78: What Happened to the BC United Party - Could Independent MLA Candidates Hold the Balance of Power in BC? Featuring Stephen Johnston, MLA Candidate for West Kelowna-Peachland

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Welcome back to the Kelowna Real
Estate Podcast.

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I'm your mortgage broker host,
Taylor Atkinson.

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And I'm your real estate agent
host, Matt Glenn.

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Today we have a special intro,
never done before on this show.

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A special intro and just a special
show.

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A special intro and just a special
show.

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We're bringing on Stephen
Johnston, unaffiliated,

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independent, previous
MLA-nominated candidate for BC

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United.

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So yeah, we're pulling back the

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curtains and talking all things
politics today.

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Yeah.

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We just finished recording the

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episode, which is an awesome
episode.

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Steve is still around.

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And so he's a part of the intro as

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well.

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Yeah.

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At least for letting me be part of
history here.

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Yeah.

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Double in doubt.

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I don't think we've ever had a
third party in our intro.

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We have not.

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Emily, actually, I guess.

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Was she?
Yeah.

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Part of the soccer thing.

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But anyways, I want to dive into

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this straight away because we kind
of started the conversation.

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I was a little bit more somber on
politics.

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When we finished, I was so excited
that we started talking off air

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and I was like, right.

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So Matt came up with a great idea

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for the intro.

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So let's talk about why we're

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excited, where the opportunity
lies for future politics.

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Yeah.

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So I think we were kind kind of

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talking off air just about the
fact that there's independence

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running and people are nervous
about a vote split.

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But like when you unpack the
numbers, right now there's eight

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independent candidates running or
unaffiliated independents running,

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and there's 93 ridings across the
province.

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So really you're looking at 85
ridings that actually don't have,

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I'll call it the benefit of an
independent.

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And it's interesting to hear
people be, you know be nervous

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about the vote split because
there's 85 ridings where there's

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really option A in the NDP and
option B in the conservative

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party.

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And those are kind of polarizing.

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There's a lot of middle ground
between there that a lot of people

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are feeling like, hey, we've been
disenfranchised and cut off from

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the choice we wanted to make.

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And in a lot of cases, candidates

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like myself are saying, hey, we're
feeling that also.

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We're kind of like out here in the
wind right now.

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So I don't think the vote split
narrative is really necessary

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because there's 85 seats where a
conservative party, if they're

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gaining traction in the polls like
they say they are, that they can

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easily win the seats they need.

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And so then it provides a unique

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opportunity for these eight
ridings that have independents to

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say, hey, we actually get the
freedom of choice to say who's the

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best candidate to represent us in
this riding.

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And actually, Matt, you had a
really good – a really good –

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Yeah, you guys are going to have
like an outsized amount of power

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because if we end up with a
minority government, which is very

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likely after this election, you're
going to be in a position where

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you can support side A or side B
and you can go with the issues you

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actually agree on and not just toe
the party line yeah you truly are

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the truly are the voice of the
people at that and then but also

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when you think about on a local
level like you vote for your mla

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like in your writing like how much
power does that give to you in

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that writing to have someone like
that if everybody in one party is

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voting for this and you say well
okay i'll join you but i want you

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to add X issue or I want you to
tweak it this way to help my

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writing.

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Boom, done.

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And you can do that for every
issue for the whole time for four

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years.

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Yeah, and I think there's a great

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opportunity for that.

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and I think there's a great

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opportunity for that.

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Like, I honestly think it's quite

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exciting.

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This has never happened before.

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So we are in an unprecedented
election and in uncharted

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territory.

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And I think it's super exciting to

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see what could happen.

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And I think you now have the

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opportunity to get just real
leaders that care about people to

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inject that balanced perspective.

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For me, it's like I'm a

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center-right kind of conservative.

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And so that perspective there, to

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be a voice of reason.

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And so now I'm accountable to my

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riding, to the people, and the
government's going to be

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accountable to me as their
representative.

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And so I say that not only as
myself, but there's going to be

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other independents elected as
well.

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I'm confident of it.

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There's unbelievable high quality,

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high caliber candidates out think
there.

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Do you know offhand Okanagan area
who are the other unaffiliated

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independents?
Yeah.

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So right now announced there's
myself and then Ashley Ramsey,

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who's in Kelowna Mission.

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So this you're riding here here.

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Perfect.

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In this area.

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Okay.

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here.

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Perfect.

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In this area.

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Okay.

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Yeah.

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Awesome.

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You're in a very unique one

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because there's not even an NDP
candidate running.

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That's right.

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It's just you versus conservative.

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So like if you're a conservative,
vote for Steve Johnson because

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he's a center-right politician.

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That's what he is.

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If you're NDP, you're like, well,
at least I have a chance that he's

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going to vote with me on these
issues.

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So you vote for him.

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Either way, you're going to be the

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candidate that gets to have the
most power out of almost any MLA

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in the whole province.

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Talk about a win-win situation.

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Totally.

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I was chatting with I was chatting

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with someone, I was at this
opening for an industrial park

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this morning, and there was an
individual there who said, hey,

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thank you so much for standing in
the gap.

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Because honestly, we just weren't
even going to come out to vote

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because we just feel like our
choice had been taken from us.

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And so right now now I want you to
know you got two votes from our

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household.

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And I thought like, that's so

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cool.

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And I'm hearing that all the time.

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I'm getting calls and texts from
people I don't even have their

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contacts for.

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And I'm like, Oh, who is this?

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Actually, I got this really cool
call last night around 7 PM.

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And it's from someone who's very
well connected in the business

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world here on the side of the
bridge.

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And they said, Hey, I'm worried
about the boat split.

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Like the whole conversation that
we're going to have here on the

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podcast.

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By the end of the call, he said,

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let me know what I can do for you.

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You have my support a hundred

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percent.

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And so that's just been the

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trajectory of all these
conversations that we've been

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having lately.

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And it's really encouraging.

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I love it.

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I love it it too.

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Like, man, what an opportunity
it's presenting to us.

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So despite Kevin Falcon, the best
efforts, this is actually turning

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out pretty good.

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So yeah.

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Yeah.

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We're going to cut right into the

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show.

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Yeah.

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I think you guys are going to love
it.

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It was a really fun one to record.

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Also, if you want to know more

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about Steve, he was on the show
previously, episode 32, talking

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about City West Kelowna and all
the good things that you guys are

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doing over there.

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So yeah, give both of these a

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listen to.

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Like every show we are sponsored

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by Century 21 Assurance 21
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It's a brokerage where I grew up.

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Awesome.

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Let's get into it.

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Okay.

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Welcome back to the podcast, Steve

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Johnson.

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How's it going?

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Good.

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How are you guys?

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Good.

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Probably nothing happening in your

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life right now.

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No, it's pretty quiet.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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So we're pretty much just going to
scrap real estate for today and

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dive into, you know, our strength
is politics.

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He gets diversifying.

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Yeah, we are.

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Yeah.

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I still want to hear your, what

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are you doing on a Friday?
Oh, on a Friday.

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I mean, like, so right now I'm on
an unpaid leave of absence from

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work.

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So every day is like the same day

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it feels like these days.

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So the daily program is basically

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I wake up at like 545 and I go for
a walk.

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My grandpa always did that.

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And like as kids, when we were

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staying down at their place in the
summer, it was just like, you'd

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try to get up early enough to go
on this walk with grandpa or a

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bike ride.

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And so I'm like trying to

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incorporate that into my daily
practice in the morning.

