Former BC United MLA Karin Kirkpatrick launched her new CentreBC party with a pretty direct sales pitch to voters: British Columbians deserve a different choice at the ballot box than an “out of touch” BC NDP government and a BC Conservative party full of “conspiracy theorists.”
“The BC Conservatives have been an unmitigated disaster; conspiracy theorists and hateful extremists found safe harbour in that party,” Kirkpatrick said at her inaugural press conference in Victoria, with the legislature serving as a backdrop.
“While some have been expelled, many of the worst offenders still remain. They are not what a government in waiting should look like. They practically guarantee another NDP government.
“But British Columbians deserve something better. They deserve an option at the ballot box that reflects their values. They deserve a government that approaches the challenges in a pragmatic, and evidence-based and balanced way. A government that is both compassionate and fiscally responsible.”
Kirkpatrick is the former MLA for West Vancouver-Capilano, and knows how to navigate B.C.’s political arena. She’s particularly adept in the fundraising and organizing necessary to get a functioning central HQ with 93 competent riding associations.
Still, there’s no escaping that a lot of the factors that will ultimately determine CentreBC’s success remain outside of her control.
Will the BC Conservative party continue to implode and splinter off? It’s perhaps the most important question.
There have been grumblings in and around the Conservative caucus in the wake of the departure of the three far-right MLAs (Dallas Brodie, Tara Armstrong and Jordan Kealy) over the issue of whether bodies of children were found at residential schools.
Not everyone is happy at how leader John Rustad was slow to handle the issue, and some are concerned more infighting over far-right issues could further damage the party’s reputation.
CentreBC could become a viable option for those disaffected Conservative MLAs and voters. But to reach critical mass it would require additional flare-ups on extreme social issues, and additional failures of Rustad to respond. It’s unclear how many of those are on the immediate horizon, or whether the departure of the three dissidents served as the pressure-relief valve the caucus needed to actually work together.
To really take off, CentreBC would also need to pick up at least a couple MLAs from the Conservatives who are willing to defect. That would give the party official status at the legislature, additional funding and a presence on the day-to-day political scene.
The most likely defectors are the six former United MLAs who joined the Conservatives. Kirkpatrick was careful to say she’s not approached them officially, for fear of putting a target on their back. Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar would be on that list, but so far appears disinterested.
“The reality is the BC Conservatives are the right-of-centre option for people,” he said. “I think that was proved out in the election.”
Defecting is a big move — especially for MLAs who’ve already done it once to their constituents, and who’d face a double-dose of local outrage over changing stripes again.
To really carve out space on the political spectrum, CentreBC would also need the NDP government to continue to duff the economy and budget, so Kirkpatrick could lure centrist voters away on a promise of better fiscal management.
So far, that’s not proven a problem for Premier David Eby’s administration, which has racked up record levels of deficit and debt, with little improvements to show for it in critical areas of health care, education and social services.
Kirkpatrick is zeroing in on those failures with a pitch to maintain the social safety net through prudent economic management.
“I've always felt that government should be like a credit union,” she said. “So on one side, you're fiscally responsible, you believe in good tax policies and supports for business. But that's so that you can invest that, on the other side, in social services supports, world-class health care.”
The ingredients, then, are all there for the potential success of CentreBC — a Conservative party courting disaster on extreme social issues, and a New Democrat government taking fiscal discipline for granted.
But it will take a yet-unknown spark to coalesce it all together into a movement behind Kirkpatrick’s party. Much of that she can’t control directly. She’s doing all she can so far, putting together the most comfortable landing pad possible in the hopes unhappy politicians and voters will one day choose to jump.
Rob Shaw has spent more than 17 years covering B.C. politics, now reporting for CHEK News and writing for Glacier Media. He is the co-author of the national bestselling book A Matter of Confidence, host of the weekly podcast Political Capital, and a regular guest on CBC Radio.
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