of factors pushed him to endorse the NDP candidate instead.
The new BC Conservative party is not simply the BC United under a different name, but a party that’s taken a hard step to the right of the political spectrum, he said.
“This isn’t a revamped BC Liberal or BC United party 2.0 or whatever,” Davis said.
“This is a conservative party that is a coalition of folks on the right, and I’m a centrist that identifies with finding solutions and working from the middle for [everyone’s benefit].”
Aside from the concerns focused on Rustad’s climate crisis denial and opposition to raising sexual orientation and gender identity, or SOGI, issues in schools, Davis said he’s apprehensive the BC Conservatives will impose drastic cuts to education and healthcare if they gain power.
“There’s a dearth of policy coming from the BC Conservatives,” Davis said.
“There needs to be more meat on the bone.”
Davis, a father of five children, said he respects Blatherwick’s work as a school trustee and feels given the choices available in the riding this election his values align best with the NDP and believes it’s better to cast a vote than sit idle or spoil your ballot.
“There are others who are simply saying, ‘anything but the NDP,’” he said. “But it’s not an approach I think is wise.”
Former BC United candidate Dhot, a businessman and longtime resident in North Delta, chose to back Kahlon rather than run as an independent, drop out, or run as a Conservative candidate as a number of his former party colleagues have done.
The NDP bragged about the endorsement on social media and in a press release, suggesteding Dhot was endorsing the party or Leader David Eby because of Conservative Leader John Rustad’s “cuts to healthcare and extremist views”.
However, in a clarification statement issued following the press release, he offered very qualified support for the current housing minister specifically, and not the party more generally..
His support is reserved for candidates with roots in the communities they represent, Dhot said, adding he’s opposed “to parachute politicians — those who run for office in areas outside their home community solely to seek election.”
Conservative candidate Raj Veauli does not have residency or community ties to the Delta North riding unlike Kahlon who has a long history of engagement with the local community, Dhot alleged.
It’s no surprise BC United supporters are crossing the aisle to support recent opponents after candidates were left in the lurch, said Hamish Telford, a political-science professor at the University of the Fraser Valley.
The Green Party may also pick up some extra support from BC United supporters uncomfortable with hitching their wagon to the BC Conservatives.
There’s a contingent of former BC United candidates with ties to the federal Liberals that are simply going to be more aligned with the NDP, Telford said, adding that BC United candidates who express support for the NDP aren’t likely acting out of spite because they were passed over by the BC Conservatives.
“I think they're making [their endorsements] based on their sort of ideological outlook, and which of these parties they see as … the lesser of two evils.”
The key to winning the election will go to the party that can best capture voters in the great middle and convince voters they have shifted and become the centrist option, Telford suggested.
“At the moment, I would hazard a guess, it will be easier for David Eby and the NDP to make that pivot than it would be for John Rustad,” he said.
Rochelle Baker / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada’s National Observer
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