Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge MP Marc Dalton tweeted out his support of the BC United scuttling their campaign and getting behind the BC Conservative party, saying vote splitting on the right side of the political spectrum cost him his seat as an MLA in the past.
" As a former B.C. Liberal MLA, I applaud Kevin Falcon’s announcement to suspend BC United’s (formerly BC Liberals) campaign and support [BC Conservatives and John Rustad]" he tweeted. "This can very well make the difference of stopping the [BC NDP] from securing another disastrous 4 year majority."
"In 2017, I narrowly lost because of the vote split on the right... and just one seat allowed the NDP and Greens to form government."
Dalton lost a tight 2017 provincial election when Bob D'Eith took the Maple Ridge-Mission seat for the NDP. D'Eith garnered 10,989 votes to Dalton's 10,664.
The difference between the two was a mere 325 votes, and Dalton believes he would have covered that difference if there had not been a Conservative candidate in the race, who took 935 votes – as both the B.C. Liberals and Conservatives were at the right of the spectrum from the NDP.
The Liberals won 43 seats – one off a majority of the 87 MLAs elected. The NDP formed a coalition with their 41 seats and three held by the Green Party.
Dalton said the BC NDP would also be a hindrance to Pierre Poilievre and a federal Conservative government should they be successful in a national election, on issues such as cutting the carbon tax, and putting a focus on treatment and recovery rather than harm reduction.
"I'm concerned a provincial government under Eby and the NDP would stymie initiatives by Poilievre and the Conservatives."
But NDP Leader David Eby was in Maple Ridge on Sept. 6 for a local campaign launch, and said he has proven that he can put politics aside and work with anybody.
"The thing I've been surprised by is some of the good collaboration that I've had with Danielle Smith next door in Alberta, and in fact with some mayors who have pretty conservative views – we can all work together on some major projects," he said. "What I'm interest in is people who want to get stuff done.
"I'm prepared to work with anyone in Ottawa, and I've certainly expressed my frustration about the current federal government's under-valuing of British Columbia in their major programs – everything from infrastructure planning to economic development – and prioritizing Quebec and Ontario.
"Whoever ends up in Ottawa, I sure hope they prioritize B.C. in a way that we deserve."
Eby also said Dalton shouldn't assume BC United supporters will move to the BC Conservatives.
"What I'm seeing is people who typically voted BC Liberal, who identify themselves as centrist voters, are coming over to our party, and I'm really glad to see it," said Eby.
NDP candidates D'Eith and Lisa Beare (Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows) each won by comfortable margins of more than 5,500 votes in the 2020 provincial election.
