BC NDP don’t stand a chance now
BC United Leader Kevin Falcon did the honourable thing by bowing out and throwing support to the Conservatives
Winston Churchill is supposed to have once observed that “Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted.” While doing the right thing belatedly is perhaps not as ideal as doing it immediately, the fact remains that ultimately the right principle was acted upon and the correct course taken. This is always worthy of praise.
Wednesday afternoon, BC United Leader Kevin Falcon did the right thing. He struck a deal with the BC Conservatives which will see him suspend his campaign, withdraw candidates and encourage them and remaining BCU members to support the surging juggernaut that is the BC Conservative party. His own resignation as leader is sure to officially follow shortly.
It has been clear for a while now that Kevin Falcon and the BCU were in an impossible position. Poll after dismal poll demonstrated the BC Conservatives’ continued rise at the expense of BCU. Most polls had the BCNDP and Conservatives neck and neck around 38-39 per cent, while all polls had BCU a distant third. The worst polls had BCU support in the single digits. Despite continued protests to the contrary from Falcon and team, it was clear that there was no way BC United was coming back to beat the NDP.
In resigning and encouraging BCU supporters to back the Conservatives, Kevin Falcon has swallowed an infinitely bitter pill and one that most of us never have to contemplate digesting. But swallow it he has and, in doing so, put the province of British Columbia above his own pride and ambitions. For that, he deserves not derision but congratulations from anyone who believes that a centre-right free enterprise coalition is essential to the continued prosperity of the province.
