BC United (BCU), formerly known as the British Columbia Liberal Party, is a provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party has been described as conservative,

neoliberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

, and being on the centre-right of the left–right political spectrum. The party commonly describes itself as a "

free enterprise In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ...

coalition" and draws support from members of both the federal Liberal and Conservative parties. Since the 1990s, BC United has been the main centre-right opposition to the centre-left

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

(NDP). Once affiliated with the Liberal Party of Canada, the British Columbia Liberal Party became independent in 1987. The party changed its name to BC United on April 12, 2023. Until the 1940s, British Columbia politics were dominated by the then–Liberal Party and rival Conservative Party. The Liberals formed government from 1916 to 1928 and again from 1933 to 1941. From 1941 to 1952, the two parties governed in a coalition (led by a Liberal leader) to counter the ascendant

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; french: Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif, FCC); from 1955 the Social Democratic Party of Canada (''french: Parti social démocratique du Canada''), was a federal democratic socialism, democra ...

. The coalition was defeated in the 1952 election by the new Social Credit Party, and the party went into decline, eventually losing its presence in the legislature in the 1979 election. It returned to the legislature in the 1991 election, coming in second and forming the

Official Opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...

, through the efforts of leader Gordon Wilson. Wilson lost a leadership challenge to Gordon Campbell in 1994. Under Campbell's leadership, the BC Liberals began to shift rightwards and distance themselves from the federal party. In the 2001 election, the Liberals won an overwhelming majority, which they held under Campbell and his successor Christy Clark until shortly after the 2017 election. The party remained in Opposition after losing the

2020 election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **Cro ...

. Eight party leaders have served as premier of British Columbia: Harlan Brewster, John Oliver, John MacLean,

Duff Pattullo Thomas Dufferin "Duff" Pattullo (January 19, 1873 – March 30, 1956) was the 22nd premier of British Columbia from 1933 to 1941. Early life and early political career Born in Woodstock, Ontario, into a family of Scottish ancestry, Pattullo ...

, John Hart, Boss Johnson, Gordon Campbell, and Christy Clark. Since the 2022 leadership election, the party has been led by Kevin Falcon.

History

First government: 1916–1928

The divided Conservatives faced the Liberals in the election of 1916 and lost. The Liberals formed a government under

Harlan Carey Brewster Harlan Carey Brewster (November 10, 1870 – March 1, 1918) was a politician in British Columbia, Canada. Brewster arrived in British Columbia in 1893 and had various careers working on a ship and then in a cannery. He eventually became owner o ...

. Brewster had become leader of the Opposition, and was elected party leader in March 1912. He lost his seat a few weeks later in the 1912 election, which returned no Liberals at all. In 1916, he won election to the legislature again through a by-election, and led his party to victory in a general election later that year by campaigning on a reform platform. Brewster promised to end patronage in the

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

, end political machines, improve workman's compensation and labor laws, bring in votes for women, and other progressive reforms. The government brought in women's suffrage, instituted prohibition, and combated

political corruption Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. Forms of corruption vary, but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, in ...

before his unexpected death in 1918. He is interred in the Ross Bay Cemetery in Victoria, British Columbia. John Oliver succeeded Brewster as

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

when Brewster died in 1918. Oliver's government developed the produce industry in the

Nanook Valley In Inuit religion, Nanook (; iu, ᓇᓄᖅ , lit. "polar bear") was the master of bears, meaning he decided if hunters deserved success in finding and hunting bears and punished violations of taboos. The word was popularized by ''Nanook of the ...

, and tried to persuade the

federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

to lower the freight rate for rail transport. The party managed a bare majority win in the 1920 election and only managed to govern after the 1924 election with the support of the 2 Independent Liberals.

Opposition and the Great Depression: 1928–1933

The Liberals managed to increase their vote in the 1928 election but lost close to half their seats. With the onset of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and the implosion of the government of Simon Fraser Tolmie, the Liberals won the 1933 election.

Duff Pattullo: 1933–1941

The 1933 election brought into power

and introduced into the legislature the

(CCF), a new

social-democratic Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

and democratic socialist opposition party. Pattullo wanted an activist government to try to deal with the depression through social programs and support of the unemployed. Canada has been recognized as the hardest hit by the

, and western Canada the hardest hit within Canada. Pattullo's attempts were often at odds with the federal government in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. Pattullo was also an advocate for British Columbia, and suggested the annexation of Yukon by BC, and the construction of the

Alaska Highway Shortly after this election the introduction of the HST was announced, contrary to promises made during the election campaign. On November 3, 2010, facing an imminent caucus revolt over his management style and the political backlash against the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) and the controversial end to the BC Rail corruption trial and with his approval rating as low as 9% in polls, Gordon Campbell announced his resignation.

