Columbia River-Revelstoke MLA Doug Clovechok says he was surprised and didn’t initially believe the news that BC United was pulling out of the upcoming provincial election and backing the BC Conservatives.
“My initial reaction was shock to be very honest. I was on the computer and my wife came in asking if I had seen it and I said that’s not true,” he said.
“I talked to one of my colleagues who was with Kevin Falcon in Victoria the day before and he said it wasn’t true, but then it became true very quickly.”
He said everyone was left in the dark.
“I was shocked that the decision was made and it was made without the knowledge of any of my caucus or myself,” he added.
“None of us knew that it was going to happen. We’re still trying to process this as best we can.”
On Wednesday, BC United party leader Kevin Falcon announced that all nominations would be withdrawn and the BC Conservatives could recruit candidates from their pool.
MORE: Falcon pulls pin on BC United campaign, rallies behind Conservatives (Aug. 28, 2024)
“That’s still up in the air and the process is ongoing. I’m sure that it’s going to be done very quickly,” Clovechok said.
As a retiring MLA, Clovechok wasn’t concerned for himself but for his fellow party members.
“Right now my concern as a retiring MLA is for my colleagues because we have a phenomenal number of MLAs and I can’t see John Rustad passing any of them by if he truly wants to form government,” he added.
“Our candidate here in Columbia River-Revelstoke Scott McInnis is phenomenal and I think he still has a really good opportunity to be the candidate, but that of course will be up to Rustad with the input of Kevin Falcon as well.”
Clovechok is still contemplating whether Falcon’s choice was the right one but agreed that they needed to stop a vote split from happening.
“To beat the NDP is the main goal. When you have two parties that have right-leaning principles and values, splitting the vote is never a good thing,” he said.
“Whether it was right or appropriate I guess we’ll know on Oct. 19.”
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