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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

KRUGGEL: The Story that should not be a story: The BC Conservatives squabble


In November a woman named Comfort Sakoma-Fadugba, the co-chair of the Vancouver Police Board, was asked to resign over social media posts she had made. She apologized for her posts and resigned.

First up, let's be clear: her posts did violate the Code of Conduct she agreed to when she accepted a seat on the board. Public officials on these kinds of boards cannot ever show cultural, religious, etc preference. They must at all times appear to be neutral to fulfill their roles - just like judges.

She resigned and that should have been the end of the story.

Elenore Sturko, the newly re-elected MLA, now sitting as a BC Conservative, publicly agreed with this resignation. She serves as the Public Safety critic so, this is part of her job to comment on things like this.

That should have been the end of the story, but 13 BC Conservative MLAs wrote a letter taking issue with Sturko. They claimed Comfort was a victim of cancel culture, mused about values, etc. Sturko is not a woman to be bullied, especially by her own caucus members and promptly stood her ground.

Thankfully, the BC Conservatives are led by a leader
that actually gets it right when he needs too.

 
The 13 demanded that leader John Rustad do something about Sturko. He did not. He did suggest she meet with Comfort Sakoma-Fadugba. Sturko declined.

That's what happened, and this should never have been a story for two solid reasons,

The first reason is that the Comfort Sakoma-Fadugba crossed the line. She wasn't the victim. Her resignation was a reasonable consequence for her actions.

Second, the real story, that the BC Conservatives should be solely focused on, is the lack of a fall sitting of the Legislature. All those NDP promises? Where are they? David Eby isn't advancing any of his agenda right now. He did sign a new partnership with the Green Party of BC to win the support of its two lone MLAs.

Third, the BC Conservatives are mostly a caucus of rookie MLAs that feel bold simply because they got elected. Someone needs to remind them that all they did was take a large NDP majority government and make it a slim NDP majority government. Feeling bold and important is a great way for a rookie to make rookie mistakes.

The big rookie mistake here is that 13 Conservative MLAs put their backwards thinking down on paper, and signed their names. Of course that letter got loose. You don't need to be an experienced politician to know that letters always get leaked to the public. The other rookie mistake is to think your fellow MLA that lives in the Lower Mainland has gauged the public opinion incorrectly than you, a guy not living there. These MLAs make their own party squabbles the story. The NDP got the heat taken off of them.

That folks is just plain dumb.

Thankfully, the BC Conservatives are led by a leader that actually gets it right when he needs too. Rustad was asked about how he would deal with Sturko. His answer was perfect: we don't whip our members. Whip being the term used for ordering members to do or say something or be threatened with expulsion from caucus. In other words, she's free to take her position and the party will abide by it. Bomb diffused.

Going forward the BC Conservatives need to understand that Sturko is the one that'll get them seats in the Lower Mainland that they lost by ultra slim margins. Those 13 won't. She understands that you cannot be a social conservative and win in many parts of this province.

British Columbia is a racially, ethnically, religiously, and culturally diverse province. You cannot ever take a position where you, especially if you're in government, show favoritism to one race, ethnicity, religion, or culture. You cannot be uttering phrases like cancel culture or woke. Sure, that may fly in some parts of the interior or north but not in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island where the bulk of the province's seats sit.

Conservatives need to understand that they are strongest when they talk economics, finances, jobs, and stuff like that. Conversely, they are at their weakest when they dip their toes into social politics.

If they want an issue to get angry about let it be about this; "Where is our fall sitting of the Legislature!?"

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