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BC United has pulled in $2.6 million in donations and subsidies this year, and Leader Kevin Falcon wouldn't say Wednesday what will happen to any cash that remains.
It won't be going directly to the BC Conservatives. Elections BC forbids parties from transferring money, property and services to another party.
But while United won’t run any candidates, Falcon said the party will continue to exist, which could allow it to use any available funds for ads supporting the Conservatives.
Money was a factor in Falcon’s wrenching decision to throw in the towel and effectively end the party’s run Wednesday, just seven weeks before election day on Oct. 19.
Falcon told reporters he’d heard from “thousands” of potential supporters who were withholding support because they were concerned that the two right-wing parties would end up splitting the vote, allowing the BC NDP to win the upcoming provincial election and again form government.
“It's not because people didn't want to support us…. What they're saying to me is we're not going to support any of you guys until you figure out how to make sure you don't split the vote and elect an NDP government,” Falcon said. “That was a very common thing.”
As The Tyee has previously reported, many donors who had previously given money to BC United (formerly the BC Liberals) decided instead to support the Conservatives as the best option to defeat the BC NDP.
Between January and the end of August, the Conservative Party of BC raised $1,491,674. BC United was close behind with $1,450,593. And both were eclipsed by the BC NDP’s haul of $3,388,254 in the same period, according to records from Elections BC.
Political parties also receive taxpayer-funded allowances if they meet certain criteria. According to Elections BC, allowances are paid to parties in January and July, and there will be no further payments before the election.
In 2024, BC United received $1.15 million in Elections BC allowances, while the Conservatives got $64,982.
Allowances are paid using a formula that gives $1.81 for every vote the party received in the previous provincial election, a system that usually gives an advantage to well-established parties like the BC NDP and BC United.
The Conservative Party initially did not have any elected MLAs in the current legislature. But in August 2022, BC United MLA John Rustad was kicked out of the party over a dispute around climate change and party discipline. Rustad then became the leader of the Conservatives.
Falcon said he wasn’t ready to provide details yet on what would happen with the money his party has already fundraised. He denied rumours that his party had run out of money and was facing a financial crisis.
“We will have to make sure that working with the board and working with our staff, we will make sure that we pay off all our vendors and make sure that we deal with all the staffing issues,” he said.
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Read more: BC Election 2024
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