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And then, um, you know, it's get
ready emails, shoot some social

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media stuff, and then get on the
doors.

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So we just got our new rack cards
and content so we can get out of

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the doors again.

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Just actually got it the other

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day.

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So yeah, it's basically door

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knocking.

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It's going to events.

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It's talking to people.

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It's making phone calls and eat,

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rinse, repeat kind of thing.

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Yeah.

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So again.

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Yeah.

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So kind of fill us and the
listener in what's got to happen

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in the last month, six weeks, kind
of what's happening in your world.

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So I was the BC United MLA
candidate for West Kelowna

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Peachland.

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We've been campaigning actively.

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I've been doing that sort of while
I've been working full time.

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And I'm also on city council as
well.

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And a father and husband and a
retired baseball player.

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Yeah, I know.

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That's like all of this has taken

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me.

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I haven't even got to play slow

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pitch.

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I signed up to play on the team

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that Taylor and i play on and i
didn't play one game but i did get

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the west side days tournament in
so oh did you nice that's better

258
00:07:03,697 --> 00:07:08,545
than me and you weren't there yeah
but And a you there but we did win

259
00:07:08,545 --> 00:07:13,075
the season this year so yeah you
were there i appreciate it yeah

260
00:07:13,075 --> 00:07:16,402
were there i it but no so i've
been just working campaigning you

261
00:07:16,402 --> 00:07:17,671
know being a family man.

262
00:07:17,671 --> 00:07:20,360
As of September 2nd, I took my

263
00:07:20,780 --> 00:07:22,648
leave of absence from work to
focus fully on the campaign.

264
00:07:22,748 --> 00:07:25,628
But a few days prior to that, on
August 28th, we woke up and it was

265
00:07:25,628 --> 00:07:26,868
a very surprising day.

266
00:07:26,868 --> 00:07:28,328
All of us candidates, even in the

267
00:07:28,328 --> 00:07:31,016
MLAs that we have in our caucus,
had no idea what was happening.

268
00:07:31,016 --> 00:07:31,771
But I started getting texts around
noon.

269
00:07:31,756 --> 00:07:33,189
We were supposed to have a
candidate's call.

270
00:07:33,189 --> 00:07:34,260
We have like a bi-weekly call on a
Wednesday at noon.

271
00:07:34,260 --> 00:07:37,830
And I was trying to log onto this
call, but the host wasn't letting

272
00:07:37,830 --> 00:07:36,990
me into the meeting.

273
00:07:37,690 --> 00:07:39,151
So I'm like, okay, that's weird.

274
00:07:39,151 --> 00:07:43,077
And then we got a message, hey,
we're going to postpone until I

275
00:07:43,177 --> 00:07:43,415
think 2.30.

276
00:07:43,415 --> 00:07:44,769
Everybody needs to be on.

277
00:07:44,769 --> 00:07:47,680
And so we're all thinking this is
a little strange.

278
00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:50,960
And I got texts about a half an
hour later from friends saying,

279
00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:53,520
hey, what's going on?
It's like a Richard Zussman tweet

280
00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:55,280
or a Global News article.

281
00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:56,791
So all of a sudden, start

282
00:07:56,891 --> 00:07:57,717
researching, reading articles.

283
00:07:57,717 --> 00:07:59,567
And yeah, Kevin unilaterally made

284
00:07:59,567 --> 00:08:03,208
the decision, Kevin Falcon, just
to pull the rug out from us.

285
00:08:03,208 --> 00:08:05,683
And he suspended the BC United
campaign and withdrew all of us

286
00:08:05,683 --> 00:08:06,976
candidates from running as BC
United candidates.

287
00:08:06,976 --> 00:08:09,620
So we still are on the ballot, but
we've been sitting, waiting.

288
00:08:09,620 --> 00:08:10,589
And really the waiting's over for
myself.

289
00:08:10,689 --> 00:08:11,691
We've decided to press on.

290
00:08:11,691 --> 00:08:12,584
Well, yeah, mostly because you've

291
00:08:12,584 --> 00:08:16,071
made the tweet or a Global News
yeah, mostly because you've made

292
00:08:16,071 --> 00:08:17,489
the decision, right?
There's been no information passed

293
00:08:17,489 --> 00:08:18,056
on.

294
00:08:18,056 --> 00:08:19,434
No. So we waited patiently because

295
00:08:19,434 --> 00:08:21,076
when So we waited patiently
because when the press release

296
00:08:21,076 --> 00:08:24,327
went live, that was the first time
we were hearing that information.

297
00:08:24,327 --> 00:08:24,805
Yeah.

298
00:08:24,805 --> 00:08:26,716
So that's insane that you heard at

299
00:08:26,716 --> 00:08:28,863
the same time as basically me.

300
00:08:28,763 --> 00:08:29,241
Yeah.

301
00:08:29,341 --> 00:08:34,969
So let me clarify that a little me
clarify that a little bit.

302
00:08:34,969 --> 00:08:39,035
So we did pop on a candidate's
caucus call at at 2.30 and then

303
00:08:39,035 --> 00:08:41,918
there was a press conference
scheduled for 2.40 that and then

304
00:08:41,918 --> 00:08:45,220
there was a press conference
scheduled for 2.40 that day.

305
00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:50,549
So the press conference got pushed
back a little bit beyond three and

306
00:08:50,449 --> 00:08:53,954
about, I don't know, five minutes
before Kevin Falcon hopped on our

307
00:08:53,954 --> 00:08:25,761
call, it was very brief.

308
00:08:25,761 --> 00:08:53,732
It was, here's what's happening.

309
00:08:53,732 --> 00:08:57,907
I know you're not going to be
happy about it, but this is what I

310
00:08:57,907 --> 00:08:57,463
think we need to do.

311
00:08:57,463 --> 00:09:00,495
And he said, I got to go.

312
00:09:00,495 --> 00:09:02,153
I'm going on to the press
conference.

313
00:09:02,153 --> 00:09:04,988
And so then we hopped off the
call, watched the press conference

314
00:09:04,988 --> 00:09:05,140
live.

315
00:09:05,140 --> 00:09:06,848
And that's where we- He jumps onto

316
00:09:06,948 --> 00:09:08,380
the where we- He jumps onto the
call.

317
00:09:08,380 --> 00:09:08,380
He's like, okay, everybody mute.

318
00:09:08,380 --> 00:09:09,440
I'll be the one talking here.

319
00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:09,685
Yeah.

320
00:09:09,685 --> 00:09:12,138
Well, and I Well, and I mean, I

321
00:09:12,138 --> 00:09:14,672
understand the need for secrecy in
that moment.

322
00:09:14,672 --> 00:09:13,446
Like, I mean, you can't have
corporate conversations like that

323
00:09:13,446 --> 00:09:16,251
and expect it not to leak.

324
00:09:16,351 --> 00:09:18,489
But I mean, just for crying out

325
00:09:18,489 --> 00:09:21,540
loud, like so many of us were
fully funded, ready to rock.

326
00:09:21,540 --> 00:09:25,688
You are literally posting on your
Instagram, you door knocking in

327
00:09:25,688 --> 00:09:26,319
the rain.

328
00:09:26,419 --> 00:09:27,340
In the rain.

329
00:09:27,227 --> 00:09:29,242
Was that the day before or a
couple days before?

330
00:09:29,242 --> 00:09:30,085
A couple days before, yeah.

331
00:09:30,085 --> 00:09:30,566
Like, good God.

332
00:09:30,553 --> 00:09:31,829
But also this has been what, a
year?

