Are the BC Conservatives a spent force, before even having a chance to grow past their petty infighting and self-inflicted wounds?

What’s next BC???
Regrettably, as in the past, it appears that we will at least for the foreseeable future, continue to have only two political choices, seeking the votes of British Columbians … the BC Liberals, and the “SpeNDP”.  That is unless something changes, and changes soon.

Polarized politics in my opinion, whether on the Provincial or Federal level, always leads to dissatisfaction with voters.  We are a free thinking society, where a multitude of opinions, choices, ideas, and solutions can spring from.  With that in mind, how can all of that be funneled into just two choices, on the political front?

British Columbian’s have continually faced the same situation (two choices) since the demise of the Socreds in the early 90’s … and the failure of the BC Reform Party to gain traction in the 1996 provincial election.  The demise of the Socreds and Reform, in my opinion, came about because of a lack of relevance to voters, and self-inflicted conflicts; that has also (it seems) led to the same path of destruction which the BC Conservative Party appears to be in the midst of.

If that is indeed the case, then without a serious self-reflective look at the problems and issues it faces, the BC Conservatives will also continue their slide into the same obscurity and demise as Reform and the Socreds.

The Party has had a revolving merry-go-round of executive and board members resigning and / or leaving.  Any clear thinking party member, if they knew this, should be asking, “Why?”  Executive members elected by the Party membership in the AGM of 2014 are now gone, have resigned, or quit.  In their place there are now individuals who have been selected with no consultation of the membership.  As a former member, I would (had I known at the time) questioned this undemocratic process of hand-picked replacements.

As well, as I have mentioned in previous blog posts, the democratic decisions by the previous ELECTED board, to discipline and expel dissenters (who were using means outside of the party constitution to FORCE their way) … were reversed by this unelected board.  This with regards to the reinstatement of Alison Paton and company, along with a formal apology to them for the actions the party took in removing their memberships in the party.  This reinstatement of membership, and apology, was totally and completely in direct contravention of the BC Conservative by-laws and constitution.  Paton and friends WERE removed for just cause.
That said, if the un-elected Board and Executive choose to reverse the previous decision to expel them, then why were the members of the party not informed of this decision??

The secretive aspects of this, when found out, led further to members of the party abandoning it through the non-renewal of memberships, or like myself quitting and asking for their memberships to be cancelled.

Sadly British Columbians looking for a viable option have, in the BC Conservatives, a party in disarray, with no money coming in from donations by members, accumulating debt, and bills unpaid. 

The BC Conservative Party has always held its’ AGM in the Fall; not so this year.  Have they delayed the AGM until February 2016 in an ATTEMPT to clear up outstanding bills from the previous AGM, as well as the recent SGM, to enable them to run the much delayed 2015 AGM?

One would wonder because a quick look on Elections BC, for the BC Conservatives, allows you to view the 2014 financial report. The BC Conservatives as I understand it on the last day of 2014 had assets of $10,918.80, with liabilities of $42,172.56.  That makes a total deficit of $31,253.76. Given what must be declining membership, and a lack of media coverage, one could probably assume there has not be any positive figures for this year, and the deficit has likely risen.

A political party needs many volunteers, with a wealth of talents, skills, and backgrounds.  That includes people who can create working relationships with the media.  Where are these people in the BC Conservative Party?  The party has been near invisible in the media … there has been little to no social media activity … NO party, board, or executive members have been using social media; including Twitter using #BCCP hashtag.  The few rare occasion where the Party has been in the news has revolved around very narrow niche causes such as big game operators.

Check it out for yourself … all you have to do is a simple Google search under News for the BC Conservative Party --- there’s barely a peep.

Where is any news coming out about causes and issues important to British Columbians’.  While BC Conservatives need to come up with policy to deal with today’s issues, that policy MUST resonate with rural AND urban British Columbians.  More important however, the party MUST have a position(s) that clearly stand out from anything else offered by the Liberals and NDP. 

I’ll sound like a broken record again, but why has no party taken a look and adopted the Democratic Reform Agenda that was presented over two years ago by Independent MLA Vicki Huntington, and former MLA’s Bob Simpson and Jon van Dongen?  These three individuals, all from different places in the political spectrum, came up with an important document that has gone ignored by the BC Liberals and the SpeNDP.  I believe any party that is willing to adopt these policies … AND show they have policy and a platform can be shown to be an extension of democratic reform … can win the hearts of British Columbians, and become government.

Are the BC Conservatives a spent force, before even having a chance to grow past their petty infighting and self-inflicted wounds?  I have my doubts, but only time will tell.

I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops and, for the moment, those are thoughts going through my mind.