Could a right wing coalition save the BC Liberals?
Posted January 18, 2012 3:23 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – With the latest polls showing the BC Conservatives and NDP gaining ground, some are suggesting a right-of-centre coalition would be the best for the struggling Liberal party.
Dennis Pilon is a political scientist and associate professor at York University. He says there’s a long history of the provincial right getting together. “In the end, they’ve always decided to join forces. The only time the NDP has come to power is when these two forces haven’t been able to work out a compromise.”
In a new academic book yet to be released, Pilon goes back to the 1930’s and the centre-right dominating the elections.
Pilon says with the next provincial election scheduled for May of next year, the people with the cash behind both the Liberals and Conservatives could push for a merger. “If it’s the case of letting the New Democrats come to power, the funders behind the parties will say, ‘Get it together.’ And of course, with that power, they could threaten to remove their funding.”
He adds there are slight differences between the two, but it would be easy enough for them to get along. “They do have differences, and that’s why the relationship is fraught with tension. That’s why you see these blow-ups occur from time to time, but historically, they’ve almost always managed to get it together.”
Just last week, Premier Christy Clark hired a former advisor to Stephen Harper.