333
00:09:31,829 --> 00:09:33,381
like, like Yeah, it knocking in
the days before?

334
00:09:33,381 --> 00:09:34,969
A couple days before, yeah.

335
00:09:34,869 --> 00:09:35,451
Like, good God.

336
00:09:35,451 --> 00:09:37,065
But also this has been what, a
year?

337
00:09:37,065 --> 00:09:39,199
like, like Yeah, it knocking in
the In rain.

338
00:09:39,199 --> 00:09:39,790
the Was rain.

339
00:09:38,660 --> 00:09:40,237
that the day before or a couple of

340
00:09:40,334 --> 00:09:41,861
days before?
A couple of days before, Like

341
00:09:41,861 --> 00:09:42,008
yeah.

342
00:09:42,008 --> 00:09:43,125
good But God.

343
00:09:43,125 --> 00:09:44,315
also this has been like what, a
year?

344
00:09:44,215 --> 00:09:46,595
Yeah, like it's a long campaign.

345
00:09:46,595 --> 00:09:48,830
It's a lot of time and energy.

346
00:09:48,830 --> 00:09:50,507
Yeah, probably feels pretty
unfair.

347
00:09:50,507 --> 00:09:51,488
I mean, it's disheartening for
sure.

348
00:09:51,488 --> 00:09:51,764
But God.

349
00:09:51,764 --> 00:09:53,920
also this has been like what, a

350
00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:54,908
year?
disheartening for sure.

351
00:09:54,908 --> 00:09:58,755
Like, I mean, we've all put so
much effort into it, but also we

352
00:09:58,755 --> 00:10:00,544
were still kind of confused.

353
00:10:00,544 --> 00:10:01,870
So we were sitting there after the

354
00:10:01,870 --> 00:10:03,600
press conference, like saying,
okay, I think we need to just wait

355
00:10:03,620 --> 00:10:05,030
patiently because John and Kevin
said publicly that, hey, we're

356
00:10:05,024 --> 00:10:05,802
going to work to put the best team
forward possible to defeat the NDP

357
00:10:05,781 --> 00:10:04,268
and, you know, feel the really
good government.

358
00:10:04,168 --> 00:10:05,438
And remember, too, if you're going
to form government, you need far

359
00:10:05,402 --> 00:10:05,656
more than a capable leader.

360
00:10:05,635 --> 00:10:06,093
You need a really deep caucus and

361
00:10:06,070 --> 00:10:06,501
a bench strength for cabinet
minister positions and things like

362
00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:06,680
that.

363
00:10:06,538 --> 00:10:07,263
So a bunch of us kind of sat back

364
00:10:07,179 --> 00:10:08,474
and said, well, we're going to
wait then patiently and see what

365
00:10:08,374 --> 00:10:08,593
happens.

366
00:10:08,593 --> 00:10:10,227
Maybe we'll get a tap on the

367
00:10:10,227 --> 00:10:10,729
shoulder, but yeah.

368
00:10:10,729 --> 00:10:13,750
So at this stage, no one's been

369
00:10:13,850 --> 00:10:14,992
swapped out into the...

370
00:10:14,992 --> 00:10:07,423
There has been some.

371
00:10:07,281 --> 00:10:07,583
You that have.

372
00:10:07,514 --> 00:10:14,992
I don't There has been some.

373
00:10:14,992 --> 00:10:15,769
You that have.

374
00:10:15,869 --> 00:10:17,586
I don't know what the number is.

375
00:10:17,586 --> 00:10:20,640
I heard it was around 10 or it was
going to end up around 10.

376
00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:22,827
I don't know if it was the number.

377
00:10:22,727 --> 00:10:23,814
I had the number of eight.

378
00:10:23,814 --> 00:10:25,460
I actually don't know that.

379
00:10:25,460 --> 00:10:27,671
It could be between eight and 10.

380
00:10:27,671 --> 00:10:27,794
Yeah.

381
00:10:27,794 --> 00:10:28,347
Something like Yeah.

382
00:10:28,347 --> 00:10:29,022
Something like that.

383
00:10:29,022 --> 00:10:29,452
Yeah.

384
00:10:29,452 --> 00:10:31,970
Out of how many total?
I believe we had 58 candidates.

385
00:10:31,970 --> 00:10:35,771
So I thought what was going to
happen is likely about 20 or 25 of

386
00:10:35,748 --> 00:10:36,590
us would be merged in.

387
00:10:36,590 --> 00:10:38,093
think it was a necessary decision

388
00:10:38,093 --> 00:10:42,220
by Kevin Falcon, not the way he
did it, but to basically fold and

389
00:10:42,300 --> 00:10:43,860
throw in the support for the
Conservative Party?

390
00:10:43,860 --> 00:10:45,934
Party?
At this hour, no, I don't think

391
00:10:45,934 --> 00:10:46,029
so.

392
00:10:46,029 --> 00:10:47,794
Now, no one believes more than me

393
00:10:47,694 --> 00:10:50,266
that we should have found a way to
bring the parties together.

394
00:10:50,266 --> 00:10:53,920
That should have happened probably
a year ago, because as you're in

395
00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:53,920
the midst of a democratic process
and like you're heavily

396
00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:55,423
campaigning, it's really a
disservice to the electorate to

397
00:10:55,423 --> 00:10:56,923
shake things up like that at a
moment's notice.

398
00:10:56,923 --> 00:10:58,794
You know, I had actually back in
May, I had drafted a coalition

399
00:10:58,694 --> 00:11:00,403
framework for an agreement that
could take place where, you know,

400
00:11:00,403 --> 00:11:02,958
if Kevin and John were able to get
to the table together and say,

401
00:11:02,958 --> 00:11:05,007
hey, how do we work at actually
making sure we respect the

402
00:11:04,907 --> 00:11:07,042
electorate and they don't want the
NDP back?

403
00:11:07,042 --> 00:11:13,657
So can we work at actually making
sure we respect the electorate and

404
00:11:13,657 --> 00:11:19,132
they don't want the NDP back?
So can we create this coalition to

405
00:11:19,032 --> 00:11:24,920
get us past the election and then
talk amalgamation afterward?

406
00:11:24,820 --> 00:11:27,481
Because then you have the
opportunity to have the best

407
00:11:27,481 --> 00:11:29,418
candidates from both sides
elected, showing up in Victoria

408
00:11:29,418 --> 00:11:31,067
and then working together.

409
00:11:31,067 --> 00:11:33,665
So I was kind of thinking, if I

410
00:11:33,565 --> 00:11:37,034
draw this framework up, it's got
to have been proposed already, but

411
00:11:37,034 --> 00:11:40,726
I'm going to just do it because it
doesn't seem like we're getting

412
00:11:40,726 --> 00:11:40,788
there.

413
00:11:40,788 --> 00:11:42,971
So I flew down in My wife and they

414
00:11:42,971 --> 00:11:46,204
had asked us to come down and meet
May.

415
00:11:46,104 --> 00:11:46,730
the caucus.

416
00:11:46,730 --> 00:11:47,545
I, to Victoria?

417
00:11:47,545 --> 00:11:48,798
Where, To Victoria, yeah.

418
00:11:48,798 --> 00:11:50,539
So it was the last week of

419
00:11:50,639 --> 00:11:51,109
session.

420
00:11:51,009 --> 00:11:52,756
And it was a really great week.

421
00:11:52,856 --> 00:11:56,444
And I had booked this 15 minutes
with Kevin, you know, the week

422
00:11:56,444 --> 00:11:56,688
out.

423
00:11:56,688 --> 00:11:57,969
And I didn't tell anyone.