Clark government: 2011–2017

The party's 2011 leadership convention was prompted by Gordon Campbell's request to the party to hold a leadership convention "at the earliest possible date". The convention elected Christy Clark as its new leader of the party on February 26, 2011. Clark and her new Cabinet were sworn in on March 14. Under Clark, the party charted a more centrist outlook while continuing its recent tradition of being a coalition of federal Liberal and federal Conservative supporters. She immediately raised the minimum wage from $8/hour to $10.25/hour and introduced a province-wide Family Day similar to Ontario's. Clark became premier during the aftermath of the 2008–09 recession, and continued to hold the line on government spending, introducing two deficit budgets before a balanced one for the 2013–14 fiscal year, which included a tax hike on high-income British Columbians. She also sought to take advantage of BC's liquified natural gas (LNG) reserves, positioning the budding LNG industry as a major economic development opportunity over the next decade. While the final years of Gordon Campbell's administration had seen far-reaching and progressive environmental legislation enacted, Clark was more measured in her approach to environmental policy. While continuing with BC's first-in-North-America carbon tax, she promised to freeze the rate during the 2013 election and her LNG development aspirations seemed to contradict greenhouse gas emissions targets set by the Campbell government in 2007. She also announced in 2012 that any future pipeline that crosses BC would have to meet five conditions that included environmental requirements and Indigenous consultation. Controversially, she indicated that one of her five conditions would be that BC receives its "fair share" of any revenues that accrue from increased pipeline and tanker traffic. This has put her in direct conflict with the province of Alberta, who sought increased market access for its bitumen through BC ports, yet adamantly refuse any arrangement which would see BC receive any royalties. In 2011, Colin Hansen proposed the party change its name in order to avoid confusion with the unrelated

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...

and to better reflect its status as a coalition of many federal Conservative and Liberal voters. He did not propose an alternative name. Clark said she would consider a name change but was not in "any rush to do it". During the 2013 election, Clark entered the campaign low in public opinion polls and trailing her main rival,

Adrian Dix Adrian Dix (born April 20, 1964) is a Canadian politician serving as the current Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Vancouver-Kingsway in British Columbia. In addition to serving as the current Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) ...

of the NDP, by as much as 20 points. The BC Liberals campaign slogan was "Strong Economy, Secure Tomorrow" and highlighted a balanced budget and strong development opportunities in the LNG sector as a reason for voters to elect them for a fourth term in office. Clark brought in strategists affiliated with the Ontario Liberal Party, such as Don Guy and Laura Miller, and federal Liberal figures, such as Mike McDonald, to run her office and campaign. The BC Liberals came from behind to secure a fourth term in office, however Clark was defeated in her Vancouver riding, but won a subsequent by-election in the Okanagan riding of

Westside-Kelowna Kelowna West, formerly Westside-Kelowna, is a provincial electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, established by the ''Electoral Districts Act, 2008''. It was first contested in the 2009 general election. The riding was created out of pa ...

. After the election, she sought a thawing of relations between BC and Alberta over future pipeline projects, signing onto former Alberta premier Alison Redford's National Energy Strategy. In early 2014, the Liberals brought down a second straight balanced budget and introduced legislation to change BC's liquor laws to allow liquor sales in some grocery stores and allow children to sit with adults in pubs and restaurants where liquor is served. In the 2017 election, the BC Liberals' seat count was reduced to 43, one seat short of a majority. On May 29, 2017, after final vote counting had completed, the BC NDP and the BC Green Party agreed to a confidence and supply agreement to ensure a stable minority government. Their combined 44 seats give them an advantage over the BC Liberals' 43 which was sufficient to defeat Clark's government on a confidence vote on June 29, 2017, after which Clark resigned as premier (effective July 18, 2017) and the lieutenant-governor asked NDP leader John Horgan to form a government. Rich Coleman became the party's interim leader following Clark's resignation.

Official Opposition under Wilkinson and Bond: 2018–2022

Andrew Wilkinson Andrew Wilkinson is an Australian-born Canadian politician. He is the former leader of the British Columbia Liberal Party, and served as the leader of British Columbia's Official Opposition. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British ...

was elected party leader on February 3, 2018. He served as leader of the Opposition for two years. During the

2020 general election The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2020. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems maintains a comprehensive list of upcoming elections on its E-Guide Platform. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calend ...

, Wilkinson was criticized by party members, including the membership chair, for his delay in removing

Laurie Throness Laurie Throness (born 1958) is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2013 provincial election. He represented the electoral district of Chilliwack-Kent as a member of the British Columbi ...

, a candidate and former MLA who had made anti-LGBTQ statements. After the party was defeated in the election, he resigned. Shirley Bond served as the party's interim leader until the 2022 leadership contest.

Falcon leadership and name change: since 2022

Kevin Falcon was elected leader of the BC Liberals on February 5, 2022. During his leadership campaign, Falcon pledged to rename and rebrand the party. At the 2022 party convention, delegates passed a resolution to move forward with the name-change process, beginning with consultations with the party membership before putting it to a vote by the end of the year. After a province-wide survey, "BC United" was put forward as the potential new name for the party. The name was then put to party members on November 13, and on November 16, it was announced that the name change had been approved by roughly 80 per cent. The name change was later ratified and took effect on April 12, 2023.

Party leaders

Source:''
Legislative Library of British Columbia

Election results

Source:''
Elections BC

BC United Youth

BC United Youth leads the youth wing of the party. The executive board is elected at an annual general meeting and is composed of five youth members: the president, vice president Communications, vice president Events, vice president Operations, and vice president Outreach. As of September 2022, these positions are held by Harman Khosa, Teddy O'Donnell, Olivia Wankling, Mark Dhillon and James Lehmann, respectively.

Notes

References

Citations

External links

BC Liberal Party official website
{{Authority control Conservative liberal parties Conservative parties in Canada Liberal parties in Canada Liberal conservative parties Organizations based in Vancouver Political parties established in 1903 Liberal Party Liberal Party Neoliberal parties