Geoff Russ: Another mushy centrist B.C. party is how David Eby governs forever

British Columbia Premier David Eby. Photo by TIM KROCHAK PHOTO

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Winners and HomeSense have barely started stocking Halloween merchandise on their shelves, and there is talk of zombie revivals in British Columbia.

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Like some mad scientists and taxidermists, the nostalgists for the dead B.C. Liberal Party are trying to take advantage of the crisis unfolding in the provincial Conservative party. Two years ago, the B.C. Conservatives famously bludgeoned the B.C. Liberals (by then going by BC United) into the dust and replaced them as the Official Opposition.

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Now, with rookie leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay at the helm for less than three months, the party is apparently disintegrating as veteran MLAs and longtime staff are either being pushed out or officially leaving of their own accord. There are rumours of the KLF-led party being reconfigured along the lines of personal loyalty, usefulness and ideology rather than broad coalition-building.

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Those unwilling to give KLF a chance to unseat David Eby’s NDP government are seeking revenge. According to radio host and former B.C. Liberal MLA Jas Johal, there was a great gathering of “Harper Conservatives, Carney Liberals, Horgan New Democrats” in the basement of a White Spot restaurant to plan an alternative, new “free enterprise” party.

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Four promises will anchor this envisioned party: economic growth, controlled spending, resource development, improved affordability and nothing more. However, that would be akin to drinking the same medicine that made the non-left sick in the first place.

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Johal described this coalition of “Harper Conservatives, Carney Liberals, Horgan New Democrats” as “Three tribes that used to spend their weekends attacking each other, now in the same room asking whether they want to win or want to be right.”

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For starters, Harper left office in 2015, John Horgan (Eby’s more impressive predecessor) became B.C. premier in 2017, and Mark Carney became Liberal leader and PM in 2025. These are not former enemies. Rather, they are three labels used to segment a glorified focus group whose members share a passion for White Spot’s famous Pirate Paks.

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People obviously cross partisan lines, but the label “Harper Conservative” in 2025 simply refers to some right-of-centre Canadians who can advise on taxes and nothing else. That is not actually a political tribe, as some of those same people are now “Carney Liberals.”

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Also, a clichéd, cookie-cutter platform of growth, controlled spending, resources, and affordability is not very sturdy. Very few governments will ever actually rein in spending anymore, and what sort of ambitious politician will not promise growth and affordability? There are depressingly few examples of either promise being fulfilled in Canada as well.

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At the end of the day, Canadian elections tend to be personality contests right now. People liked Horgan and like Carney because both passed the “beer test”; Carney, in particular, harnessed perverse Liberal nationalism. All of it was emotion, which former B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad failed to convey on most occasions. Most importantly, Carney has an impressive paper résumé as an international central banker to go along with his charisma and aura. Who in B.C. can come close to matching that? (There is perhaps only one, but that will be revealed later, if at all.)