424
00:11:57,969 --> 00:12:01,162
I didn't even tell our MLA because
I was like, I don't want to

425
00:12:01,162 --> 00:12:02,640
Victoria?
Where, want anyone to tell me not

426
00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:04,660
to take this meeting with him.

427
00:12:04,660 --> 00:12:04,828
I'm just going to do it.

428
00:12:04,797 --> 00:12:05,200
And I think I believe so strongly
that we needed to put that idea

429
00:12:05,157 --> 00:12:05,200
forward.

430
00:12:05,175 --> 00:12:06,520
And I was shocked because like it

431
00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:08,800
hadn't been discussed at least the
way that I presented it.

432
00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:13,221
And so we had this opportunity
and, you know, it didn't end up

433
00:12:13,221 --> 00:12:13,585
going anywhere.

434
00:12:13,585 --> 00:12:15,182
Shortly after that, they did

435
00:12:15,182 --> 00:12:19,710
present a coalition agreement that
was really just drafted poorly and

436
00:12:19,610 --> 00:12:22,763
not really fair or respectful of,
I think, the Conservative Party at

437
00:12:22,863 --> 00:12:23,198
the time.

438
00:12:23,198 --> 00:12:27,450
And so it was rejected just like

439
00:12:27,429 --> 00:12:27,555
that, you know?
Yeah.

440
00:12:27,524 --> 00:12:32,290
But yeah, anyhow, where we're at
now, you know, I don't think it

441
00:12:32,245 --> 00:12:32,400
was necessary.

442
00:12:32,256 --> 00:12:32,343
I think Kevin was losing

443
00:12:32,305 --> 00:12:32,400
popularity and I know that they
were struggling to raise funds,

444
00:12:32,377 --> 00:12:37,590
but many of us can, and we had,
you know, significant support and

445
00:12:37,590 --> 00:12:38,071
traction in our ridings.

446
00:12:38,171 --> 00:12:38,921
And I personally feel it's my

447
00:12:38,921 --> 00:12:40,722
opinion that he should have
continued to run whether he had a

448
00:12:40,622 --> 00:12:41,477
lot of money or not.

449
00:12:41,325 --> 00:12:42,360
And it would have meant he'd have

450
00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:44,610
to run a pretty, you know, reduced
campaign, but.

451
00:12:44,510 --> 00:12:46,298
But at least it would allow
democracy in I in the sense where

452
00:12:46,297 --> 00:12:48,896
we would be able to choose as the
general public, the MLA we would

453
00:12:48,896 --> 00:12:48,951
want.

454
00:12:48,951 --> 00:12:49,227
Right.

455
00:12:49,227 --> 00:12:52,697
So the narrative a lot that we've
heard is like this split vote

456
00:12:52,597 --> 00:12:54,315
being like naive to the process.

457
00:12:54,315 --> 00:12:55,878
What does that really mean?

458
00:12:55,878 --> 00:12:58,428
And like, I guess this obviously
mitigates that, but is it worth

459
00:12:58,428 --> 00:13:02,510
the sacrifice that it comes with?
I mean, the split vote, I've spent

460
00:13:02,510 --> 00:13:04,780
a lot of time thinking about this.

461
00:13:04,780 --> 00:13:06,515
Like it's a really convenient

462
00:13:06,515 --> 00:13:10,968
phrase that sort of softens us up
to the fact that we kind of try to

463
00:13:10,968 --> 00:13:11,654
pre-engineer results sometimes in
an election.

464
00:13:11,654 --> 00:13:14,242
And I mean, I even understand the
emphasis behind maybe thinking

465
00:13:14,242 --> 00:13:16,459
that, oh, well, how do we protect
ourselves against, you know,

466
00:13:16,459 --> 00:13:19,098
getting an NDP government?
But then there's also the other

467
00:13:19,098 --> 00:13:21,498
side of me that says, well, isn't
democracy about choice?

468
00:13:21,598 --> 00:13:23,290
about choice?
And if so, like, does one person

469
00:13:23,390 --> 00:13:28,034
really have the opportunity to
drop a democracy bomb in the

470
00:13:27,934 --> 00:13:31,754
middle of the room and say, well,
actually, I just wiped out choice

471
00:13:31,754 --> 00:13:32,538
for millions of British
Columbians, right?

472
00:13:32,538 --> 00:13:34,615
So where now you're left with sort
of like a polarized A or B

473
00:13:34,615 --> 00:13:35,803
decision, right?
That's where this vote splitting

474
00:13:35,703 --> 00:13:36,840
language comes in.

475
00:13:36,740 --> 00:13:38,597
It's like, well, if we leave it as

476
00:12:56,885 --> 00:13:40,944
only the NDP and then on the other
side here, only the conservatives,

477
00:13:40,944 --> 00:13:43,885
now we more easily shuffle people
toward an outcome because they

478
00:13:43,885 --> 00:13:47,331
don't have that choice that lands
maybe in more of a balanced

479
00:13:47,331 --> 00:13:47,641
perspective.

480
00:13:47,641 --> 00:13:48,029
Right.

481
00:13:48,029 --> 00:13:50,666
But again, I don't know that
that's necessarily more

482
00:13:50,666 --> 00:13:51,132
democratic.

483
00:13:51,132 --> 00:13:51,520
Right.

484
00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:52,539
No, you're right.

485
00:13:52,539 --> 00:13:54,718
When you phrase it that way, like

486
00:13:54,718 --> 00:13:57,895
it should almost be illegal to do
this because you are taking the

487
00:13:57,995 --> 00:14:00,245
voting right away from the public
that essentially that is what our

488
00:14:00,245 --> 00:14:01,629
democracy is built on.

489
00:14:01,629 --> 00:14:02,052
Honestly.

490
00:14:02,052 --> 00:14:02,334
Yeah.

491
00:14:02,334 --> 00:14:03,886
So what happened so bad that the

492
00:14:03,886 --> 00:14:04,874
conservatives gained so much
ground?

493
00:14:04,874 --> 00:14:09,274
Like what has Kevin Falcon done?
Like why did we even get to this

494
00:14:09,274 --> 00:14:12,873
point where we're splitting the
votes when the last two Honestly.

495
00:14:12,773 --> 00:14:12,958
Yeah.

496
00:14:12,958 --> 00:14:15,268
So what happened so bad that the

497
00:14:15,168 --> 00:14:16,580
conservatives gained so much
ground?

498
00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:19,714
Like what has Kevin Falcon done?
Like why did we even get to this

499
00:14:19,714 --> 00:14:27,197
point where we're splitting the
votes when the last two elections,

500
00:14:27,128 --> 00:14:28,472
like the conservative party was
basically not a party.

501
00:14:28,402 --> 00:14:29,583
Now they're so big that Calvin
Falcon just rolls over.

502
00:14:29,513 --> 00:14:30,824
Like what happened?
You know, I think it's just a

503
00:14:30,821 --> 00:14:32,831
surge in popularity federally too.

504
00:14:32,731 --> 00:14:34,438
There's like a natural pendulum

505
00:14:34,438 --> 00:14:35,369
swing right now.

506
00:14:35,369 --> 00:14:37,491
I mean, I noticed for a while that

507
00:14:37,391 --> 00:14:40,582
like the conservatives went kind
of silent, like maybe not so much

508
00:14:40,582 --> 00:14:43,032
John Rustad, but like from the
local level, like, and if I was a

509
00:14:43,032 --> 00:14:45,884
campaign manager on the
conservative side, I would say

510
00:14:45,884 --> 00:14:48,594
that's exactly what I want you to
do.

