Local Tories have reason to worry, says ex-MP
Al Horning points to share of vote claimed by rival People’s Party in B.C. byelection
Federal Conservatives in the Kelowna area may be unnerved by the showing of the People’s Party of Canada in a B.C. byelection, a longtime local Tory says.
The People’s Party candidate got 11 per cent of the vote in Burnaby South on Monday — almost half the votes cast for the Conservatives — as NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh won the byelection. Should the People’s Party candidate in KelownaLake Country do as well in the general election this fall, that could make it harder for the Conservatives to reclaim the riding from the Liberals, says former Tory MP Al Horning.
“If the People’s Party takes off, that could make things difficult for the Conservatives,” Horning, also a former city councillor and MLA, said Tuesday.
“Even though the Liberals won last time, this is pretty conservative country, and (right-of-centre) parties have always done well. If the conservative vote splits, that’s good news for the Liberals.”
Kelowna was represented federally for more than 40 years by small-c conservatives until Liberal Stephen Fuhr won Kelowna-Lake Country in 2015.
Fuhr claimed 46.2 per cent of the vote, compared with 39.8 per cent won by Conservative Ron Cannan.
Fuhr’s victory was aided, in part, by the Green party’s decision not to run a candidate in Kelowna-Lake Country, and to even campaign on Fuhr’s behalf.
In 2011, the Greens won almost nine per cent of the vote in Kelowna-Lake Country. The party is expected to run a candidate this fall.
While that renewed challenge from the Greens may cause Fuhr’s vote share to dip, the Conservatives could lose support among right-of-centre voters to the nascent People’s Party, Horning says.
“Anything can happen in politics, but I’m not sure the People’s Party is going anywhere,” Horning said. “It never comes up
in conversations I have, and I like to talk politics with everyone.”
The People’s Party was a non-factor in two federal byelections in Eastern Canada on Monday, with its candidates drawing only about two per cent of the vote.
In Central Okanagan-Similkameen Nicola, which includes downtown Kelowna and all of West Kelowna, incumbent Tory Dan Albas narrowly hung on in 2015, winning 39.6 per cent of the vote. That was just over two percentage points more than Liberal Karley Scott.
The People’s Party says it will field a candidate in that riding, and all ridings across B.C.
A “major fundraising event” with party leader Maxime Bernier in attendance will be held in Kelowna in the next few months, party spokesman Glen Walushka says.
“Our intent is to publicly introduce a number of the highly qualified candidates in the Okanagan and B.C. Interior at that time,” Walushka says.