Sitting MLA for West Vancouver-Sea to Sky, Jordan Sturdy, has revealed BC United has a candidate in the works for the riding—just not when they’ll be offered up to voters.
“I am not in the inner circle there in terms of what’s happening, but I do know there is a candidate that I’ve known for some time, a really good candidate that is working through the process,” Sturdy said in an interview with Pique on Aug. 7.
BC United is currently the only major British Columbian party to not have a candidate ready in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky for the upcoming provincial election in October. Sturdy first revealed he would be retiring at the next election in January 2024, and party leader Kevin Falcon said he expected the party to have a candidate ready to go “within 45 days” during an interview on March 7.
More than 150 days since then, the Green Party, the BC NDP and the surging BC Conservatives have all put up candidates. When contacted previously by Pique in May, a BC United spokesperson said the party was “work[ing] at a fast pace to nominate exceptional candidates across British Columbia,” and that it would declare a candidate in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky when it had one.
Sturdy, who has held the riding for the BC Liberals and now BC United since 2013, acknowledged that having a candidate in the race by now would be better for the party.
“Clearly the longer people are in the race the better in many regards, although I’m not sure how well that’s going to play out overall for the Green candidate that’s been on the campaign trail for six years now … we’ll see how that plays out,” he said, referring to Green candidate Jeremy Valeriote, who was the challenger who almost unseated Sturdy in 2020 but fell short by only 60 votes, and who was back for more in an unusually-early declaration as the Green candidate in April of 2023—a full 18 months ahead of the scheduled election.
Other challengers for the next election, such as the NDP’s Jen Ford, and the Conservatives’ Yuri Fulmer, have been on the trail for less time, with Ford declared in May, and Fulmer in July.
“Obviously it would be nicer if [BC United] had a candidate sometime back,” said Sturdy.
When first interviewed on his pending retirement in January, the BC Conservatives were surging in polling—a development Sturdy said at the time made them a potential spoiler for the centre-right effort to oust the incumbent NDP government. Since then, the Conservatives have maintained a steady second place in provincial polling behind the NDP, while BC United has seen its numbers soften and in some polls, fall to fourth place.
Sturdy acknowledged the landscape has changed a lot since January, “but we’re not at election day," he said.
“Ultimately the only poll that counts is on Oct. 19. How that plays out provincially is impossible to say. I will say that my colleagues that I’ve worked with over the last several years are good people. They’re experienced and knowledgeable, and I believe they’re electable and will be elected.”
Sturdy said he believes voters will look elsewhere from the NDP once they start paying closer attention, and offered up potential debates as reason for his confidence it wouldn’t be the Conservatives.
“The other thing that has proven a game changer, is as recently as a couple of weeks ago there was a candidates debate that changed the landscape in a dramatic way,” he said, referring to the rapidly changing election in the United States.
That change could come to British Columbia, according to Sturdy.
“Right now we have the Conservative party riding on the coattails of Pierre Poilievre, they’re riding on that confusion. There’s no doubt about it," he said.
“When we have to start talking about what the policies are, there really isn’t a lot there with the Conservatives … I think when people start paying a bit more attention and when there is an all candidates debate, then you’ll start to see the leadership in person, and start to see a more robust discussion about policy and direction.
“Kevin has a lot of experience and the proven leadership. From a policy perspective, we’re on the right track.”
Such a debate is unlikely to occur this month, Sturdy added.
“Hopefully we’ll see that in September after the writ drops, and that can be a game changer for everybody," he said. "I guess we’re going to have to wait and see.”
The next election is scheduled to take place on or before Oct. 19.
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