511
00:14:48,594 --> 00:14:51,875
Like, don't be seen, don't be
heard because we're riding Pierre

512
00:14:51,875 --> 00:14:54,195
right through to the end right
now.

513
00:14:54,095 --> 00:14:54,833
And that does happen.

514
00:14:54,833 --> 00:14:56,262
It happens in every election.

515
00:14:56,259 --> 00:14:58,000
Like it happens municipally too.

516
00:14:58,040 --> 00:14:59,775
Like a lot of people try to hitch

517
00:14:59,775 --> 00:15:02,289
their wagon to stronger council
candidates and, you know, parrot a

518
00:15:02,289 --> 00:15:03,964
lot of the same talking points.

519
00:15:03,964 --> 00:15:05,778
And so it's nothing new in

520
00:15:05,778 --> 00:15:08,959
elections, but I think really the
popularity is driven by that

521
00:15:08,959 --> 00:15:12,310
pendulum swing and the success and
popularity of Pierre Polly and

522
00:15:12,310 --> 00:15:12,535
federal.

523
00:15:12,535 --> 00:15:14,055
Well, and also probably the name

524
00:15:14,055 --> 00:15:15,519
change of like, essentially you
guys were liberals, right?

525
00:15:15,519 --> 00:15:17,802
Or BC United were liberals and
then liberally, federally, we're

526
00:15:07,676 --> 00:15:09,857
not doing that great in that term.

527
00:15:09,857 --> 00:15:11,916
So like, it is very confusing.

528
00:15:11,916 --> 00:15:12,760
It's so confusing.

529
00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:13,548
is very confusing.

530
00:15:13,548 --> 00:15:14,224
It's so confusing.

531
00:15:14,224 --> 00:15:15,012
It's confusing because the BC

532
00:15:15,012 --> 00:15:17,635
liberals are not like the federal
liberals and the BC conservatives

533
00:15:17,635 --> 00:15:19,415
are not like the federal
conservatives.

534
00:15:19,415 --> 00:15:22,543
So it's confusing because the BC
Liberals are not like the federal

535
00:15:22,543 --> 00:15:22,967
Liberals.

536
00:15:22,967 --> 00:15:24,480
And the BC Yeah.

537
00:15:24,380 --> 00:15:26,257
Conservatives are not like the
federal Conservatives.

538
00:15:26,257 --> 00:15:26,534
Yeah.

539
00:15:26,534 --> 00:15:27,031
So it's confusing.

540
00:15:27,031 --> 00:15:27,307
Yeah.

541
00:15:27,307 --> 00:15:28,467
So it's confusing.

542
00:15:28,567 --> 00:15:30,492
So it's about the same level of
confusion.

543
00:15:30,492 --> 00:15:32,174
And it's like the opposite version
of that confusion.

544
00:15:32,174 --> 00:15:33,171
So yeah, BC Liberals.

545
00:15:33,171 --> 00:15:36,116
So for the last 20 years, if you

546
00:15:36,116 --> 00:15:38,378
were a conservative-minded voter
in BC, provincially, you were

547
00:15:38,378 --> 00:15:40,276
voting for a party called the BC
Liberal Party.

548
00:15:40,276 --> 00:15:40,860
Yeah.

549
00:15:40,860 --> 00:15:42,478
Because that was the conservative

550
00:15:42,378 --> 00:15:43,162
coalition free enterprise type
party.

551
00:15:43,162 --> 00:15:45,707
And the reason they changed it is
like, I can tell you, like I've

552
00:15:45,707 --> 00:15:48,202
been on Ben Stewart's executive
board back before I was on

553
00:15:48,202 --> 00:15:48,456
council.

554
00:15:48,456 --> 00:15:51,033
Then I took a break and then I was

555
00:15:51,133 --> 00:15:52,018
back on it.

556
00:15:52,018 --> 00:15:53,989
It's always been an issue, like

557
00:15:53,989 --> 00:15:57,229
trying to explain that the BC
Liberals were not a liberal party

558
00:15:57,329 --> 00:15:58,285
was always an issue.

559
00:15:58,285 --> 00:15:59,527
And then the name change, just

560
00:15:59,627 --> 00:16:02,862
like a lot of people didn't like
the name, sounds like a soccer

561
00:16:02,862 --> 00:16:05,348
team and just like like it never
really took off.

562
00:16:05,348 --> 00:16:08,577
And I think when you would listen
to Kevin speak publicly, like he

563
00:16:08,575 --> 00:16:12,142
did a town hall here not long ago,
actually in July at the Coast

564
00:16:12,142 --> 00:16:12,268
Capri.

565
00:16:12,268 --> 00:16:14,565
I mean, everybody that was there

566
00:16:14,565 --> 00:16:15,909
was like, holy smokes.

567
00:16:15,909 --> 00:16:17,297
Like they were just like, yeah,

568
00:16:17,397 --> 00:16:18,118
I'm in because he's actually
really good at speaking live and

569
00:16:18,218 --> 00:16:19,760
he knows his stuff.

570
00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:22,237
And there was good policy that the

571
00:16:22,237 --> 00:16:24,560
BC United Party was putting
forward, but it just wasn't

572
00:16:24,473 --> 00:16:25,019
gaining traction because of, like
I say, that federal popularity

573
00:16:24,897 --> 00:16:25,200
with the conservative name.

574
00:16:25,070 --> 00:16:25,120
Yeah.

575
00:16:25,096 --> 00:16:25,622
I So I guess moving forward in
terms of what voters not should

576
00:16:25,598 --> 00:16:27,763
do, but are going to see in terms
of options, it seems like now more

577
00:16:27,763 --> 00:16:31,147
than ever is now the time to vote
like specifically for the person

578
00:16:31,147 --> 00:16:34,928
that you want as the independent
voice or the MLA or whoever's

579
00:16:34,928 --> 00:16:37,754
going to be the nominee instead of
the party.

580
00:16:37,754 --> 00:16:41,280
But I guess, do I have faith?
Do you have faith that like voting

581
00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:46,031
for that person is going to carry
the right weight at the province

582
00:16:45,931 --> 00:16:46,936
in Victoria?
Good in Victoria?

583
00:16:46,936 --> 00:16:47,500
Good question.

584
00:16:47,500 --> 00:16:49,195
Like, so a couple of things we got

585
00:16:49,195 --> 00:16:51,989
to remember when it comes to vote
splitting, like, and then the

586
00:16:52,089 --> 00:16:53,474
decision that each, you know,
disenfranchised candidate makes,

587
00:16:53,474 --> 00:16:54,627
whether or not they'll run again.

588
00:16:54,527 --> 00:16:56,433
It's like, it's very personal and

589
00:16:56,433 --> 00:16:58,047
it's very specific to their
riding.

590
00:16:58,047 --> 00:17:00,820
And so, like, I haven't been
engaged in encouraging or

591
00:17:00,820 --> 00:17:01,827
discouraging anyone from that
decision.

592
00:17:01,827 --> 00:17:04,108
I think it's up to them to make
that call.

593
00:17:04,108 --> 00:17:06,842
So for me and my writing, like
there's only two candidates,

594
00:17:06,842 --> 00:17:07,743
there's myself and the
conservative.

595
00:17:07,743 --> 00:17:10,000
It's not that for lack of There's
no NDP candidate?

596
00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:12,367
No, not in West Kelowna Peachland.

597
00:17:12,268 --> 00:17:13,828
And it's not for lack of trying

598
00:17:13,828 --> 00:17:14,040
either.

