Kevin Falcon’s ignominious place in history is now secure. He took over a faltering B.C. Liberal party, but still an organization with some potential viability.
In terms the former real estate developer would be familiar with, he moved into a derelict mansion in need of major renos, but with good bones.
Instead of engineering a glorious makeover, he oversaw the worst rebranding exercise since Twitter became “X.”
The joint became unlivable in a matter of months, so on Wednesday he slapped a condemned sign on the gate and is walking away from the smoking ruin.
The party will still exist, but is in suspended animation until after the election.
He fulfilled his promise to do whatever it takes to help defeat the NDP, including abandoning his own re-election effort. But it took until just 52 days before Election Day to realize he had only one move left.
The compressed timeline will make the next few weeks an exercise in total chaos. Bedlam is breaking out all over as more than 50 BC United candidates and more than 80 Conservative Party of B.C. candidates realize they are now drifting in the wind.
They jumped through all the hoops, knocked on all the required doors and rearranged their lives to secure nominations according to the rules.
Now they are all voided. Rustad and Falcon will convene a private group of people from both sides that will conduct a secret draft to put a new (Conservative) team together just seven weeks before voting day. Rustad, as controlling partner, will have the final say.
Rules? There are none, because this has never happened before.
You have to wonder how many believers in due process in both camps are going to head to court over this move.
Multiple times at Wednesday’s news conference, Falcon acknowledged how upset his people will be with him.
He somehow wangled the party board’s support for his unilateral decision, but admitted: “It was hard.”
“It’s really hard and I accept all the responsibility, good and bad, all the opprobrium should rest on my shoulders.”
He said all his staff will feel extremely disappointed, “but I can look them all in the eye and say this is the right thing for us.”
Rustad also conceded he won’t be getting a hero’s welcome for going along with this.
“It’s not just the candidates, it’s all the people working on those teams. … This has created a lot of disruption and I really feel for that. … It’s not easy.”
Left unsaid is that the merger-capitulation is a golden opportunity for Conservatives to address their main problem.
That is the widespread perception that despite their phenomenal surge in popularity, they have an inordinately high number of weirdos in their midst. There’s the doctor who thinks vaccines magnetize you, the candidate who wants provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry arrested, another who thinks that 5G cell towers are a genocidal weapon that spread COVID, and a sprinkling of people with unique worries and suspicions about the LGBTQ world.
Rustad has already fired several of them, but admits the party’s vetting process has come up short.
Now he gets to sift through the list on an emergency basis with a view to recruiting any number of (former) BC United candidates, some of them incumbents.
When it comes to picking between a loyal true-blue Conservative who happens to have whack-job tendencies, or a former United MLA with two or three wins on their record, the choice will be simple.
The joint statement the pair issued said all United nominations are now withdrawn “to enable the Conservatives to draw from BC United’s pool of incredible incumbent MLAs and candidates.”
“As part of the agreement, the Conservative Party of B.C. has committed to review candidates based on an improved vetting process to ensure the strongest possible team.”
Falcon is betraying dozens of people who made significant changes to their lives in order to join his team.
The only thing that mitigates that feeling is that many of them by now realize they were the equivalent of First World War trench soldiers, facing certain annihilation as they prepared to go over the top.
Rustad is about to rupture a lot of relationships as well, all in the name of halting “an NDP government that will destroy this province.”
“I’m so thrilled and pleased that we are able to bring this together, even though I know it’s tough on a lot of people.”
The only thing that will save these two schemers from years of bitter recriminations is the idea that they might actually pull it off.
Like they say in multiple B-movies: “It’s so crazy it might just work.”
>>> To comment on this article, write a letter to the editor: [email protected]
