Carson Jerema: OK B.C. Conservatives, let’s not do *that* again

Article content

The speed with which the B.C. Conservative party contained its internal chaos to put together a professional campaign team in time for David Eby’s hilariously self-serving snap election is impressive. The party had devolved to such a state of dysfunction that it very well could have been facing electoral oblivion.

Article content

After former leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay was persuaded to step down on Sunday amid a full on caucus rebellion, the party’s board of directors moved quickly and appointed the aggressively normal Lorne Doerkson as interim leader, who then persuaded most MLAs who had fled to return to the fold, recruited some other competent candidates and hired experienced campaign staff.

Article content

Article content

Article content

That professional infrastructure could be more than enough to embarrass Eby and toss him out of office two years early. Indeed, the Conservatives are now leading the NDP, 43 per cent to 35 per cent, according to an Angus Reid poll released Thursday.

Article content

Article content

However, the underlying problems that plagued the Conservatives, and are plaguing conservative parties across the Western world, are not going away. The tension between what party members expect and what party leadership can deliver is as unsolvable a problem as it ever was.

Article content

Even if the Conservatives win the election and Doerkson becomes premier, according to the party’s constitution and bylaws, he could be ineligible from becoming the permanent leader. A leadership election must be called within a year of Findlay’s resignation, and the rules state pretty clearly that “An Interim Leader may not be a Leadership Candidate.”

Article content

So, under a strict reading of the rules, Doerkson could lead the party to victory only to be swiftly shown the door. Now that could theoretically lead to a situation where the premier and party leader are different people. Either way, this is a set up for further dysfunction.

Article content

Article content

After the NDP raised the possibility that voters cannot count on Doerkson staying on as leader, giving the party’s past instability, the Conservative board put out a sensible statement on Wednesday.

Article content

“When Mr. Doerkson leads the Party to victory on October 24, he will remain Leader,” the statement read. “The Board will pursue the appropriate means under the Party’s Constitution and Bylaws and the Societies Act to give effect to this intention.”

Article content

That the board cannot change the constitution without membership approval is a valid point, but promising a solution to this unusual problem was obviously the right thing to do.

Article content

It was the right thing to do that is, unless you are a B.C. Conservative member who feels disenfranchised. Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s supporters are angry, and, honestly they have every right to be. Even though she was, by all accounts, gutting the party from the inside out, and the party board was right to pressure her into resigning, if that is what happened, to a rank and file member, it might look like a stitch up.

Article content

Much of the reaction on social media to the statement that Doerkson would remain leader if he won the election was quite negative. As with any social media controversy, it is hard to tell who is, or was, a B.C. Conservative member, but I imagine, at least some of the people posting angry responses are.