Political rivals Kevin Falcon and John Rustad have come together to unite the right against the BC NDP. Here's how out it happened.
In the end, it was a handshake deal at midnight in the boardroom of a downtown Vancouver law firm that brought together the BC United and Conservative parties.
Falcon had empowered Elliott to start face-to-face discussions. He wanted to hear directly from the Conservatives, amidst a swirl of political rumours, pressured meetings from business leaders and declining party donations. Elliott set the tone of the meeting off the top: Falcon has spent his life fighting the BC NDP, and he’s very, very serious about getting a deal to avoid handing the NDP another term in power and doing irreparable damage to the province, she said.United then offered up its large package of opposition research on controversial views held by Conservative candidates and divulged which Conservative candidates it believes have documented problematic views.
Enough progress was made that they all broke so the Conservatives could go to brief Rustad at the party’s new downtown Vancouver office. The two leaders sat down with Estey, Isidorou and Elliott to hammer out what eventually became the deal. It was a compromise position for both leaders — Rustad moved off his refusal to replace any of his candidates, and Falcon moved off his position to protect all United’s incumbents and strongest candidates.The meeting went for almost three hours, with nothing in the boardroom other than glasses of water and piles of paper.
“I felt really blindsided,” said Mike Bernier, the MLA for Peace River South. “By doing that, he basically threw us all out there, just into the wind.”
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Rob Shaw: Inside the United-Conservative deal reshaping B.C.'s political landscapePolitical rivals Kevin Falcon and John Rustad have come together to unite the right against the BC NDP. Here's how out it happened.
Read more »
Rob Shaw: BC United makes big promise to break through voter apathyProposed $5.4B tax cut leaves BC Conservatives uncharacteristically quiet
Read more »
Rob Shaw: BC United makes big promise to break through voter apathyProposed $5.4B tax cut leaves BC Conservatives uncharacteristically quiet
Read more »
Rob Shaw: United calls for lengthier involuntary care in election promiseLeader Kevin Falcon: 'I think the right thing to do is recognize that a small cohort of population needs to be removed compassionately from the streets, involuntarily if necessary...'
Read more »
Rob Shaw: BC United moves to add Liberal identifier to October ballotLeader Kevin Falcon says 'there's a huge amount of confusion out there' when it comes to the party's name change.
Read more »
Rob Shaw: BC United moves to add Liberal identifier to October ballotLeader Kevin Falcon says 'there's a huge amount of confusion out there' when it comes to the party's name change.
Read more »