"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.
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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