BC United Leader Kevin Falcon walks outside of the hotel where BC Conservative Leader John Rustad was scheduled to hold a news conference, in Vancouver, on Wednesday, August 28, 2024. British Columbia Opposition Leader Kevin Falcon has announced that he is suspending BC United's election campaign and is encouraging supporters to instead back the rival BC Conservative Party. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

VANCOUVER - British Columbia's upcoming fall election has been transformed into a classic right-versus-left contest with BC United Leader Kevin Falcon's surprise move to suspend the Official Opposition's campaign and urge supporters to back the rival B.C. Conservative Party instead.

The seismic shift to the B.C. political landscape heralds the apparent demise of a party that claims eight former premiers and has existed in some form for more than 100 years.

But BC United's endgame unspooled in a matter of hours, B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad said Wednesday at a joint news conference with Falcon, who stood behind a podium with a Conservative party logo.

"This is the right thing to do for the province of British Columbia," Falcon said, adding he made the move to prevent a vote split on the centre right and prevent the New Democrats from being re-elected.

He said voters were consistently telling him, "we're really concerned about the vote split," which convinced him to "rip off the Band-Aid now," rather than wait until October and see an "elected NDP."

Prof. David Black, a political communications expert at Victoria's Royal Roads University, said the decision to halt the BC United campaign will be of concern to the New Democrat government of Premier David Eby.

"A campaign that, though the polls were narrowing between the NDP and the B.C. Conservatives, was still the NDP's to lose as of yesterday, is now at least a tied race and perhaps favours the Conservatives," he said.

Falcon had acknowledged the party's poor showing in public opinion polls -- which at times dipped below 10 per cent -- but up until Wednesday was suggesting the numbers would shift in his party's favour during the campaign.

Rustad's Conservatives have been on a massive popularity upswing over the past 18 months after receiving less than two per cent of the popular vote in the 2020 B.C. election.

Rustad said "low level" talks had recently been taking place between the parties but his direct talks with Falcon began only about 18 hours before their joint news conference, then continued Wednesday morning.

"The first time that Kevin and I actually met to have a straight-up discussion about what we can do to bring an end to David Eby and his policies and approaches to B.C. was last night at around nine o'clock," said Rustad.

Previous attempts to form an alliance or merge in some way ended in failure, and there have been harsh public exchanges between the two leaders.

"I know that the best thing for the future of our province is to defeat the NDP, but we cannot do that when the centre-right vote is split," said Falcon in a statement released by the B.C. Conservatives before the news conference.

Falcon, who confirmed he would not be standing in the election, said he had heard from "thousands of people" that they were concerned about vote splitting.

Nominations of BC United candidates including current legislators will now be withdrawn to allow the Conservatives to draw from them for its slate in the Oct. 19 election, both leaders said.

But neither Rustad nor Falcon would say whether pre-selected or nominated candidates for either party would be replaced.

"We aren't going into details today," said Rustad. "We are putting together a group between the two parties to do a review and make sure we are fielding the best team possible."

Falcon acknowledged his decision to stand-down BC United's campaign came as a surprise to party members and his caucus.

"I also had a call with my caucus and my candidates," he said. "And it wasn't an easy call, and I knew it wouldn't be. This is hard. It's really hard, and I accept all the responsibility, good and bad. I must shoulder this."

Rustad acknowledged the process had created "disruption" amid the process of choosing candidates, while Falcon apologized to BC United candidates and MLAs for keeping them in the dark about the talks.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't bring them all into the fold," he said.

Among them was Mike Bernier, a veteran BC United MLA, who summoned an emergency meeting Wednesday among caucus members, saying elected members and party staff were caught off-guard by the announcement.

"I'm trying to figure out what's going on," he said before the joint news conference. "My phone is blowing up. Kevin's ghosting me."

Falcon said it was the end of the BC United party "for now … certainly for this election" but did not say the party would be officially disbanded.

He said he told Rustad Tuesday that he only agreed with him about "75 per cent" of the time but "on his very worst day" Rustad would make a better premier than Eby on his best day.

Rustad said he thanked Falcon for making the "hard but right decision".

"This is the right thing to do for the province of British Columbia," he said.

Falcon — who had said on Tuesday that the Conservatives were at risk of becoming a "conspiracy party" — said he and Rustad spoke for "many, many hours" and there was "genuine graciousness on both sides."

Rustad said he wanted to make sure "everyone feels welcome" under the B.C. Conservative banner and he was "thrilled" by the outcome, which offered the best chance of ending Eby's "radical" government.

"I've never doubted Kevin Falcon's commitment to our province, and today I applaud his decision to put B.C. first, as he's done throughout his career," Rustad said in the statement.

BC United had been hit by a series of defections to the Conservatives, including Abbotsford South's Bruce Banman, Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Lorne Doerkson, Elenore Sturko in Surrey South and Richmond North Centre MLA Teresa Wat.

Falcon had booted Rustad from the then-BC Liberal caucus in 2022 over comments casting doubt on the role of carbon dioxide emissions in climate change.

The New Democrat Party caucus issued a statement earlier highlighting previous comments Falcon and other BC United members had made about Rustad and the Conservatives.

The statement included Falcon saying previously: "Frankly, I don't think there's any scenario in which John Rustad would be remotely ready to step into the position of premier."

Eby posted on social media that "no matter what our opponents do, I'm focused on what matters to you. John Rustad is planning deep cuts that will cost you."

Asked at the news conference if he had a job lined up in the private sector, Falcon said he had not.

"I doubt I'll get many (offers), but who knows," he said with a laugh.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 28, 2024.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2024