By Canadian Press

BC United Leader Falcon says Conservative Leader Rustad has rejected election deal

May 24, 2024 | 11:57 AM

VICTORIA — The leader of British Columbia’s official Opposition says the BC Conservatives have rejected a proposal to avoid vote-splitting in the provincial election this fall.

BC United Leader Kevin Falcon says talks between the two right-of-centre parties concluded with Conservative Leader John Rustad ultimately deciding against a proposed “non-competition” agreement.

Falcon says in a statement that Rustad has “placed his own ambition” above B.C.’s interests and is risking the re-election of the governing NDP.

He says there were talks between two representatives of each party this month, most recently on Wednesday, and BC United had proposed a non-competition framework.

Falcon says the proposal included that the parties would not run candidates against each other’s members who were seeking re-election, and the BC Conservatives would run in 47 seats and BC United in 46.

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But Falcon says despite common ground between the parties’ representatives, Rustad rejected the proposal on Thursday night and made no counter-offer.

Rustad has previously pledged to run candidates in all 93 electoral districts.

Other points in the BC United proposal included that the parties would not merge and that they would refrain from attacking each other during campaigning for the October election, Falcon says.

The Conservative Party leader shot back in a social media post, disputing several points. John Rustad says his party reached out to BC United to discuss a possible deal twice dating back to last fall.

Rustad also said the BC United offer wasn’t made until polls revealed BC United were tied with the BC Greens with just 12 per cent of the vote.

The post quotes Rustad as saying, “Kevin Falcon also stated he didn’t want to make these talks public, yet here we are.”

This report has been updated with comments from BC Conservative leader John Rustad.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 24, 2024.

The Canadian Press