Achi news desk-
Conservative Party leader Pierre Pouillet speaks during a rally in Ottawa on March 24.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
As federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poiliber prepares to hold a rally Monday on Vancouver Island, a new poll suggests the provincial Conservative Party in British Columbia is benefiting from his popularity despite no official ties between the two parties.
56% of federal Conservative voters likely support the provincial Conservatives over BC United, the other centre-right party, according to poll by the Angus Reid Institute.
The same poll found two in five federal Conservative supporters say they don’t know BC Conservative Leader John Rostad, but those who do are more positive than not in their views of him.
Angus Reid’s findings are based on an online survey conducted between February 28 and March 6, with a random survey of 809 adult respondents. It has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
The Poilievre effect appears to be having a pronounced impact on British Columbia politics, with the provincial Conservative Party, which has two members in the 87-seat legislature, recently winning support over the official opposition BC United, which has 26 seats.
At one time, the BC United Party ran under the name BC Liberals, and was the dominant party challenging the NDP in the province. The NDP currently governs under Prime Minister David Ivey and holds 55 seats.
The BC Liberals governed from 2001 to 2017 under Premiers Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark. BC United’s current leader, Kevin Falcon, was a senior cabinet minister in both premierships.
While the two conservative parties in the province are challenging each other, both emphasize their connection to Mr. Pouillet.
On March 12, BC Conservative Leader Jon Rostad posted on X, noting that his party stands with Mr. Poiliber in calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mr. Ivey to “drop the tax” — to eliminate carbon pricing. The publication featured side-by-side headshots of Mr. Poilever and Mr. Rostad.
Two days later, Mr. Falcone, speaking for BC United, posted a photo on X of himself shaking Mr. Poilever’s hand, saying he was joining Conservative and Liberal premiers from across Canada “in standing up to Pierre Pouillet’s call to advance immigration. British Columbians just won’t Can afford another David Eby NDP carbon tax hike.”
British Columbia and Quebec have their own carbon pricing systems, which means the federal carbon price is not implemented there. In 2008, BC introduced North America’s first broad carbon pricing.
The provincial Conservatives have promised to scrap provincial carbon pricing. BC United will remove the levy if the federal Conservatives win power in the next election and get rid of it nationwide.
In Nanaimo on Monday, Mr. Peuilber makes his case for eliminating federal carbon pricing.
“There was certainly some overlap and help from that,” county Conservative leader John Rostad said in an interview about Mr. Peuilber’s campaign.
“We appreciate it, obviously,” he said.
Mr. Rostad said he has met Mr. Poilevare several times, and some members of his party support the federal party’s policies, but there is no official relationship between the two.
Mr. Rostad once served as a cabinet minister with the BC Liberals, holding the Aboriginal Relations and Forestry portfolios Under Ms. Clarke. He was removed from the BC Liberals by Mr. Falcon in August 2022, for sharing a social media post questioning climate change.
Shachi Correll, president of the Angus Reid Institute, said that while Mr. Rostad is relatively unknown to many British Columbians, and certainly less well-known than BC United leader Mr. Falcon, his party enjoys the same level of support.
“So it does speak to the power of branding and the power of the Conservative brand and it very clearly lifts the BC Conservative Party.”
Angus Reid’s analysis suggests that Mr Rostad’s net preference is higher than Mr Falcon’s.
Political scientist Hamish Telford of the University of the Fraser Valley said he saw no sign that Mr. Poilever specifically favored one of the center-right parties over the other — he took Mr. Ivey, most recently over carbon pricing.
“But I do think it’s the case that the BC Conservatives benefit simply by being brand-recognized by Mr. Poilievre’s popularity,” he said.
Mr. Falcone was not available for an interview, but Adam Wilson, communications director for BC United, said the BC Conservatives are “a frivolous party that got 1.91% of the vote in 2020 with no affiliation to the federal Conservative Party of Canada.”
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