How John Rustad and Kevin Falcon put aside personal differences to reach a deal

A Sunday meeting over beers between Falcon's sister-in-law and the Conservative's campaign manager set the stage for a midnight deal. Read more

Published Aug 30, 2024  •  7 minute read

B.C. United Party leader Kevin Falcon appears at a press conference with Conservative Party leader John Rustad on Wednesday. Photo by Jason Payne /PNG

Last Sunday, B.C. United Leader Kevin Falcon was at Delta South MLA Ian Paton’s farm for the party’s annual Beans and Jeans event.

Joined by his wife, Jessica, and their two daughters, Josephine and Rose, Falcon stood in front of a field packed with 500 MLAs, candidates and supporters and gave a rousing speech meant to rally the troops and get them excited for what was expected to be a long month and a half of campaigning.

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“He took lots of selfies, lots of group photos with candidates and some of their supporters,” Paton said.

“Then I got up on the stage and introduced Kevin, and he made a great speech, as usual, about all the different things that United will fix in this province with our policy ideas. He hung around afterwards, probably right until 7:30 or eight o’clock at night, chatting with people.”

Plan in motion

But even as that speech was taking place, a plan was in motion that would lead B.C. United to drop out of the election campaign days later in a deal with the B.C. Conservatives.

The night before the Beans and Jeans event, at around 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Conservative campaign director Angelo Isidorou got a message from Caroline Elliott, United’s West Vancouver—Capilano candidate and Falcon’s sister-in-law, telling him they needed to meet.

“I was really surprised when Sunday was Beans and Jeans for them. So I thought, this is going to energize the party, and I just didn’t expect it,” Isidorou said about the reach-out from Elliott. “I’ve known Caroline for a couple of years and she said, ‘Hey, I really need to speak to you. Let’s go grab a drink.'”

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Both agreed to find a spot to talk the following evening, settling on the Brown’s Socialhouse on Lonsdale Avenue in North Vancouver.

Elliott left the Beans and Jeans event early and drove to North Van to meet with Isidorou, getting there around 7 p.m.

She said that initial meeting was simply meant as an opportunity to get on the same page and see, unlike during previous negotiations between the two parties, whether common ground could be found.

Elliott also admitted that business leaders, donors and other people close to the party had been pushing the two parties for months to make a deal and avoid a vote-split that would re-elect the NDP. A continued fall in the polls and in fundraising totals pushed B.C. United back to the negotiating table.

“What I communicated to Angelo is that, if there’s a chance we can meet and we can reach a deal, Kevin is very, very serious, because from all the people he talks to across the province, our donors, it’s no secret our fundraising has not been great,” she said.

The pair ultimately decided there was enough common ground to go ahead.

Negotiating for real

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Serious negotiations started at 2 p.m. on Tuesday with Isidorou and Elliott joined by Conservative president Aisha Estey and United executive director Lindsay Coté in a Vancouver boardroom.

Isidorou said he realized United was serious about reaching an agreement when Elliott slammed down her party’s entire file of opposition research on Conservative candidates.

“That, to me, was the tell that this was sincere,” he said.

Two hours later, Falcon joined the negotiations after arriving from a forestry policy announcement in Victoria, walking in with what Isidorou described as a “very gracious, very sincere and very humble” attitude.

By 9 p.m., enough progress had been made for Isidorou to fetch Rustad for the first face-face meeting between the party leaders in the two years since Falcon kicked Rustad out of the United caucus.

As late as Tuesday morning, Falcon had been slamming the party for standing by Prince George Mackenzie candidate Rachel Weber, who in the past made comments on Facebook about 5G cellular service being a “genocidal weapon” and predicting the coming of the antichrist.

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Isidorou said he was “on pins and needles” over how the meeting would go. Elliott said she was not super optimistic a deal could be reached.

Despite this, both said that all previous animosity was put aside and by the time midnight came, a deal had been reached in principle.

“There really wasn’t any tension, as far as I could tell, because Kevin came from such a perspective of sincerity, and obviously John was very open to accepting it,” said Isidorou.

Elliott said she understands the hurt many B.C. United MLAs, candidates and staff are feeling but believes Falcon did what was best for the party and for the province.

“We had no idea whether these conversations would go anywhere or not until late Tuesday night, when an agreement was reached to move forward on Wednesday,” she said.

“We had prepared lists of folks that we wanted to call to make sure that they were informed in a way that made sense and was sensitive to the huge impact on their lives. Unfortunately there was a leak, and that leak took on the life of its own and this really was probably one of the most upsetting parts … was the fact that people who were very, very important to Kevin found out on Twitter, and that’s not something that any of us wanted.”

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B.C. United Party leader Kevin Falcon sakes hands with B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad Photo by Jason Payne /PNG

Attracting the centrists

The challenge now for the Conservatives, said pollster Greg Lyles, is to reach centrist voters who maybe are not willing to support the NDP, but also find some of the Conservative’s policies around climate change and LGBTQ+ rights distasteful.

Lyles, who was the campaign director for then-B.C. Liberal leader Gordon Campbell during the 1996 election, recommended the party focus on economic messaging and policies such as getting rid of the carbon tax, an issue that is top of mind for voters given their present concerns around affordability, and developing natural resource projects.

“If you’re a B.C. Conservative candidate and you’re on a doorstep, tell voters to grab their Fortis B.C. bill from February and take a look at how much carbon tax they are paying,” he said.

“And then say, ‘Here’s a document from the federal government or the provincial government website that tells you how much that’s going to increase. How can the NDP possibly claim to understand your problems when they’ve already told you you’re gonna have to pay that much more for heat?'”

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Not everyone is prepared to buy that message, however.

Longtime B.C. Liberal and federal Liberal strategist Mark Marissen, who is also former premier Christy Clark’s ex-husband, and former B.C. Liberal health minister Terry Lake have both announced they might vote for the NDP.

Former B.C. Liberal member Vikram Singh Bajwa, who sued the party after the 2022 leadership race and was subsequently sued by his own lawyers over unpaid bills, has also started a petition for B.C. United members to join the NDP and says 4,800 have already done so.

“There’s no Liberal party anymore, and what Rustad and Falcon have created is not a coalition of liberals and conservatives. It’s a coalition of conservatives and conservatives,” Marissen said. “We have no real home for Liberals in the province anymore. So the closest thing that you have is the NDP.”

Rustad’s big tent party

For his part, Rustad says he wants his party to be open to all British Columbians so long as they believe there is a need for a return to common sense to British Columbia.

He said he would welcome anyone regardless of their past affiliations, whether that be B.C. United, Green or even NDP.

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“We want to make sure that everybody feels welcome as part of our party. As I’ve always said, It’s not about being conservative or liberal, NDP or Green for that matter. It’s just standing for what’s right, fighting for the average everyday person,” he said.

For Falcon and Rustad, however, the easy part is done, with all the photo ops and handshakes now in the past, and the hard work is just beginning.

Over the next few days, the two leaders will need to work together with Isidorou and Elliott to assemble a merged team that appeals to all British Columbians, with the outcome determining whether the Conservatives can get a shot at forming government or are relegated to the opposition benches.

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