BC United Leader Kevin Falcon speaks after the former BC Liberal Party unveiled its new name and branding, in Surrey, April 12, 2023. Now dormant, the party is still a registered political entity with the formal ballot name of 'BC United (formerly known as the BC Liberal Party).'DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Former supporters of the mothballed BC Liberal Party are mulling how to reclaim the party’s name in an effort to resurrect a centrist coalition and fill a widening gap in provincial politics.
A group of those supporters met Saturday to plot a potential comeback. A 19-page slide deck circulated before the meeting emphasized the importance of the Liberal name, saying it is well recognized in B.C. and “already means something here.”
The presentation also cited the success of the federal Liberals under Prime Minister Mark Carney, saying they “won back voters from across the spectrum by leading with competence and a plan to build – not by picking an ideological side.”
Members of the group were motivated after the May 30 election of Kerry-Lynne Findlay as BC Conservative Leader. Ms. Findlay, who vowed during the leadership race to stop a “Liberal takeover” of the province, is seen by some to be steering the Conservative Party toward a more populist brand of politics that has galvanized supporters but left moderates without a political home.
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Mark Marissen, a political strategist and former national Liberal campaign co-chair who participated in Saturday’s meeting, said that “the Canadian Liberal brand is one of the most successful brands in the world.”
“Almost every riding in the province, either federally or provincially, in the last 10 years has been represented by a Liberal,” he said.
But reclaiming the name is easier said than done. Under leader Kevin Falcon, the BC Liberal Party officially changed its name to BC United in April, 2023, in a disastrous rebranding effort that confused – and repelled – supporters. Now dormant, the party is still a registered political entity with the formal ballot name of “BC United (formerly known as the BC Liberal Party).”
Under the B.C. Elections Act, a new party cannot be registered if any part of its identification is likely to be confused with another party that is currently registered or that has been registered in the past 10 years.
Mr. Marissen called the name change under Mr. Falcon “the biggest mistake anybody’s made” in the province’s political history as it left voters wondering what BC United was about.
The slide deck suggested two ways to claim the Liberal name. One would be to register a temporary name that is used only where required by the rules, while publicly going by the Liberal Party of British Columbia until counsel can settle the issue. The other would be to take over and rebrand BC United.
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Climate scientist and former BC Green leader Andrew Weaver, who is among disaffected centrists looking for a political home, also participated in Saturday’s meeting. He said he joined the BC Conservative Party to vote for Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar in the leadership race, but gave up his membership as soon as Ms. Findlay won. Mr. Milobar, himself a former BC United MLA, was the first candidate eliminated.
Mr. Weaver called the governing NDP fiscally irresponsible and the Conservatives under Ms. Findlay too divisive. As for the Greens, he said the party he once led has “pivoted to ecosocialism” and is “virtue signalling its way through the wilderness.”
He implored BC United to let others take over the party and name.
“That would be the simplest route, rather than, you know, try to put forward a bunch of names like West Coast Liberals or Liberal Party of the Pacific,” he said.
(Asked about such name variations, Elections BC said it is unlikely that another party would be able to register using the Liberal name given the likelihood of confusion, but that each request is reviewed on its individual merits.)
Stewart Prest, a political scientist at the University of British Columbia, said the Liberal name serves as a signal to its place on the political spectrum: broadly politically progressive, but financially responsible. However, such an agenda need not be attached to the Liberals, he said.
“Particularly under John Horgan, that was what the NDP was aiming to be,” Prof. Prest said. “It was an incrementalist progressive party that really placed an emphasis on trying to keep the books balanced, and it is something that the party has clearly moved away from under David Eby.”
Prof. Prest is also skeptical that a newly reconstituted BC Liberal Party would automatically be competing to form government.
“I think it’s more likely it would be bleeding a certain amount of support away from both the NDP and the Conservatives, introducing yet more unpredictability into B.C. politics,” he said.
An online Research Co. poll of 803 adults in B.C., conducted after the BC Conservatives’ leadership race, found that party to be tied with the NDP, with each party receiving the support of 42 per cent of decided voters.
Almost half (47 per cent) of respondents said they believed that B.C. needs a centre-right party, and 41 per cent said it’s time to bring back the BC Liberals.
An additional voting intention question that included the BC Liberals as an option found the NDP leading, with the support of 35 per cent of decided voters, followed by the BC Conservatives (34 per cent) and Liberals (15 per cent).
The poll was conducted June 3 to 5 and the data statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region in B.C.