THE NDP pointed out on Tuesday that BC United Party Leader Kevin Falcon says he is open to working with BC Conservative Leader John Rustad and other political extremists in a desperate attempt to get power.
“I’m always open to working with anybody that wants to defeat the NDP, obviously,” Falcon told reporters last week.
The NDP noted that as recently as October, Falcon told a business audience in Mission that the Conservatives are not a serious party: ”They’re not ready to govern because even on the basic of getting good candidates, this will get them in trouble because they’re desperate to have anyone around.”
Last year, Falcon kicked Rustad out of the BC United Party caucus after he questioned the science of climate change. Following a terrible rebrand effort, Falcon is now willing to reverse his previous decision and welcome Rustad back into his party, the NDP added.
It said that recently, Rustad has:
- Compared teaching SOGI in British Columbia schools to the Indian Residential School system;
- Proposed to “End the government’s court case against private clinics and unleash the power of private-sector innovation” in our healthcare system;
- Imported American culture war rhetoric to ban books in school libraries;
- Championed anti-vaccine groups and demanded the firing of Dr. Bonnie Henry;
- Said climate change “is not a crisis” and promised to scrap CleanBC.
Falcon has already adopted the BC Conservative position of abandoning climate action, in a year of record wildfires.
NDP MLA Bob D’Eith said: “Just over a year ago, Kevin Falcon kicked John Rustad out of the BCUP for denying the reality of climate change. Now Falcon is talking about working together. Kevin Falcon will say anything to get elected, including courting political extremists like John Rustad.”
