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“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

"We are strong, united, and ready to take our place as one of four major parties in British Columbia." That's probably one of the biggest reasons for the on-going and continued growth in approval the party has seen.


What's happening with the BC Conservative Party these days?  Well first of all let me say that since returning to the fold, and becoming a member of the party once again, I have tried to avoid making Thoughts on BC Politics and More, simply a PR piece fort the party.  I hope you will agree that I have been successful in that.

So, today, I deviate a bit, and will devote this commentary entirely to the party!

And, I'll start first of all with how the people of BC are viewing the party.  Based on polling since the early Spring, what I am seeing is slow and steady.  A recent poll taken a few weeks back showed BC Conservatives with support at 12% ... and back in March Mainstreet Research had the Conservatives sitting at 8.9%.

According to a new Mainstreet Research Poll, BC Conservative support is now sitting at 14.6 percent.  Of course it is still a long ways from what will be needed to capture seats when the next provincial election is held in 2021.  That said, the fact the party has moved from eight percent, to twelve percent, and now just over 14 and a half percent, shows the BC Conservative party is growing as the choice for more and more British Columbians!

Current BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson
being sworn in by former premier Christy Clark
One thing I noted with interest, in this new poll, was the rating for BC Liberal, NDP, and Green Party leaders.  According to Mainstreet Research, their latest poll found that we in British Columbians have an overall negative opinion of all four party leaders.

“It is unusual that Horgan, Wilkinson, and Weaver have net negative favourability ratings, but it is even more unusual that over 30% of British Columbians either are not sure or are not familiar with all of these leaders, especially with a sitting premier.”

Of course the BC Conservative Party currently does not have an elected leader, although interim leader Scott Anderson has been filling in on the role.  Early this spring Anderson indicated in part that Conservative growth was due to the emergence of the BC Conservatives as a credible, and responsible alternative to the tax and spend philosophy of the BC Liberals.

"We want to encourage technological advances in clean energy, resource development, and consumer products, and we think BC can be a leader in Canadian innovation," said Anderson. "But none of that is going to happen if the other three parties keep throwing stumbling blocks in front of economic development."

As to the role of an elected leader, the Party’s Board of Directors recently met, and confirmed Bryce Crigger as Chair for the Leadership Convention.  Crigger ran as a Candidate for the BC Conservatives in the 2013 provincial election, and currently serves as President of the Parksville – Qualicum Riding Association.

The leadership race for the BC Conservative Party will open later this Fall, on
October 29th, with a new leader being selected by party members on February 23rd next year.

In a message to members Party President Ryan Warawa (son of current Langley - Abbotsford Conservative MP Mark Warawa) stated Darryl Seres had been confirmed as Chair for the 2018 Annual General Meeting.  "Darryl is a long-time Conservative activist, and currently serves as Regional Director for the Okanagan." stated Warawa.

The 2018 Annual General Meeting will be held on November 24, 2018 in the Okanagan city of Kelowna, and the party is looking to the leadership race to increase attendance at this years AGM, with candidates encouraging their supporters to attend.

One other item is currently underway for BC Conservatives across the province. Jeffrey Griese, Chair of Policy and Research has been appointed to Chair the Policy and Research Committee.  Said Griese, "Our Party's policy document will be open for revision at the Annual General Meeting to be held on November 24, 2018 in Kelowna."

According to Mr. Griese the deadline for sending policy amendments to his committee will be August 25th, with "all policy resolutions to be considered at the AGM being communicated to members in advance of the AGM."

"Members are being encouraged to prepare resolutions including some wording on the premise, the issue, the resolution, implementation suggestions and hoped for results", he concluded.

One of the results that I believe conservatives will see, for the party over the coming months, will be continued and steady growth.  That will be fueled by the up-coming Annual General Meeting to be held in November ... the selection of a new leader next February ... along with the continued growth of common sense policies to be reviewed later this year in Kelowna.

Perhaps a slow burning fuse that will also ignite additional support for the party will be it's call that government not make a fundamental change to the way British Columbians elect their provincial representatives without a strong and clear mandate to do so.

The party has already indicated that a simple threshold of 50% plus one far too low to properly gauge the intentions of British Columbian.  BC Conservative policy on this, as stated by interim leader Scott Anderson has been, "We will support a referendum that is clear, objective, and incorporates a popular and regional super-majority, and if it achieves those criteria we'll respect its results."

With both the government and Elections BC now having approved the referendum, and the questions to be voted on, it will be interesting to see where conservative vote on this matter, and how the party decides to participate in presenting an opinion for not only members, but all British Columbians.

Again quoting Interim Party leader Scott Anderson:
"Common sense fiscal conservative credentials are important at a time when politicians seem willing to change their philosophy at a moment's notice in order to hold on to power ...  with the application of young minds, new ideas, new technologies and a heartfelt belief that the very best resource the province has is its citizens, the British Columbia Conservative Party is ready to work toward a British Columbia for all British Columbians."

With poll results continuing to rise for the BC Conservatives, I am also reminded of another comment Mr. Anderson made, "We are strong, united, and ready to take our place as one of four major parties in British Columbia."

That's probably one of the biggest reasons for the on-going and continued growth in approval the party has seen from British Columbians.

In Kamloops, I'm Alan Forseth and those are my thoughts on BC politics today. 

I'd like to encourage you to share your thoughts on this commentary; please do so directly below in the Comments section.
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