BC needs a party that is willing to provide a contrast with the NDP, while being untainted by the brand of the BC Liberals who sold the province out to China.
After a crushing defeat, in which there was a net shift of almost 30 seats (NDP gaining 14, Liberals losing 14), it is clear that the BC Liberal Party is long past its prime.
The NDP looks set to win about 55 seats, compared to the Liberals at just 29. Meanwhile, the Greens are at 3.
The party has been a contradiction for some time now, claiming to be both ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative,’ while actually serving only a small elite that wanted to sell the province out to China.
Under the watch of the BC Liberals, China’s malign influence over BC expanded rapidly, the opioid epidemic surged, more and more of the province was bought out by China, and the housing market became increasingly unaffordable for actual Canadian Citizens, while becoming a haven for foreign billionaires. Additionally, criminal activity surged.
In short, the BC Liberals betrayed Canadian Citizens in BC, let the divide between the wealthy foreign elites and everyone else grow dramatically, and sold out the people who put them into power.
The BC Liberals ‘conserved’ nothing.
So, it’s no surprise that they got beaten severely.
While the BC NDP hasn’t been great, they at the very least brought in a modest foreign homebuyers tax (which should be increased dramatically), and took a few steps to address poverty and the opioid epidemic. There has also been a bit more attention paid to the endemic problem of corruption in the province.
Unfortunately, the NDP doesn’t have what it takes to go all the way and return BC to people of the province, because of their political correctness and aversion to criticizing China.
And of course, the BC Liberals can’t get it done, since they allowed the problem to worsen in the first place.
That’s why a new party is needed.
If you look at the popular vote, the NDP and Greens combined won about 60%, while the Liberals and the BC Conservative Party won just 37% combined (35% Liberal, 2% Conservative).
What this means is that simply offering a ‘free enterprise’ coalition doesn’t get it done in BC.
In short, in order to win, any alternative to the NDP must be able to combine the core of federal Conservative support with some voters who are currently voting for the BC NDP.
That means BC needs a Populist Party.
A party that supports free speech, keeping taxes low for Citizens, strengthening law enforcement to crack down on crime, heavy restrictions on foreign homebuyers, rapidly expanded homebuilding to make housing more affordable, and measures to reduce poverty and homelessness.
Furthermore, BC needs a party that will openly push back against influence from China, making it totally clear that the province must grow through trade with Canadian provinces, rising internal productivity, innovation, and trade with democratic nations, while reversing any growing ties with China.
The party needs to abandon the ‘BC Liberal’ brand entirely, picking a new name, and bringing together current federal Conservatives in the province, current BC Liberals who are willing to acknowledge the failures of their party and stand up to China, and BC residents who have felt they need to support the NDP due to the lack of any viable alternatives.
The BC Liberal Party has become far too contradictory, has sold the province out to China, and is clearly a declining brand.
Time to move on and put it out of it’s misery.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
