The implosion of political parties isn’t anything new to BC politics.
Over my lifetime, we’ve seen the total destruction of the Socreds and the near total destruction of the BCNDP a half a decade later here in BC.
All of this has left Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals sitting pretty on the centre right of the spectrum, unchallenged and secure in power in Victoria. But like any party, as they rule, they’ve slowly, but surely, managed to alienate many right wing voters who’d rallied to their cause in the early years due to total lack of options on the political right.
Hate the BC Liberals and their iron clawed fiscal management style? Fair enough. However, you’d be hard pressed to peg the leader (Mr. GC himself) as especially socially conservative fellow.
The Once Glorious Leader.
Enter Wilf Hanni – now former leader of the BC Conservative party – a upstart political entity loosely aligned with the Conservative Party of Canada.
That’s right – BC really does have a conservative party. Didn’t know they existed? Neither did I until fairly recently.
These folks are interesting. According to the party website, they’re in the game to: “strive for a province that is progressive for the benefit of all individuals. A long-term objective of self-sustaining government that does not rely on personal income tax for its operating needs.”
How this conservative crew plans on offering health care or a decent educational system without income tax is beyond me – but perhaps that’s the point. If you’re rich and aren’t paying taxes, what do you need public education for?
Anyway, Hanni has a past you’d expect of a conservative politician occupying, not the centre right, but the right of the political spectrum.
He’s a former leader of the Reform Party of BC and oil industry consultant. In 2006, he was elected to lead the BC Conservative Party. At that time the BC Conservatives were about as well known as the Nude Garden Party. They lacked just about everything (organizers, funding, big name endorsements, grassroots members) that a contending political organization requires to make a good showing in the polls. Unsurprisingly, they went on to lose the next election badly. However, despite their defeat, they managed to triple the number of votes they got this time around.
However, only a few months after their latest defeat, fearless leader Hanni himself decided to take off, bringing what seems like half the organization’s board of directors with him. That’s bad news for any organization, but for a fledgling political party, a split like that can be devastating. Hanni references personal and political differences and an inability to work with some of the more uncompromising elements of his party. This regularly seems to be the case with many fringe parties.
To be perfectly honest, I’m very disappointed in this news. Not because as some might think (I’m looking at you co-editor) I’m a closet conservative. No, my disappointment is rooted in a somewhat more convoluted reason.
For one thing, having more legitimate, rather than fringe choices is a good thing in a democracy (ie. It’d be great to see more/any BC Greens in the legislature). More importantly though, I’d hoped that if BC had a real right wing party, the BC Liberals might be persuaded to becoming a bit more, well, “liberal”. That’s the dream anyway, one which seems to be becoming more of a pipe dream than anything else. Ultimately, as long as the centre and right wing of BC politics remain united, Mr. Campbell’s BC Liberals will continue to shy away from a progressive agenda. Afterall, when your cart works fine, why re-invent the wheel?
Despite all this I continue to hold out hope that one day fortune or backroom deals (either one, I’m not too picky) will yield a bit more diversity in our political community. That’d be a good thing for everyone.