Can the Liberal brand survive?





The voters of BC do not have a history of being kind to party’s they decide no longer need to be around the BC Legislature.

In 1952, the Liberals and Conservatives were all but wiped out when a new political force in the province, Social Credit, formed a minority government.  That was the beginning of a center right coalition led by WAC Bennett, that lasted until 1972, when they were defeated at the hands of the NDP.

One term under the NDP was enough however for BC voters, and with no other option on the horizon, the Social Credit Party, now under the leadership of WAC’s son, Bill Bennett returned to power.

The final end for the BC Social Credit party came about in the 1991 election however when only 7 members were elected, relegating them to third party status behind the BC Liberals … and the NDP who once again became the government of British Columbia.

I shouldn’t actually have said that 1991 was the end of the party --- in actual fact the nails were driven into the coffin in that election, but it really truly became dead and buried in 1996 when not one member was elected.

BC was finished with the Socreds … the BC Reform Party tried and failed to make inroads … and the BC Liberal Party led by Gordon Campbell became the new home of the centre right.

In this overview, I have neglected to so far mention the trials and tribulations of the Socred, the Liberals, and the NDP under a variety of leaders who ended up resigning from scandals … or being pushed out.  The names of Bill Vander Zalm, Glenn Clark, Mike Harcourt, Gordon Wilson, and others are likely still fresh in our minds however.

The recent departure of Gordon Campbell, leader of the BC Liberal Party is just the latest in this string of names … driven out controversy over BC Rail, the HST, and plummeting polling results not just for him, but the BC Liberal Party itself.

Early last year, members of the BC Liberal Party went into a leadership race that provided them with two clear options; Kevin Falcon… a fiscal and social conservative candidate … or a more left leaning, cut from the mold of the federal Liberal Party, Christy Clark.

They elected Christy Clark … and thus the BC Conservative Party, which had not been a factor in BC elections for decades, now began to rise from obscurity.

Under the leadership of former federal Reform / Conservative MP John Cummins, the party has risen from the low single digits in polling, to challenge the BC Liberals, tying them in popular support.

A trail of baggage has followed Christy Clark from the days prior to Gordon Campbell leaving … and she and her BC Liberal government has added even more. 

BC voters have increasingly been up in arms over the failure to remove the HST in a timely manner … they have watched while executive and management in crown corporations and semi-autonomous agencies have given themselves hefty bonuses … the have watched as the less fortunate in our province have not received the services they deserved and should have received … BC Ferry rates have increased … ICBC rates have increased … Smart meters were introduced with no consultation with voters – along with increased Hydro rates.

The government of BC forced schools and hospitals to pay a carbon tax that went into the Pacific Carbon Trust – rather than providing much needed resources to classrooms and the sick.

And just recently Liberal MLA John van Dongen torn up his party membership only to join the BC Conservative Party and sit as a member for them in the legislature.

On and on it has gone … and through it all the BC Conservative Party has continued to gain support – continued to gain momentum.

As I said at the start, BC voters have not been kind to party’s that have lost their respect – so can the BC Liberal brand survive?

Telling will be the up-coming by-elections to be held in Port Moody – Coquitlam … and Chilliwack – Hope this Thursday.  Absolutely no one is saying the Liberals will win either riding … in fact debate rages as to whether they can even place second in either riding.  Most are saying they will be third in both riding with many pundits believing the NDP will take Port Moody – Chilliwack … and John Martin., the BC Conservative candidate taking Chilliwack Hope.

Day after day the media is filled with stories – headline after headline tops stories on possible results of the by-elections, and future of the party:

Clark on defensive as poll shows B.C. Liberals’ support eroding

BC Liberals desperately seeking a by-election game-changer

Premier Christy Clark leads BC Liberals into incredible hurt locker with no key to get out

BC Premier Poised To Be Swept From Office By Adrian Dix's NDP, According To New Polls

Whose history will byelection voters be making this time around?

BC Liberals collapse: Poll shows mass exodus to provincial Conservative party

Liberal nail biting ahead of two BC byelections

BC by-elections could prove crucial to Liberals

Over sixty years ago both the Liberals and Conservatives went off to the sidelines in BC to be replaced by Social Credit … twenty years ago Social Credit breathed it’s last as it was replaced by the BC Liberals … and now, it appears the BC Liberal Party may be headed to the same history as other parties have faced.

Some high ranking MLA’s and cabinet ministers have mused they may not be seeking re-election and will instead retire.  Others are discussing the option of a new third party alternative.

BC Liberal MLA Bill Bennett, from Kootenay East, was quoted in a Globe and Mail story saying that … the party’s name has been an encumbrance to holding the coalition together, but that it is too close to the next general election to try to change it now.

The same Globe and Mail story had John Rustad, Liberal MLA for Nechako Lakes, saying … the two parties need to start talking and suggested one outcome might be a third-party alternative.  “It’s a valid question to ask, is there something to be done to reunite the free-enterprise coalition.  Whenever you have some entrenched positions it is always a challenge. Maybe we can’t get there, maybe it will have to be a different format.”

This talk of course has only been coming from the members of the BC Liberal Party.  John Cummins, leader of the BC Conservatives has been clearer on that possibility, knowing that many of his members left the BC Liberals because of a drift to the left and a lack of fiscal accountability.

“Absolutely not,” Cummins said of the rumored merger talks, in a piece by Michael Smyth in the Province newspaper

“If the leadership of the BC Conservatives were to go anywhere near a merger with the Liberals, I don’t think there’s a single Conservative member who would follow us.”

So again I ask, “Can the Liberal brand survive?”

If the BC Liberal Party does indeed place third in both by-elections Thursday, the death rattle will be unmistakable.

I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops … with the thoughts of one conservative.