Falcon eyes B.C. Liberal party renewal
Looks to rebrand, diversify after decisive byelection win in Vancouver-Quilchena
Kevin Falcon has earned the right to spar with the New Democrats in the legislature following his decisive byelection win Saturday, but the B.C. Liberal leader must also follow up on his promises of rebranding and diversifying the party.
After capturing 59 per cent of the vote in Vancouver-Quilchena, a traditional B.C. Liberal stronghold and one of the wealthiest ridings in the province, Falcon celebrated Sunday by doing crossword puzzles with his daughters, Josephine and Rose, and helping his wife, Jessica, with some yard work.
“I'm feeling great,” Falcon told Postmedia News. “(Saturday) night's landslide victory was the beginning of building our support and building momentum. We're going to continue to do that in every part of the province by the time the next election (in 2024) rolls around.”
On the heels of a campaign where the NDP reminded the public of the social spending cuts while Falcon held cabinet roles in the Campbell and Clark governments, the leader of the official Opposition said his first priorities are to “continue rebuilding and re-energizing the party” and finding a candidate to replace outgoing Liberal MLA Stephanie Cadieux in South Surrey.
Cadieux, who held the seat for 13 years, resigned on Friday to take a post as Canada's first chief accessibility officer. The government must set a date for the byelection within six months.
Falcon, 59, said it's crucial that the B.C. Liberals attract diverse candidates so the party reflects the province's diversity.
“We're not going to do it with quotas like the NDP because, frankly, I think that hurts some of the very folks that you're trying to attract,” Falcon said. “I want to make sure we go out and find outstanding candidates who happen to be diverse, ethnically, culturally, sexually.”
The New Democrats have a gender-balanced cabinet largely owing to party rules that state when a white male does not run again, the next candidate must be a woman or someone from an equity-seeking group.
The race for Surrey South is likely to be a close one. The B.C. Liberals won the riding in 2020 with 47 per cent of the vote with the NDP close on their heels with 43 per cent. The Greens captured almost 10 per cent of the vote.
The B.C. Conservatives' gains in Vancouver-Quilchena — where their candidate Dallas Brodie won 6.6 per cent of the vote — raise the real prospect that the Conservatives, should they run a candidate in Surrey South, could chip away at the B.C. Liberals support.
This is the first time the B.C. Conservatives have run a candidate in the Vancouver-Quilchena riding, which was created in 1991.
“Of course, I always worry about vote splitting,” said Falcon. “It doesn't make a lot of sense, but you know, frankly the B.C. Conservatives, the only thing they have going for them is their name and they're not connected to the federal Conservative party.”
Falcon is forging ahead with his promise to rebrand the party to remove any perception of ties to the federal Liberals. Former B.C. Liberal MLA Bill Bennett is heading the party's committee on the name change, Falcon said, which will have to address thorny issues such as ensuring future candidates don't run under the B.C. Liberals to cause more confusion.
“If we can find an appropriate alternative name that gets across what we really are, which is a big tent party, that welcomes all of those that believe a private sector-driven economy is the best way to move our province forward,” he said. “And regardless of, you know, what God they may pray to or who they decide to love, I just think it's important that they feel welcome in this big tent.”
Professor Stewart Prest, a Simon Fraser University political scientist, said the B.C. Liberals have to ensure the name change allows the party to attract new voters while not alienating their existing base.
An unsuccessful rebranding, Prest said, could risk pushing centrist voters to the NDP and sending more populist, right-of-centre voters to the B.C. Conservatives.
“The Liberals really do have to thread a needle there,” Prest said. “How do you try to keep as much right-of-centre camp together while still making a play for those centrist voters? So any rebranding is going to have to try to accomplish both things at the same time.”
Elections B.C. will confirm the results with a final vote on May 4 followed by a certification process that typically takes 10 days. That means Falcon will have a few weeks during the spring session to debate Premier John Horgan and his cabinet during question period and budget estimates.
In opposition, Falcon said he'll hammer the NDP on affordability, citing government “mismanagement” as the cause of rising rents, house prices, gas prices and groceries.
“Everything has become more expensive under this NDP government,” he said.
Falcon spent 12 years in the Liberal government, which included cabinet posts under the governments of Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark. He left politics in 2013 to work in the private sector, most recently at a Vancouver-based real estate development and private equity firm.