The BC United party is in such a “precarious position” that it could cease to exist after the next provincial election, says the public opinion researcher who worked on former premier Christy Clark’s winning 2013 campaign.

“The battleground in British Columbia is shaping up to be the most interesting election since the 2013 surprise BC Liberal election victory,” says the research update written by Dimitri Pantazopoulos with Yorkville Strategies. “With about seven months until voters cast their ballots, we have a dead heat between the governing BC NDP and the BC Conservatives.”

Among decided voters, the company’s survey found 37 per cent support for the Conservatives under leader John Rustad and 35 per cent for Premier David Eby’s incumbent NDP.

BC United, which was renamed from the BC Liberal Party a little more than a year ago after Kevin Falcon became leader, and the BC Green Party led by Sonia Furstenau are trailing. At 16 per cent support, BC United is doing so poorly it “could result in the demise” of the party, the Monday update said.

The poll was not, however, good news for the governing NDP either.

“With the B.C. election on the horizon, the NDP can’t shake voters’ ongoing concerns about housing, affordability and health care,” it said. “The party that came to power in 2017 promising to ease the burden on British Columbians and improve health care now faces an electorate that doesn’t see progress on this front.”

  • TSG_Asmodeus (he, him)@lemmy.worldOP
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    7 months ago

    “With the B.C. election on the horizon, the NDP can’t shake voters’ ongoing concerns about housing, affordability and health care,” it said. “The party that came to power in 2017 promising to ease the burden on British Columbians and improve health care now faces an electorate that doesn’t see progress on this front.”

    Who exactly are the colossal idiots who think Conservatives are going to help with housing, affordability, or health care?

    • BlameThePeacock
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      7 months ago

      I’m a married white male homeowner, with a business, and a high family income.

      The policy choices they will make will be terrible from a social perspective in my opinion, but at least I’ll get more money as a consolidation prize if they win. I’d rather they lose.

      4 years in, people will realize that the Conservatives do not have their welfare in mind and will vote the NDP back in.

      • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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        7 months ago

        Ditto, I’m in the range that would benefit from top-heavy tax cuts and subsidies but I’m fucking done with our broken ass late stage capitalism… equality matters even if I’m one of the people benefiting from an unequal system.

        I think conservatives at large are going to face a real crisis once boomers finally leave the voting block since they seem to be unnaturally self-interested.

  • Apollonius_Cone@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Until there’s an election and voters realize if they vote Conservative they can say goodbye to their healthcare and then they stagger against their better judgement to the polling station and vote for someone else.

  • Beaver
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    7 months ago

    Yuck! The conservative frenzy has made its way here. Our services and housing has lowered in price and yet people wanna to reverse those gains.

  • psvrh
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    7 months ago

    Ontarian here.

    The number of times I’ve seen “BC housing strategy working out” and “BC actually slowing the trend of doctor loss” posts confuses me, because as a resident of a province ruled by a Conservative government I can’t imagine why you’d want to switch from a government that’s trying to do something for the electorate to one that’ll sell everything that’s not nailed down, and then sell the nails.

    • dot0@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      provincial parties, while often sharing a name with federal parties, are independent entities.

      despite the name, the BC NDP are squarely a conservative party.

      those posts you’ve been seeing are largely spin and copium.

      • TSG_Asmodeus (he, him)@lemmy.worldOP
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        7 months ago

        the BC NDP are squarely a conservative party.

        Other than their awful forestry calls, how is the BC NDP conservative? I know BC shifts right, but doesn’t that make them left-of-centre?

        • m0darn
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          7 months ago

          My impression has always been that the bc liberals (now bc united) were between the federal conservatives and the federal liberals, and the BC NDP were just a smidge left of the federal liberals.

          Now, where that falls on a “true” political spectrum can be debated but I’m not really interested in a clinical definition because I don’t live in a clinic.

          • TSG_Asmodeus (he, him)@lemmy.worldOP
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            7 months ago

            My impression has always been that the bc liberals (now bc united) were between the federal conservatives and the federal liberals, and the BC NDP were just a smidge left of the federal liberals.

            Now, where that falls on a “true” political spectrum can be debated but I’m not really interested in a clinical definition because I don’t live in a clinic.

            Oh I’m with you, the absolute specifics here aren’t particularly meaningful, and yes it was basically that the BC NDP were slightly left of the Federal Liberals. I’d argue the BC Liberals were basically the (old, like 15 years ago) Federal Conservatives. Basically neo-liberals.

            Again, it’s nit picking, as you said.

  • SamuelRJankis@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Can anyone confirm if the Transgender Sports bill is the only thing the BC Conservatives introduced in a fairly long time?

    Like that’s John Rustad only actual “contribution” as a MLA besides talking.

    • TSG_Asmodeus (he, him)@lemmy.worldOP
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      7 months ago

      I couldn’t find that, but I did see this fun bit of info:

      After nominating 56 candidates in 2013 and earning almost five per cent of the vote, the Conservatives entered the campaign for the 2017 provincial election without a leader. It nominated ten candidates, none of whom was elected.

      If this isn’t the Conservative ecosystem in a nutshell, I don’t know what is.

  • corsicanguppy
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    7 months ago

    Nullifying the vote of Surrey residents about their police force is probably unrelated to the NDP’s current state. Yep yep.