The B.C. Conservatives have a new leader, with former Harper era Cabinet minister Kerry-Lynne Findlay narrowly winning the party’s months-long leadership race.
Findlay ran as a “true blue” candidate, promising not to shy away from controversial issues. As one of the more conservative candidates in the race, Findlay’s victory will ensure that the party does not become another iteration of the B.C. Liberals of B.C. United, which the Conservative Party supplanted as the true alternative to the NDP during the province’s last provincial election.
In a province where the race for government generally comes down to two parties, Findlay has a strong shot at becoming B.C.’s next premier. But to do so, she must unite her party and clearly define herself before her NDP opponents try to taint her image for voters.
Findlay was one of five candidates that ran for the party’s leadership and all proved to be strong contenders. Three of the five, not including Findlay, are current MLAs, meaning Findlay will have to work with the majority of them if and when she wins a seat in the Legislature, which Findlay has promised to seek as soon as possible.
Having only won the leadership race on the fourth ballot with 51 per cent of the vote, Findlay has her work cut out for her. She performed well across the province, although rival Caroline Elliott did much better in Vancouver proper. And Findlay will have to work hard to mend fences with Elliott, who was long seen as the frontrunner and came within less than 200 votes of winning the top prize for herself.
Nonetheless, Findlay and Elliott did have some similar positions on key issues. Both seemed to recognize that to fix B.C.’s problems, more than just fiscal issues and the economy must be addressed. The NDP government under Premier David Eby has embraced both controversial Indigenous reconciliation and gender policies. Findlay and Elliott both promised to make fundamental changes on those fronts, in addition to tackling the province’s economic and fiscal challenges, although the party faithful narrowly decided that Findlay was better positioned to take on those tasks.
Findlay will also have to work to ensure the NDP doesn’t define her before she can introduce herself to voters. Immediately after her victory, NDP Cabinet ministers took to social media, declaring that the Conservatives had elected a “Maple MAGA” leader who wants to import Trump-style politics into British Columbia. One can bet that attack ads will be running on televisions across the province in short order as the relatively unpopular Eby government considers calling a snap election.
Still, one must take a moment to consider the size of Findlay’s triumph. At 71-years-old, many declared her too old for the party’s leadership. Elliott’s campaign raised substantially more money and hired experienced strategists from across the country. Elliott ran as a new generation of leadership, whereas Findlay highlighted her ties to the Harper era of federal Conservative politics. In the middle of the leadership campaign, Findlay’s campaign manager quit, citing her supposed inability to win. And, despite all of that, Findlay managed to beat the odds and will take on the NDP as Conservative leader in the next election.
How can Findlay move to unite a divided B.C. Conservative Party in short order? Her first challenge will be picking a shadow Cabinet to hold the Eby NDP to account in the Legislature before Findlay herself can win a seat. It would make sense to put her leadership rivals with seats in the Legislature, including Elliott, Ian Black and Peter Milobar, into key positions to hold the government’s feet to the fire. It might even be smart for Findlay to tap Elliott to lead the party in the Legislature until Findlay herself can get there.
While the Eby NDP are currently unpopular, one must not forget just how easily the federal Liberals recovered after unloading former prime minister Justin Trudeau and replacing him with Prime Minister Mark Carney. The NDP could do the same. That’s why Findlay must move fast to unite her party and introduce herself to B.C. voters. If Findlay wants to bring change to B.C., it will take an all-hands-on-deck approach.
Jay Goldberg is the Canadian Affairs Manager at the Consumer Choice Center. He previously served as the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and a policy fellow at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Jay holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
