VICTORIA — The caucus chair for British Columbia's official opposition has defected to the BC Conservatives, adding to BC United's woes ahead of the provincial election next fall.
BC Conservative Leader John Rustad and Lorne Doerkson, who represents the central Interior riding of Cariboo-Chilcotin, announced the move on Friday. The floor-crossing increases the party's numbers in the legislature to three.
Doerkson's departure from BC United comes after talks broke down between the two right-of-centre parties as they tried to settle on a deal to avoid vote splitting that would benefit the incumbent NDP government.
In an interview on Friday, Doerkson said he believes the Conservatives have the momentum to win and beat David Eby's New Democrats at the polls in October.
"Frankly, I think (the decision has) been coming for a while. It just seems to fit the Cariboo. I mean, this is an incredible grassroots movement happening across British Columbia," he said.
Doerkson said he believes that many of the voters who chose him under the banner of BC United, still the BC Liberals at the time, now support the Conservatives.
He said their concerns include carbon pricing and struggles in the forestry industry.
Earlier this month, the Conservatives rejected a proposal by BC United to create a "non-competition" agreement, with each leader blaming the other for the collapse.
Doerkson said he doesn't know if he agrees with the decision not to strike a deal.
"I think the fact is they didn't," he said.
Doerkson was first elected in 2020 and has served as BC United's shadow minister for water, land and resource stewardship and rural development, as well as emergency management and climate readiness.
Rustad called Doerkson "a good person whose heart is in the right place."
"He has done a lot of work on the ground, supporting his riding through the very challenging fire periods," he said in an interview on Friday.
"He works very hard on supporting people and advocating on behalf of his constituents."
Rustad said his party is "prepared to have conversations" with any other MLAs who might be interested in crossing the floor, but he wouldn't say if those talks were happening.
"It's not something that I would talk about in the media," he said.
Both Rustad and fellow BC Conservative Bruce Banman were previously members of BC United under the party's former name, the BC Liberals.
In a statement, BC United director of communications Adam Wilson said the party is disappointed in Doerkson's decision.
"Lorne's decision was driven by concern over polls and the desire to protect his government-funded pension, and he will need to defend that decision at the only poll that actually counts — on election day," he said.
Recent polling suggested BC United has about 12 per cent of the popular vote with less than five months before the election.
At an unrelated press conference, Premier David Eby said his government is focused on what matters to people in B.C., including housing and health care.
"It's very clear to me that the focus of John Rustad, (BC United Leader) Kevin Falcon, and all these politicians in their party, is how do we save our own skin?"
Before Doerkson's move, the standings in the 87-seat B.C. legislature were: 55 NDP, 25 BC United, three B.C. Greens, two B.C. Conservatives and two Independents.
The number of seats is set to jump to 93 for the next election and Rustad said he plans to run a full slate of candidates.
— By Ashley Joannou in Vancouver
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2024.
The Canadian Press