599
00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:15,734
They've run the gauntlet of, you

600
00:17:15,734 --> 00:17:19,152
know, asking the best people they
could find to run for them.

601
00:17:19,051 --> 00:17:20,338
And this is interesting.

602
00:17:20,338 --> 00:17:21,910
It's been actually quite humbling.

603
00:17:21,910 --> 00:17:26,267
I have had several people approach
me personally and say, just so you

604
00:17:26,267 --> 00:17:28,522
know, I was asked to be the
candidate for the NDP.

605
00:17:28,522 --> 00:17:31,085
But if you're serious about it,
you know, maybe we think

606
00:17:31,085 --> 00:17:34,135
differently on some things, but
you're fair, you're just, you're

607
00:17:34,135 --> 00:17:37,812
respectful, you're here for the
right reasons, and I'm not going

608
00:17:37,812 --> 00:17:39,106
to run against you.

609
00:17:39,106 --> 00:17:40,986
And so that's been very

610
00:17:40,886 --> 00:17:41,776
encouraging, very humbling.

611
00:17:41,776 --> 00:17:44,160
And, you know, if I were to step

612
00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:47,097
down, I've already been approached
by one of the candidates who said,

613
00:17:47,097 --> 00:17:49,966
then I will put my name in and
run.

614
00:17:49,966 --> 00:17:53,368
And then we would have very strong
candidates on the West side for

615
00:17:53,368 --> 00:17:54,003
the NDP.

616
00:17:54,003 --> 00:17:54,764
For the NDP.

617
00:17:54,864 --> 00:17:55,244
Yeah.

618
00:17:55,144 --> 00:17:55,334
Okay.

619
00:17:55,334 --> 00:17:57,530
So this is, I didn't know there
was no NDP candidate.

620
00:17:57,530 --> 00:17:59,496
So now it's conservative or you,
the independent.

621
00:17:59,496 --> 00:17:59,835
Yeah.

622
00:17:59,835 --> 00:18:01,394
And I'm like, admittedly, I'm a

623
00:18:01,394 --> 00:18:02,140
center-right conservative.

624
00:18:02,140 --> 00:18:03,641
I just have been my whole life.

625
00:18:03,641 --> 00:18:05,233
I don't, you know, beat around the
bush about that.

626
00:18:05,233 --> 00:18:07,830
So like, really you have two
conservative voices right yeah i'm

627
00:18:07,830 --> 00:18:12,814
not against the conservative party
i'll be an ally to them you know

628
00:18:12,814 --> 00:18:15,635
truth be told i thought they were
gonna pick me up you know three

629
00:18:15,635 --> 00:18:20,068
and a half four weeks ago they
tried to get me to be the

630
00:18:20,068 --> 00:18:23,065
candidate here in colonna mission
so ah I just get me to be the

631
00:18:23,065 --> 00:18:29,589
candidate here in colonna mission
so ah come on well so they they

632
00:18:29,404 --> 00:18:29,905
had you know removed their
candidate and they had their

633
00:18:29,886 --> 00:18:31,080
candidate and like that's up for
debate whether yeah because she's

634
00:18:31,049 --> 00:18:33,553
now a little bit mad she launched
a lawsuit yesterday yeah so i'm

635
00:18:33,553 --> 00:18:37,117
not sure that her and stuff like
that yeah i'm not sure that that

636
00:18:37,117 --> 00:18:40,610
was the right decision that they
made at that time for whatever

637
00:18:40,710 --> 00:18:44,209
reasons they gave but they did
approach me but you know i'm very

638
00:18:44,209 --> 00:18:46,663
committed to my community like
yeah not for, it's not about being

639
00:18:46,663 --> 00:18:48,643
a parachute candidate that drops
into another riding.

640
00:18:48,743 --> 00:18:51,501
So I'm committed to moving forward
to give my community the choice

641
00:18:51,501 --> 00:18:52,891
that they've had all along.

642
00:18:52,991 --> 00:18:54,232
And I think unfairly, some

643
00:18:54,232 --> 00:18:56,390
independent candidates are being
treated like we're just entering

644
00:18:56,390 --> 00:18:57,380
the fray now.

645
00:18:57,380 --> 00:19:00,280
Like there's this shake up and the

646
00:19:01,020 --> 00:19:03,117
shuffle and people are trying to
be opportunists and take advantage

647
00:19:03,117 --> 00:19:04,474
of a moment.

648
00:19:04,474 --> 00:19:06,157
But we've been here, many of us

649
00:19:06,057 --> 00:19:06,681
for seven, 12 months.

650
00:19:06,681 --> 00:19:07,618
there's Well, because now you have

651
00:19:07,618 --> 00:19:09,719
to kind of rebrand, right?
Like longer than that too.

652
00:19:09,719 --> 00:19:12,174
Because like not a lot of people
can just stop what they're doing

653
00:19:12,274 --> 00:19:14,528
and start campaigning and then
actually win and then put your

654
00:19:14,528 --> 00:19:17,453
career on hold and all this stuff.

655
00:19:17,453 --> 00:19:19,437
Like it's not a light decision.

656
00:19:19,437 --> 00:19:21,472
It's not like, okay, pick me, pick
me.

657
00:19:21,472 --> 00:19:22,620
Like this is a big deal.

658
00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:24,089
So where does your funding come

659
00:19:24,189 --> 00:19:27,086
from and your campaign team now
because obviously it's not from

660
00:19:27,086 --> 00:19:30,077
the BC United Party right yeah
yeah so I just want where does

661
00:19:30,077 --> 00:19:32,060
your funding come from and your
campaign team now because

662
00:19:32,060 --> 00:19:34,257
obviously it's not from the BC
United Party right yeah yeah I

663
00:19:34,257 --> 00:19:36,954
just want to say one more thing
about the vote split thing so

664
00:19:36,954 --> 00:19:36,218
ridings where and I'm going to say
it this way where you're fortunate

665
00:19:36,218 --> 00:19:38,539
to have a really high quality
independent candidate it's

666
00:19:38,539 --> 00:19:40,873
actually a very unique situation
because currently there's only

667
00:19:40,873 --> 00:19:43,387
yeah independence running across
the province.

668
00:19:39,975 --> 00:19:45,900
And again, we have to remember
like when the media says like,

669
00:19:45,900 --> 00:19:47,544
well, independents don't usually
get elected.

670
00:19:47,544 --> 00:19:51,327
Well, that's a really skewed data
set because it's typically people

671
00:19:51,327 --> 00:19:53,184
who, you know, maybe for whatever
reason, they're unhappy with

672
00:19:53,184 --> 00:19:54,852
government or they're more of a
libertarian and they're just

673
00:19:54,852 --> 00:19:56,106
saying, screw it, I'm running.

674
00:19:56,106 --> 00:19:56,403
Right.

675
00:19:56,403 --> 00:19:59,151
And so they're usually unfunded or
limited funded campaigns.

676
00:19:59,151 --> 00:20:01,083
And there's really not a lot of
chances.

677
00:20:01,083 --> 00:20:02,805
And just And yeah, like pretty
fringe.

678
00:20:02,805 --> 00:20:03,791
Usually pretty Usually pretty
fringe perspective.

679
00:20:03,791 --> 00:20:05,623
And so like we're actually
unaffiliated independents.

680
00:20:05,623 --> 00:20:10,182
And so the difference there is
that we are vetted through the

681
00:20:10,182 --> 00:20:12,693
most rigorous process there is by
the official opposition party.

