Anger amongst some BC United candidates following implosion, others wait for call from Conservatives

Meagan Brame had been the BC United Candidate for Esquimalt-Colwood—until Wednesday.

She had sold her daycare to run for office, her campaign spent thousands on posters and other election merchandise like hats and shirts from donations, and all of it is useless now.

The BC Conservatives have asked if she’d run for them, but she said no. She feels frustrated and is experiencing a sense of grief.

“I got nothing, and not because I lost at the ballot—it was taken away from me,” said Brame on Friday.

After Kevin Falcon suddenly withdrew candidate endorsements—so some could be poached by the BC Conservatives—many candidates, like Brame, who were suddenly left in the lurch, are angry.

BC United MLA Karin Kirkpatrick wasn’t going to run again, but says she's still furious.

“There’s so much devastation, and almost a mourning of losing a party that has been such a big part of our lives and such a big part of our province for so long,” she said Friday.

Candidates’ bank accounts have been frozen. Kirkpatrick's heard the party is out of money and she wants answers, possibly through litigation.

“I am going to make sure that the executive of BC United is held accountable,” she said.

Meanwhile, other BC United candidates, including Peace River North MLA Dan Davies, are waiting for a call from John Rustad, the BC Conservative leader and their potential new boss.

“John needs good candidates, John needs good people around that table to bring good ideas, to bring good government to British Columbia. And again, I’m hoping I might be able to help,” said Davies Friday afternoon.

Ian Paton, the Delta South MLA for BC United, also told CTV News he has been offered a spot with the BC Conservatives, and is seriously considering accepting it.

Rustad said he expects to announce a new consolidated team with members from BC United soon, likely by Monday.

“To try to get this done as quickly as possible. Obviously there’s a lot of lives on hold from the Conservative party and the United party,” he said.

Falcon has technically only suspended the party's campaign, but if it doesn’t run at least two candidates in 2028, Elections BC rules say the party is done -- a reality that reflects political trends, says retiring BC United MLA Mike De Jong.

“A transition that seems to take place in British Columbia every 35 years or so on the free enterprise side of the political leger,” said De Jong.

Others are not so content with the outcome, including Kirkpatrick, who now says she might run, but as an independent, to give voters an option in the middle—a spot she says her now-decimated party filled.