BC United Leader Kevin Falcon, back right, with BC Conservative leader John Rustad in Vancouver in 2024.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Elections BC has fined the BC United party for fraudulent election activities during the precampaign period for the 2024 provincial vote.
An investigation by the non-partisan election agency found that BC United, which at that time served as B.C.’s official opposition party, hired an agency to run a false campaign to undermine its rival: the BC Conservative party.
“The distribution of false information during elections can undermine public confidence in our democratic institutions and the security of our elections,” wrote Kerry Pridmore, deputy chief electoral officer, in the report released Wednesday.
An August, 2024, campaign attacking BC Conservative leader John Rustad was purported to have been created by a group of Conservative Party of BC members, and included false statements attributed to Teresa Wat, a Conservative MLA.
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When questioned by Elections BC, the private ad agency responsible for the campaign said the pamphlets and a website they created, www.firejohnrustad.ca, were directed and paid for by BC United.
The subterfuge would have ended with the tumultuous shift in B.C. politics that August, when BC United leader Kevin Falcon suspended his party’s election campaign and endorsed Mr. Rustad and his BC Conservatives, just weeks ahead of the formal campaign period.
BC United, the successor to the once-ruling BC Liberals, remains moribund today while the BC Conservatives serve as the province’s official opposition party. Mr. Falcon is still technically leader, but the party has had no profile since the election. Mr. Falcon could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Mr. Rustad, in an interview, said he was unaware of BC United’s role in the campaign against him. “But that makes sense. I mean, they did everything they could to try to undermine me and get rid of me before Kevin Falcon pulled the pin,” he said. “They were desperate.”
British Columbia’s centre-right has usually coalesced under a single banner. The Liberals ruled B.C. for 16 years before falling to an NDP-led minority government in 2017. Mr. Falcon took over the Liberals in the wake of that loss and decided to change his party’s name to BC United in a rebranding exercise that went wrong, as the party lost support in the polls.
The centre-right coalition fractured after Mr. Falcon tossed Mr. Rustad from the Liberal caucus in 2022 for publicly expressing skepticism that climate change is caused by humans. Mr. Rustad, who was elected five times under the BC Liberal banner, then revived the BC Conservative Party, almost winning the 2024 election.
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The Conservatives have since been mired in internal strife, however, and Mr. Rustad was forced out as party leader in December after a “fire John Rustad” campaign did emerge, this time from his own party and caucus. Conservatives will choose their new leader on May 30.
The Elections BC fine of $4,500 is small, but the BC United party is in serious financial distress since abandoning the election campaign. The fine is for “transmitting a false statement to affect election results.”
Elections BC investigators tracked the initial “fire John Rustad” campaign to a public relations firm, Sovereign North. The company was ordered to produce receipts to show who paid for the work.
Sovereign North indicated the advertising campaign had been commissioned by the BC United party through the campaign manager and the director of communications. The report does not name those individuals but says both have left the party.
The party initially denied paying for the campaign. After Elections BC provided the party with a copy of Sovereign North’s retainer, however, BC United agreed it had a consulting services agreement with the firm, but said that the party’s top brass were unaware of the campaign.