According to the Vancouver Sun, the leaders of two center-right parties in B.C. confirmed that they are in private talks about working together to defeat the ruling B.C. New Democrats. The form of cooperation is not yet known.
For the fourth consecutive poll, the Conservatives are in second place, followed by Premier David Eby's New Democrats, and the Coalition is in third.
Coalition leader Kevin Falcon said he would not negotiate in public, but acknowledged that "representatives of both sides are discussing to see if we can find common ground while recognizing that the real enemy is the NDP government."
联合党领袖冯宜干（Kevin Falcon）
"Frankly, I think another four years of the NDP government will be devastating to B.C.'s economy," Feng told reporters in Victoria on Tuesday. That's why we have to put aside our own egos, our own partisan issues, and everything else to figure out if there's common ground. ”
John Rustad, the leader of the Conservative Party, said he had not been approached directly about a potential merger, but he said there had been informal conversations between "various business groups" in recent days.
保守党领袖罗仕德(John Rustad)
"There's some potential between the two parties to do something, but it's limited," he said. I am always open to discussions. At the end of the day, we want to be representative of all people in B.C. ”
Given the poor results in the B.C. Coalition polls, "it's not surprising that they have some concerns about the future," Rossted said. ”
An online Abacus Data poll released yesterday shows that if elections are held today, the B.C. NDP will win with 40% support, and the B.C. Conservative Party will become the official opposition party with 34% support. The BC Coalition Party came in third with 13% support, followed by the BC. Greens with 10% support. (The poll error is expected to be plus or minus 3.1 percentage points).
"Obviously, I'm not excited about the numbers," Feng said, adding that the results were very different from the positive feedback from the people who attended the town hall meetings he held across the province.
Despite spending $1 million on advertising campaigns and advertising during Canadians' games, he acknowledged that potential voters are still unfamiliar with the Unity BC brand and that the Conservatives are riding a ride on federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.
Feng Yigan said that during the election campaign, the results of the polls could change dramatically, because by then potential voters will be able to evaluate the political platforms of the parties and individual candidates.
BC省长尹大卫（David Eby）
It is clear that David Yoon is taking the poll results very seriously as he attacks Rosshide more and more. At last week's press conference on ICBC's latest tax refund, David Yoon attacked Luo Shide seven times, mentioning Feng Yigan only three times.
At a press conference on childcare in Victoria on Tuesday, David Wan mentioned Rossted or the Conservative Party more than a dozen times, and not once did he mention Mr. Fung.
Asked if he thought Roosted's bipartisan MPs were now the main rivals of the NDP, Yoon said: "It was clear to me from the beginning that the Conservatives were a real threat. ”
"They're going to make B.C. pay in a very concrete way. Cancel school projects, rekindle the fire of ICBC's trash cans, cancel ICBC rebates, cancel BCHydro's rebates. Just last week, women's right to choose was questioned. ”
David Yoon was referring to a statement made by B.C. Conservative MP Bruce Banman in Parliament last week on Mother's Day, where he defined motherhood as "from the moment of conception," which the B.C. NDP called a "dog whistle" or code word to anti-abortion activists.
Rossted made it clear Tuesday that the party would not reopen the abortion debate, but he also said B.C. Conservative candidates "can have their own opinions" on the issue.
This is in response to a post on social media by Damon Scrase, the B.C. conservative candidate for Courtney-Comox, who wrote: "The most frantically defended 'right' in this country is the right to kill babies. ”
Gerald Baier, a political scientist at UBC University, said David Yoon was clearly trying to make the B.C. Conservative Party "look as scary as possible."
"It's obviously interesting that the fourth consecutive poll shows that the Conservatives are not far behind (behind the New Democrats of B.C.), and that the United B.C. Party, which has been the opposition or ruling party for 25 years, is clearly interesting. All this leads to what some political scientists call a regrouping. ”
With the Oct. 19 provincial elections just five months away, it may be difficult for the two parties to merge, Bayer said.
He questioned the party's name and who would be the leader.
"I don't think there's any interest in ceding leadership to the other right now," Bayer said. ”
Both Rothed and Fung said they would be committed to fielding candidates in all 93 constituencies, which seems to rule out not fielding candidates in certain constituencies to avoid splitting the right and putting the NDP in a strong position in swing districts.
The BC Conservative Party has nominated 63 candidates and the BC Coalition Party has nominated 53 candidates.
Rosshide and Feng are getting closer on a number of issues, including a bipartisan call this week for the NDP government in B.C. to end vaccine mandates that exclude unvaccinated health care workers. The B.C. Supreme Court upheld vaccination provisions in a ruling this week, rejecting a constitutional challenge filed by 15 health care workers.
If he becomes governor, he will fire provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry to overturn the provincial health order, Roosted said.