682
00:20:12,693 --> 00:20:14,720
And that's how we became
candidates.

683
00:20:15,020 --> 00:20:16,753
We've been accepted by Elections
BC.

684
00:20:16,752 --> 00:20:21,117
So we've been here all along, gone
through the most rigorous vetting

685
00:20:21,117 --> 00:20:23,813
process there is by the official
opposition party who has governed

686
00:20:23,813 --> 00:20:26,818
in BC for 16 of the last 24 years.

687
00:20:26,818 --> 00:20:28,269
So we're not typical independents.

688
00:20:28,269 --> 00:20:29,720
It's a very different thing.

689
00:20:20,401 --> 00:20:31,185
And so where you have a riding

690
00:20:31,185 --> 00:20:33,160
that you have an independent
candidate of high caliber like

691
00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:35,751
it's quite a stroke of fortune i
think because you have the

692
00:20:35,751 --> 00:20:38,940
opportunity to now vote for the
best person to represent your

693
00:20:38,940 --> 00:20:41,560
writing knowing that they're not
going to be an impediment to you

694
00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:44,308
know changing government they're
going to work as an ally with the

695
00:20:44,208 --> 00:20:46,287
conservatives but now you get to
choose and you're not really

696
00:20:46,287 --> 00:20:49,206
having to be distracted or held
down by a party ban.

697
00:20:49,206 --> 00:20:52,101
You also have the potential here
to be the kingmaker.

698
00:20:52,101 --> 00:20:47,779
So you could have a lot of sway
when it comes time to legislate

699
00:20:47,779 --> 00:20:51,762
where you have like, I want this,
you know, like I want West Kelowna

700
00:20:51,762 --> 00:20:53,728
to have this perk and that perk.

701
00:20:53,728 --> 00:20:55,520
So how does it work then at a

702
00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:57,760
provincial level if independent
gets in, no vote goes to the NDP

703
00:20:57,760 --> 00:20:58,400
or the conservative.

704
00:20:58,400 --> 00:20:59,622
It's just a net zero.

705
00:20:59,622 --> 00:21:01,852
But you get a seat.

706
00:21:01,852 --> 00:21:04,674
So if you were to elect if you

707
00:21:04,674 --> 00:21:07,077
were to elect me, you'd look at
it.

708
00:21:07,177 --> 00:21:09,408
You're like, yeah, I think
Stephen's the best candidate to

709
00:21:09,408 --> 00:21:10,032
represent us here.

710
00:21:10,132 --> 00:21:12,472
I'm going to throw my vote there.

711
00:21:12,472 --> 00:21:12,732
Yeah.

712
00:21:12,632 --> 00:21:14,634
So I would be elected just like

713
00:21:14,634 --> 00:21:16,010
any other MLA.

714
00:21:16,110 --> 00:21:18,646
I would have a seat in the

715
00:21:18,546 --> 00:21:19,053
legislature.

716
00:21:19,053 --> 00:21:20,690
I wouldn't have a party

717
00:21:20,690 --> 00:21:20,890
affiliation.

718
00:21:20,887 --> 00:21:22,706
So there's a lot of freedom that

719
00:21:22,606 --> 00:21:23,147
comes with that.

720
00:21:23,147 --> 00:21:24,447
Yeah, big time.

721
00:21:24,447 --> 00:21:29,035
So when you're bound by a party,
you have to toe a line.

722
00:21:29,035 --> 00:21:30,867
And sometimes you can't actually
advocate for the needs of your

723
00:21:30,967 --> 00:21:33,446
community because it may, you
know, like this will happen in

724
00:21:33,446 --> 00:21:37,010
Northern communities where maybe
they have some specific needs that

725
00:21:37,010 --> 00:21:40,733
would go against sort of whether
it be for like the bear hunt comes

726
00:21:40,733 --> 00:21:43,419
to mind, like the grizzly hunt.

727
00:21:43,419 --> 00:21:44,923
So United MLAs in Northern

728
00:21:44,923 --> 00:21:46,939
Ridings, they had their
constituents saying, hey, we need

729
00:21:46,939 --> 00:21:47,987
to advocate for this.

730
00:21:47,987 --> 00:21:50,517
But the party was saying, no, you

731
00:21:50,517 --> 00:21:50,640
can't.

732
00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:53,339
It doesn't fit with our narrative.

733
00:21:53,339 --> 00:21:55,254
You're a little bit more free and
unbound.

734
00:21:55,254 --> 00:21:57,324
It really depends how it goes.

735
00:21:57,324 --> 00:22:00,625
I mean, we are in a situation

736
00:22:00,725 --> 00:22:03,040
where we've never had this many
high caliber independents.

737
00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:06,458
So it very well could be that they
end up holding the balance of

738
00:22:06,458 --> 00:22:07,414
power in the legislature.

739
00:22:07,414 --> 00:22:09,505
So you got to remember in the

740
00:22:09,505 --> 00:22:11,762
previous election, the Greens held
the balance of power.

741
00:22:11,762 --> 00:22:13,881
They had three of power.

742
00:22:13,881 --> 00:22:14,758
They had three seats.

743
00:22:14,758 --> 00:22:18,765
They put the NDP over the top and
then they got a lot of stuff out

744
00:22:18,765 --> 00:22:19,616
of that.

745
00:22:19,616 --> 00:22:20,094
You're right, Matt.

746
00:22:20,094 --> 00:22:23,546
Like you have the opportunity to
say, okay, I see where this policy

747
00:22:23,546 --> 00:22:24,100
is going.

748
00:22:24,100 --> 00:22:25,416
Here's what I think it's missing.

749
00:22:25,416 --> 00:22:28,947
So you get to, you know, really
throw your voice at, you know,

750
00:22:28,947 --> 00:22:30,844
rounding that policy out, giving a
better perspective, better depth,

751
00:22:30,844 --> 00:22:34,243
but also saying like, no, you're
not going to forget about my

752
00:22:34,243 --> 00:22:34,314
community.

753
00:22:34,314 --> 00:22:35,848
Like here's what we're advocating.

754
00:22:35,848 --> 00:22:38,453
Like think So Like think about,
okay, let's talk about your

755
00:22:38,453 --> 00:22:38,900
writing specifically.

756
00:22:38,900 --> 00:22:41,465
Like, the voter has everything to

757
00:22:41,565 --> 00:22:44,751
gain by voting for you over the
conservative because you're going

758
00:22:44,651 --> 00:22:46,920
to vote with them anyway on all
the important things.

759
00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:48,628
And then now you get a little
extra kick of a little bit more

760
00:22:48,528 --> 00:22:50,204
leverage on the things you want
for your community.

761
00:22:50,198 --> 00:22:51,976
Yeah, you get the best of both
worlds.

762
00:22:51,976 --> 00:22:52,063
worlds.

763
00:22:52,063 --> 00:22:53,113
It's the best of both worlds.

764
00:22:53,113 --> 00:22:54,567
This is actually kind of amazing
and positive.

765
00:22:54,567 --> 00:22:56,390
like Yeah, get the best of both
worlds.

766
00:22:56,381 --> 00:22:57,153
It's the best of both worlds.

767
00:22:57,153 --> 00:22:59,036
This is actually kind of amazing.

768
00:22:59,036 --> 00:22:59,640
Positive.

769
00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:00,315
like Yeah, this is unprecedented

770
00:23:00,315 --> 00:23:00,922
because you're right.

