UNBC Political Science Lecturer Jason Morris believes it’s not out of the question more BC United MLA’s might jump ship to the Conservatives.
This after high-profile Surrey-based MLA Elenore Sturko crossed the floor and joined the provincial Tories – a mere three days after Cariboo Chilcotin representative Lorne Doerkson made the switch.
Morris told mypgnow.com it seems on the surface that the 2024 BC Election is already a lost cause for the former Liberals.
“It’s like we have a narrative that BC United is done like dinner but that hasn’t been tested. All the same, it would be reasonable to expect more such actions to happen.”
Morris suggests that crossing the floor could be viewed a couple of different ways depending on what end of the spectrum you are on.
“Bigger picture I think we could look at crossing the floor as a legitimate way to address the changing political context but if we look at floor crossing like the seat belongs to voters then the case can be made that if you as an MLA are changing parties midstream that is in a way disrespectful to the votes that were made.”
“Some argue that should trigger a by-election but we don’t have that in BC.”
He added the failed merger between the two parties may have been the tipping point for a lot of BC United members who were on the fence about crossing the floor.
“No doubt that behind the scenes the BC Conservatives have been working hard to court BC United members. I am still going to suggest at the same time that the governing NDP may not be too concerned thinking that its two main competitors are having their little challenges instead of focusing on opposing them.”
Morris is also interested to see how the relationship between Sturko and the Conservatives plays out as she is part of the LGBTQ community, a demographic the provincial Tories have not prioritized to this point.
“I am certainly curious. Maybe she could play a role in helping them develop a policy for when they have an election platform coming out that better represents the interest, desires and views of all British Columbians.”
Sturko is now one of four elected MLA’s representing the Conservative banner.
She will be seeing re-election in the Surrey-Cloverdale riding this fall.
In total, the Conservatives have convinced three BC United MLA’s to join.
The first was Bruce Banman who is the MLA for Abbotsford South. Currently, the Tories have four MLA’s in the Legislature.
BC’s Fall Election is set for October 19th.
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