British Columbia Election: BC United MLA to Run as Independent Candidate

The incumbent BC United MP has reversed her decision not to seek re-election and announced that she will run as an independent candidate in the riding of West Vancouver-Capilano in the upcoming British Columbia election.

Karin Kirkpatrick has been sharply critical of BC United leader Kevin Falcon’s decision last month to suspend his party campaign and endorse the BC Conservative Party under John Rustad.

Kirkpatrick announced this year that she was retiring, but said Monday that her decision to return to the race is a direct result of Falcon’s actions, which will force Center voters to either “swing left” toward the NDP or move even farther right toward the Conservatives.

“I heard from a lot of voters and a lot of people who wrote to me from all over British Columbia … that they didn’t have anyone to vote for,” she said. “So I even looked at myself and my constituency and said, ‘Well, I don’t have anyone to vote for in my constituency anymore.’ It was clearly a missing middle ground for more moderate voters.”

She said voters who approached her “don’t want to vote for an NDP government, but are deeply uncomfortable” supporting the provincial Conservatives, citing Rustad’s tolerance of what she calls “fringe views and conspiracy theorists.”

Kirkpatrick joins four other incumbent opposition MPs running as independents, including Mike Bernier of Peace River South, Dan Davies of Peace River North, Coralee Oakes of Prince George-Cariboo and Tom Shypitka of Kootenay-Rockies.

“Honestly, we talk almost every day,” Kirkpatrick said of her BC United colleagues, who are currently running as independents. “We all feel the same way. We all need to support each other and make sure we’re doing the right thing.”

She added that many first-time candidates who were previously on the BC United ticket are reaching out to the group of incumbent candidates running in the election, and that group works together “as good moderates who respect each other and support each other.”

However, Kirkpatrick said it was too early to talk about the future of BC United and the possibility of forming a new party.

“The first thing we need to do is elect those independent members to the legislature,” she said, noting that a strong group could play a power brokering role if a minority government is elected. “Once we’re there, we’ll all come together and figure out if there’s something left in BC United, BC Liberals, that we can resurrect, or do we need to start a new party that’s in the center?”

She said there was a big gap in the political spectrum in the province.

“So we need to do this in a thoughtful way to make sure we are representing the broadest group of people in British Columbia.”

Among those supporting Kirkpatrick’s announcement Monday was former long-time Member of the Legislative Assembly Ralph Sultan, who represented West Vancouver-Capilano for nearly two decades before retiring in 2020.

The Metro Vancouver electoral district has been a stronghold of the BC Liberals (formerly BC United) since its inception in 1991, with the centre-right party receiving more than half of the vote in each election.

However, Kirkpatrick’s lead of 53.6 per cent, the NDP’s 30.1 per cent and the Greens’ 15.4 per cent in the 2020 election indicates a growing trend among left-leaning voters in the riding.

Mike McDonald, director of strategy at Kirk and Co. Consulting, a former BC Liberal campaign director and chief of staff to former premier Christa Clark, said independent candidates historically face an uphill battle, and the biggest impact could be vote splitting in areas where the NDP could win.

“What it really comes down to is if the NDP gets 33 per cent of the vote, they might have a chance of winning,” McDonald said of the impact of splitting the independent vote with the Conservatives in some ridings.

He added that British Columbia’s history shows that it is very difficult for an independent candidate to win an election and that it has only happened a handful of times.

“So the odds are against independents winning the election unless there’s a very unique set of circumstances, and they’re more likely to play the spoiler role, quite frankly.”

The British Columbia Conservatives are fielding West Vancouver School District Trustee Lynne Block as their candidate in West Vancouver-Capilano, while the British Columbia NDP is represented by health care specialist Sara Eftekhar.

Kirkpatrick said she is confident her return to the race will not result in a vote-splitting event that would allow the NDP to win the seat, as the party has historically underperformed in the riding.

“So even if there’s a competition between me and the Conservative candidate, it’s highly unlikely that anything here will swing in the NDP’s favor. And I believe I have the ability to actually bring NDP voters to me, as well as Conservatives and Liberals who feel lost right now.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published September 16, 2024.