Kevin Falcon 'confident' BC United won't lose ground to Conservatives in 2024 election

After a fall session that saw BC United drop to third place in opinion polls, Leader Kevin Falcon remains upbeat – insisting his party is poised to make a comeback in next year’s election.

Falcon told CTV News says he’s not buying the recent polls that found John Rustad’s BC Conservatives have surged ahead of his party.

“The polls are really about confused voters, not yet understanding that the BC Conservatives are a totally separate party from the federal Conservatives,” said Falcon in a year-end interview, where he reflected on the year behind and the path forward for the official Opposition.

Minted as the leader of the BC Liberals in February 2022, Falcon oversaw the party’s name change to BC United this April – a move meant to distinguish the provincial party from the unaffiliated federal Liberals.

He says there’s enough time before the next election, set for October of 2024, to turn things around.

“This is a marathon, not a sprint,” he said. “So trust me, we will get the message out when the timing makes sense and we will make sure that by the time the next election rolls around, people know exactly who BC United is.”

He points to fundraising as a better indication than polling of how British Columbians will vote when it counts.

“We raised more money in one day than the BC Conservatives did in the last 12 months, and I think it’s important to understand that,” said Falcon. “They’ve raised $150,000 in the last two months, we’ve raised $3 million – just below the NDP.”

The BC Conservatives achieved party status last year when two MLAS elected as BC Liberals left the party – John Rustad because he was ousted, and Bruce Banman who defected.

Falcon says a coalition with the BC Conservatives is out of the question, and that he doesn’t fear losing votes on the right.

“We’ve already got a coalition – it’s called BC United,” responded Falcon. ”We’re a coalition of people that might (vote) Liberal or Conservative or Green Party federally.”

On the issues, Falcon said the NDP government missed the mark with its housing legislation that dominated the fall session.

"Most of this legislation absolutely will not get the result that they want,” he said. “If we want more affordable housing you have to make it less expensive, it’s not that much more complicated.”

On health care, Falcon doubled down on calls for Health Minister Adrian Dix to be fired.

“Somebody needs to be held accountable where patients are literally dying trying to get care in this province. It’s heartbreaking,” said Falcon.

He maintains the best way to help British Columbians battling soaring costs is by eliminating fuel taxes and cutting back the carbon tax. “Number one, we're going to scrap the carbon tax on all home heating fuels. If it’s good enough for the East coast that heats their homes with oils, its good enough for the West coast.”

Falcon counts legislation that limited the locations in which drug use is decriminalized as a major political win, saying his party was instrumental in "forcing the NDP to back down on their reckless decriminalization that allowed people to openly use drugs in parks, playgrounds and beaches.”

The BC United leader also said he doesn’t buy into speculation that the premier will call an early election.

“David Eby – to his credit – has actually said more times than I can count that he’s going to stick to the fixed election date, and I actually believe him in this case,” said Falcon.

And he says when electors do cast their ballots, his party will prevail.

"I’m just so confident because I travel this province and I get direct feedback. It’s way more important to me and valuable than any poll.”