The by-elections, which could return Britain’s new Liberal leader, Kevin Falcon, to the province’s legislature, are a race for the past and the future, say both candidates and political experts.
Voters in the prestigious Vancouver-Kilchena Ride, previously held by two former BC Liberal leaders, will elect a new member on April 30th.
Falcon, 59, is a former cabinet minister who was elected party leader in February after more than a decade away from British Columbia politics.
He said he aims to lead an opposition to hold the New Democrats’ government accountable for failures in access, housing and the overdose crisis.
His main rival is the first-time NDP candidate, Janet Ash, a political scientist married to Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart.
She said her campaign focused on reminding voters of Falcon’s past as a minister in governments that cut social programs.
NDP cabinet ministers, including Finance Minister Selina Robinson, campaigned with Ash to tell voters that Falcon had chaired cuts to women’s and family programs and should be denied a return to the legislature.
The question for voters is whether they define Falcon as a politician carrying yesterday’s baggage, or as a new leader who can turn things around for the opposition in the 2024 provincial election, after two consecutive defeats, said Stuart Perst, a political scientist at the University of Simon Fraser. .
Kevin Falcon addressed the crowd after being elected leader of the BC Liberals. He was a former cabinet minister in previous liberal BC governments and is running for what is considered a safe place for the party. (Daryl Dyke / Canadian Press)
“He has a lot of experience and we know the NDP is not wasting time trying to deal with him,” said Perst, who said he considered Falcon a favorite.
“It’s time to try to define it a little bit and try to find the types of attacks that can work well,” he said in an interview.
“We can think of this as a dress rehearsal for what the NDP will say and do and what Mr. Falcon can say and do in the next election.”
Vancouver-Kilchena was a safe place for the Liberals of the BC. It was previously run by former party leaders Andrew Wilkinson and Gordon Campbell.
Wilkinson, who resigned as party leader after the October 2020 provincial elections, was re-elected with 56 percent of the vote. He announced his retirement as an MLA last February, paving the way for Falcon to run for Vancouver-Kilcena.
BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson left the scene after announcing his resignation as party leader. Liberals have been heavily criticized under his leadership for their worst performance in a decade. (CANADIAN PRESS)
Falcon had a number of wallets
The other three by-elections are Wendy Heiko of the BC Green Party; Dallas Brody, Conservative; and Sandra the Philosopher-Shipper, a libertarian.
Heiko, an emergency management expert and driving instructor, said she was concerned about housing for young people and the government’s inaction on climate change.
Brody, a lawyer and former television operator, said he lives in riding and wants to open a clothing boutique business.
Philosopher-Shipper, who is running as a libertarian candidate in Vancouver Fairview in 2020, has said she will advocate for affordable housing, healthcare and forestry initiatives.
Falcon said the NDP is campaigning against personal attacks to divert attention from the failed record on housing affordability and the overdose crisis.
“I care a lot about the people, but also about the results,” he said in an interview.
“The fact that they want to deviate from their own record is no surprise to me. I will continue to focus on their record and their failures as a government to achieve positive results on every indicator you want to use.”
Falcon, who served in Surrey for three terms before deciding not to run in the 2013 election, said he left politics to spend more time with his young family. He has also worked in the private sector with a Vancouver real estate investment and development company.
He has held a number of portfolios since he was first elected in 2001, including transport, healthcare, finance and was deputy prime minister. Falcon finished second in the 2011 race after Christie Clark, who was prime minister until the party lost power.
Vancouver-Kilcena is one of the wealthiest constituencies in the province, but Falcon said voters have told him that inaccessibility, especially in terms of housing prices and rents, is a major concern.
He said most riding people want their children and grandchildren to one day be able to afford to live in the city.
“This is not happening according to NDP policies.”
Janet Ash, a political scientist and wife of Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart, faces Kevin Falcon in the Vancouver-Kilchena by-elections. (BC NDP)
Ash, who heads the political science department at Douglas College, said she decided to run in the by-elections at the urging of her students as well as her husband, Mayor Stewart.
Electing Falcon as Liberal leader also persuaded her to run, she said.
“I really love this city and this country, and when I heard that Kevin Falcon was chosen by the Liberals of British Columbia as the next leader, I was really horrified,” she said in an interview.
“I couldn’t believe they elected him. He was part of a government that made such profound, devastating cuts that affected our province and it still has that lasting effect.”
Ash said he wanted to emphasize to voters that Falcon has not changed.
“It’s up to them who they vote for,” she said. “I hope they vote for me, but I want them to look back on the years and remember who Kevin Falcon was and what he was about, for himself and [real estate] speculators. “
Former Liberal Cabinet Minister Mary Pollack said Falcon’s presence would be felt by the NDP and his own party group if he won the by-election.
“He will be focused,” she said. “There will be tasks to be done. And he will expect them to be done. He does not stoop when it comes to setting goals to be achieved.”
Legislative dynamics between the BC Liberals and the NDP and Falcon and Prime Minister John Horgan will heat up if Falcon returns, Pollack said.
“If they want to fight Kevin Falcon successfully, they will have to do better than try to carve out the past,” she said. “They will have to look at what is on their platform for the future.”
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