It wasn’t until Wednesday morning that West Vancouver-Capilano MLA Karin Kirkpatrick and her BC United colleagues started seeing the news on X (formerly Twitter) that their party’s top brass had decided to end its campaign.
For Kirkpatrick, a loyal supporter of the rebranded BC Liberal organization, the way in which she and others learned about the decision was “appalling” and “cowardly.”
News that former BC United leader Kevin Falcon had made a deal with the BC Conservatives emerged just prior to a caucus meeting Wednesday morning (Aug. 28), where the head of the Official Opposition offered little information to his former political teammates, Kirkpatrick said.
“We ended that caucus meeting shell-shocked and confused,” she said. “We didn’t know who was in and who was out, and from there it’s just progressed.”
Despite some of his missteps, Kirkpatrick said she got behind Falcon as leader of her party, which made her even more angry to hear the news without any warning or consultation.
“I thought I had a good relationship with Kevin. He’d always take my phone call. He would call me and get advice on social issues and policy issues, because I’ve got a background in that area,” she said. “I feel very stabbed in the back.”
After learning that private negotiations to fold BC United had been led by Caroline Elliott, Kirkpatrick believes she was misled by her and Falcon. Elliott was set to replace Kirkpatrick as the BC United candidate for West Vancouver-Capilano, and is also Falcon’s sister-in-law.
“They knew that this was happening,” Kirkpatrick said.
Elliott gave up on campaign or knew party would fold, Kirkpatrick says
In May, there were talks between the provincial United and Conservatives, but a deal couldn’t be reached that would protect enough sitting MLAs, Kirkpatrick said.
After that, everyone was all hands on deck to rebuild BC United.
“That’s the last thing we heard,” Kirkpatrick said. "I find that hard to believe that these discussions haven’t been going on longer than that.
“And if they’ve only been speaking since Sunday (Aug. 25), I think that it’s pretty poor form to come up with a policy that’s going to impact the future politics of British Columbia for decades to come, and they’re going to do it in 72 hours,” she said.
Elliott also appeared to be putting less effort into her campaign, Kirkpatrick said, especially compared to peers like former BC United Candidate for North Vancouver-Seymour James Mitchell.
“If you look at somebody like James Mitchell working so hard in North and Seymour, he knocked on 3,000 doors,” she said. “He puts together great events like that. One was with [former federal Conservative leader] Erin O’Toole.”
“Many of our candidates were looking at [Elliott] and saying, ‘What is she doing? She's not helping the party,’” Kirkpatrick said.
“[Elliott] either knew there wasn’t going to be a party, or she gave up on the fact that she thought we could win,” she said.
While Elliott admits that a 72-hour timeline is a short one to redefine the province’s political landscape, she insists that formal talks to team up with the BC Conservatives only began on Aug. 25.
With direction from Falcon to start face-to-face discussions, Elliott texted BC Conservative executive director Angelo Isidorou, she said, and then the pair met for a chat that Sunday evening at Browns Socialhouse in North Vancouver.
Common ground there eventually led to a handshake between Falcon and Conservative leader John Rustad on the evening of Aug. 27, Elliott said. BC United would end its run, with some of its strongest candidates running for the Conservatives.
“[Kirkpatrick] may be surprised at the suddenness, and I get that,” Elliott said.
But with BC United donations falling below the Conservatives in the most recent quarter, the message from voters was clear, Elliott said.
“The message we were getting, and certainly the message I was getting on the doorstep here in West Van-Capilano, was ‘You guys have to find a way to put the province first. We do not want to see a split in the vote,’” she said.
Kirkpatrick considering cancelling retirement from politics
Another glaring issue now for former BC United candidates is a financial one. What happens to all the money raised by candidates, as well as the money put into campaigns by the politicians themselves?
“Everything we’ve done to raise money, the party locked up,” Kirkpatrick said. “I was sitting MLA, and I’ve now been locked out of the BC United system, and all our money is gone from our account.”
Under B.C. election law, funds can’t be transferred directly to another party. Kirkpatrick said she’s learned that some of the money in those accounts is going to be used to pay off debts.
“We did a big fundraising push a couple weeks ago. Nobody told us we are fundraising to pay the bills,” she said.
Kirkpatrick said she and others intend to demand accountability from executives in the BC United organization.
“All the members of BC United, who have been donating for years and years … they were consulted on this name changing, but they were not consulted on folding the party,” she said.
“There’s a lot of angry people, and I’ve got donors wanting their money back. That can’t happen if we don’t have the money,” Kirkpatrick added.
But Elliott said she’s not at all involved in the financial management of the party.
“I received assurances that everything is being run in terms of what the entitled party [should] do at headquarters,” she said.
BC United was reached for comment on its finances, but did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.
Kirkpatrick said she also disapproves of teaming up with the Conservatives on an ideological level.
“There’s issues with women’s rights, reproductive rights – there are issues with homophobia, transphobia,” she said. “Anybody in a party with people who think that vaccines cause you to be magnetic, I don’t want them anywhere near government policy making.”
Part of the deal between Rustad and Falcon was that the Conservatives would put the best candidates going forward, Elliott said, “and is going forward reviewing the vetting process and reviewing some candidates based on that.”
With just 20 days left to declare candidacy, Kirkpatrick’s head is spinning with potential courses of action, which include the possibility of forming another political party or cancelling her retirement to run as an independent.
“That door is open because British Columbians need to have a centre party, and they’ve just lost their home politically,” she said.
