NDP Quickly Pounces On Falcon, Saying BC Liberals Turn Back To Old Ideas That Don’t Work For British Columbians!

Frontrunner Kevin Falcon took five rounds to defeat main challenger Ellis Ross to capture the BC Liberal leadership Saturday night at the Wall Centre hotel in Vancouver. While it took five rounds of tabulating the votes, Falcon was able to win easily with over 53 percent of the votes (4541.35 points) over his main challenger Ross who received over 33 percent of the votes (2928.33 points) while Michael Lee finished third with over 14 percent of the votes in a field of seven candidates. 

By R. Paul Dhillon – Editor-Founder DESIBUZZCanada

VANCOUVER – Frontrunner Kevin Falcon took five rounds to defeat main challenger Ellis Ross to capture the BC Liberal leadership Saturday night at the Wall Centre hotel in Vancouver.

While it took five rounds of tabulating the votes, Falcon was able to win easily with over 53 percent of the votes (4541.35 points) over his main challenger Ross who received over 33 percent of the votes (2928.33 points) while Michael Lee finished third with over 14 percent of the votes in a field of seven candidates. 

NDP was quick to pounce on Falcon’s win, saying by electing Falcon, the BC Liberals have doubled down on decades-old, failed ideas that help the very wealthiest British Columbians while making life harder for everyone else.

They said  Falcon’s 12-year record in government includes:

*Hiking car insurance rates while raiding funds from ICBC;

*Increasing MSP Premiums and implementing bridge tolls;

*Ignoring housing speculation and kickstarting BC’s housing crisis;

*Bringing in tax breaks for the richest 1%;

*Cutting services including hospitals, schools, and social supports.

 And NDP said his views haven’t changed. In the leadership race, Falcon has:

*Opposed ICBC changes that are saving people an average of $490 a year;

*Said removing tolls was “terrible public policy”;

*Promised to scrap the BC NDP’s housing speculation tax;

*Supported tax cuts for the top income bracket that would lead to service cuts for everyone else.

 He kicked off his campaign by telling media that the $166,000 Opposition Leader salary would be a “financial sacrifice” for him and closed it by mocking BC NDP MLAs who come from regular jobs like firefighting, nursing, and the trades.

 “Instead of renewing their party, the BC Liberals have turned back to old, out-of-touch ideas that don’t work for people. Kevin Falcon’s tax giveaways for the top 1% would mean service cuts and higher costs for everyone else. His record shows that he’s in it for the wealthy and well-connected and would make life harder for the rest of us,” said BC NDP MLA Niki Sharma:

Here are what Falcon’s MLAs are saying about him:

 “A leader from the past that’s gonna belabor us with baggage and not be able to take us into this future.” -Renee Merrifield

 “B.C. Liberals, you have to make a choice: do you want to go with the status quo that has actually failed to deliver a good government in terms of the B.C. Liberals? We can choose to double down on what has failed in the past and held our party back. Or we can choose change.” -Ellis Ross

 “The old BC Liberal formula that worked for 16 years, it’s not relevant anymore… I don’t believe that culture, that playbook will beat the NDP in 2024.” -Val Litwin

 “Your old style of politics, your backroom deals only erodes trust in our party, Kevin. And your old style of politics and the way that you demonstrate this again is not the way we’re going to win the next election.” -Michael Lee

 “It’s 2021. Netflix just won seven Oscars. We can’t be digging in the discount bin at Blockbuster looking for our renewal story. We need to move forward. We’re all saying the right things, but it comes down to a leader whose baggage from the past won’t overshadow our future.” -Gavin Dew

 “What the Kevin Falcon campaign is putting out there, the tone, the accountability, the behavior. It doesn’t work for me and I’m putting that flag in the sand.” -Val Litwin

 “Kevin, why do you think you will win the next general election when the old Liberal guard you represented lost the last two elections?” -Stan Sipos

 “There is only one choice before us. We can cling to the old ways and the baggage of the past and lose, again. Or we can move forward together and win.” -Gavin Dew

 “The province and party needs renewal. But if Kevin Falcon is elected I will leave the B.C. Liberals because this will signal business as usual, not renewal.”  -Val Litwin