Why this B.C. United MLA plans to run as an Independent
'I will never sell my soul,' former cabinet minister Mike Bernier says of political future
On Tuesday morning, B.C. United MLA Mike Bernier appeared alongside party leader Kevin Falcon to announce their plans for managing the province's forestry sector should they be elected in October.
Twenty four hours later, Bernier was desperately trying to reach Falcon to find out if the rumours that he was suspending his campaign and withdrawing all of his candidates in order to throw his support behind the B.C. Conservative Party and its leader, John Rustad, were true.
"Kevin's ghosting me," Bernier told the Canadian Press Wednesday morning. "I'm trying to figure out what's going on."
That afternoon, Bernier, along with other longstanding MLAs and senior officials within the B.C. United Party (formerly known as the B.C. Liberals) learned during a press conference Falcon held alongside Rustad that Falcon had indeed decided not to run in the upcoming election race and, at the same time, was withdrawing all of B.C. United's nominations, as well.
Falcon also left it up to Rustad and his party whether B.C. United MLAs would be welcomed into the Conservative fold.
But Bernier says even if the offer were extended, he's not sure he would accept it, citing concerns over what he calls Rustad's "extreme, divisive" policy.
Instead, he is considering running as an Independent in his northeastern B.C. riding, which has consistently sent centre-right candidates to represent them in Victoria for over 60 years.
"I can pretty well 100 per cent guarantee my name will be on the ballot one way or another," he said.
Bernier spoke to CBC News about Falcon's decision to withdraw from the election, his opposition to Rustad and what he believes is needed to move B.C. politics forward.
The following quotes have been compiled from a series of three interviews with Bernier from Aug. 29 to Aug. 30. They have been edited for length and clarity.
On Kevin Falcon's decision
I'm a little surprised, to be honest with you. There's been a lot of blood, sweat and tears put in by myself, all the other candidates for the B.C. United.
Going into this election, we knew it was a bit of an uphill battle. We knew that we had to figure out a process to make sure we weren't splitting the vote to allow an easy victory for the NDP.
Yesterday [Wednesday] was a bit of a gut shot for a lot of us because we didn't know it was coming that way and so we were definitely surprised and felt a little bit abandoned.
I didn't leave my party. My party left me.
I think that Kevin, in all fairness, was under an immense amount of pressure. He came back into politics for the people of British Columbia to try to defeat the NDP.
On whether he would run for the B.C. Conservative Party
I've been pretty outspoken on some of the concerns that I have with the positions, the radical, divisive kind of positions that the B.C. Conservatives have had even though I represent a Conservative riding. I've been a federal Conservative for my entire life, [but] I don't buy into polarizing, divisive views.
I will never sell my soul, change my position on it just to get re-elected and John and some of his candidates, their views and their comments around SOGI (sexual orientation and gender identity education materials in schools), first of all, have been wrong. They've been very misleading, flat-out lies in some cases.
I would only consider running for them if he would publicly apologize for throwing those inaccuracies out there in the public.
I don't think that's fair to the students. I don't think it's fair to the people of British Columbia when you're trying to mislead them just for votes and, unfortunately, using our school system and our kids as a tool to try to gain traction.
On concerns he'd split the vote running as an Independent
B.C. United, from day one, we were talking about the fact that the last thing we wanted, and we were fighting to make sure we didn't have, was four more years of the NDP.
So the decision to ensure that we weren't running multiple candidates in ridings where the NDP had a chance to win was really important.
Of course, in ridings like Peace River North and Peace River South, it's a totally different scenario: those aren't ridings where you would divide and allow an NDP candidate to win. There's a totally different dynamic at play.
If I can give advice, for what it's worth, to both [the B.C. NDP and B.C. Conservative] political parties, is they better come out with some damn good policies that the people of British Columbia can support.
Because right now they're just fighting to the wings rather than trying to come to the centre where I would say the majority of the people in British Columbia are.
With files from Katie DeRosa, Radio West and Daybreak North
