One of them might be a Liberal and one NDP, but the two MLAs representing District 69 both agree there is little likelihood of a new right-of-centre coalition forming prior to the next B.C. election.
Parksville-Qualicum Liberal MLA Ron Cantelon said he doesn’t think the interest is there on behalf of the Conservatives at least.
“I think they are more interested in seeing us dry up and blow away so they can just step in.”
Cantelon said what his party needs to do is attract centrist support, rather than support from the right.
“We need to attract voters back from a broad political spectrum, more so from the middle than from the right. You win elections in the middle and the average voter has not been happy with what we’ve been doing.”
Scott Fraser, NDP Alberni-Pacific Rim MLA, said it would surprise him if a merger were to go ahead. If it did, he said, it would demonstrate a high degree of cynicism in both parties.
“I would be surprised if they joined forces,” he said. “The Liberal government has been vilifying the Conservatives and if they suddenly became friends it would seem like a deal of convenience and I don’t think the voters of this province would buy that.”
However, Fraser said in B.C. politics, just about anything is possible.
“They certainly have the right to negotiate that in a desperate attempt to hold onto power — and the Liberals have shown they will do anything to win an election. Every one they’ve won has been based on bamboozling the public.”