771
00:23:00,907 --> 00:23:01,700
You had independents that are

772
00:23:01,980 --> 00:23:04,099
usually a little bit quacked, a
little on the fringe, not all of

773
00:23:04,199 --> 00:23:06,327
them, but like they skew that way.

774
00:23:06,327 --> 00:23:08,120
And now you have all these people

775
00:23:08,120 --> 00:23:09,816
who are totally normal, vetted
candidates, quality people running

776
00:23:09,816 --> 00:23:11,460
that don't have any strings
attached.

777
00:23:11,460 --> 00:23:12,520
It's kind of a...

778
00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:14,699
Man, I was a little bit depressed

779
00:23:14,699 --> 00:23:16,277
starting this conversation, but
I'm excited now.

780
00:23:16,277 --> 00:23:17,254
This is great.

781
00:23:17,254 --> 00:23:19,022
This is what happens what when you

782
00:23:19,022 --> 00:23:22,762
talk to steve johnson yeah yeah
okay so circle back to the funding

783
00:23:22,762 --> 00:23:24,335
essentially bc united had
obviously a ton of fundraising or

784
00:23:24,435 --> 00:23:26,744
not a ton but like you know every
party fundraisers where did that

785
00:23:26,738 --> 00:23:30,995
money go to and are you privy to
any of that are you starting from

786
00:23:30,896 --> 00:23:32,145
complete scratch running your own
campaign?

787
00:23:32,145 --> 00:23:36,099
And then three-part question,
moving forward, who funds, like if

788
00:23:35,999 --> 00:23:38,494
you are elected, is it then
provincial funds that continue to

789
00:23:38,494 --> 00:23:40,180
support you?
So the funding was centrally

790
00:23:40,180 --> 00:23:44,409
housed in an account with sort of
a ledger for So the funding was

791
00:23:44,409 --> 00:23:45,608
centrally housed in an account
with sort of a ledger for each

792
00:23:45,590 --> 00:23:47,135
riding underneath, which is a
little bit untraditional to be

793
00:23:47,135 --> 00:23:47,608
honest with you.

794
00:23:47,589 --> 00:23:48,407
Usually when you run a campaign,

795
00:23:48,407 --> 00:23:50,271
you'll open your own campaign
account and bring your funds in,

796
00:23:50,271 --> 00:23:51,453
you know, to your own local
account.

797
00:23:51,453 --> 00:23:54,479
But the party had said, well,
let's just do it under this

798
00:23:54,379 --> 00:23:56,140
central ledger because it's
actually easier to reconcile the

799
00:23:56,140 --> 00:23:57,914
accounts at the end of the
campaign, right?

800
00:23:57,914 --> 00:23:59,189
To do your statement of
disclosure.

801
00:23:59,289 --> 00:24:01,515
And so we thought, okay, we'll do
that.

802
00:24:01,515 --> 00:24:03,604
But each riding fund raises over
the four-year term, right?

803
00:24:03,504 --> 00:24:05,699
So you're not just raising money
for the campaign during this short

804
00:24:05,699 --> 00:24:06,953
stretch, you're doing it over four
years.

805
00:24:06,953 --> 00:24:10,787
And so the riding executive will
try to sign up, you know, sponsors

806
00:24:10,787 --> 00:24:13,646
or donors monthly, you know,
one-time donors, and you'll do

807
00:24:13,646 --> 00:24:14,392
events to fundraise.

808
00:24:14,392 --> 00:24:16,161
But a lot of that fundraising

809
00:24:16,161 --> 00:24:17,078
comes during the campaign push.

810
00:24:17,078 --> 00:24:18,511
So we had about $90,000, which was

811
00:24:18,511 --> 00:24:19,600
raised for our riding.

812
00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:21,500
And we do have a collective

813
00:24:21,384 --> 00:24:22,340
fundraising agreement between the
three Kelowna ridings and the

814
00:24:22,360 --> 00:24:22,939
riding over in West Kelowna
Peachland.

815
00:24:22,856 --> 00:24:24,007
And so all of the monies that were
donated were actually not donated

816
00:24:24,004 --> 00:24:24,898
to the party as much as they were
donated to this local effort.

817
00:24:24,761 --> 00:24:27,339
And when we woke up on August
28th, our account was there.

818
00:24:27,294 --> 00:24:27,520
It was full.

819
00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:29,731
We had full access to the portal

820
00:24:29,726 --> 00:24:32,065
where we had all of our database
and all of our info.

821
00:24:32,065 --> 00:24:34,624
And by 12, we were locked out of
it and that money's gone.

822
00:24:34,624 --> 00:24:38,595
So we had our writing executive on
the West side there.

823
00:24:38,595 --> 00:24:39,930
They said, well, it's okay.

824
00:24:39,930 --> 00:24:41,899
We'll just make a decision as to

825
00:24:41,799 --> 00:24:42,567
where we put our money.

826
00:24:42,567 --> 00:24:44,387
And that'll either be transferring

827
00:24:44,387 --> 00:24:46,173
to maybe a conservative candidate
or an unaffiliated candidate.

828
00:24:46,173 --> 00:24:48,963
And so when we went to ask that
question, we did get a response

829
00:24:48,963 --> 00:24:51,129
that there's no money, it's gone.

830
00:24:51,129 --> 00:24:52,680
So that's, you know, something

831
00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:55,265
that we're going to have to deal
with in the future.

832
00:24:55,265 --> 00:24:58,246
Like we've got to park that over
here for now.

833
00:24:58,246 --> 00:25:01,000
Like, I don't mind answering the
question, but like, I mean, I'm in

834
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:06,151
a campaign that the rates dropping
on September 21st, we got to move

835
00:25:06,251 --> 00:25:06,808
forward.

836
00:25:06,708 --> 00:25:08,827
So how do we get more important

837
00:25:08,727 --> 00:25:10,671
things?
But that is something in the

838
00:25:10,671 --> 00:25:12,285
future for transparency wise.

839
00:25:12,285 --> 00:25:14,129
But Like, I don't things?

840
00:25:14,129 --> 00:25:16,594
But that is something in the
future for transparency wise.

841
00:25:16,594 --> 00:25:15,435
But yeah, I guess moving forward
now and everyone that's already

842
00:25:15,435 --> 00:25:17,274
donated cannot donate again to get
a tax receipt.

843
00:25:17,374 --> 00:25:18,111
That's right.

844
00:25:18,111 --> 00:25:18,215
Okay.

845
00:25:18,215 --> 00:25:21,254
And we just have to make sure
we're very clear about to make

846
00:25:21,254 --> 00:25:22,785
sure we're very clear about that.

847
00:25:22,785 --> 00:25:24,940
So you can donate to a variety of

848
00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:30,149
parties.

849
00:25:30,249 --> 00:25:30,841
So you could donate your $1,450 as

850
00:25:30,841 --> 00:25:31,582
the max personal contribution that
an individual can make.

851
00:25:31,578 --> 00:25:32,961
So you could do that to the BC
United Party, the Conservative

852
00:25:32,961 --> 00:25:34,153
Party, you know, the Rhino Party
or an Independent, but you can

853
00:25:34,153 --> 00:25:36,427
only claim the tax credit once.

854
00:25:36,427 --> 00:25:38,920
So I think it works out too, if

855
00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:41,940
you've donated $1,150, you'll get
about a $500 tax credit.

856
00:25:41,940 --> 00:25:44,520
But like I say, you only get that
once.

857
00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:46,170
So we're fundraising again.

858
00:25:46,070 --> 00:25:48,092
The way we're doing it is we're

859
00:25:48,092 --> 00:25:50,366
taking post-dated checks or
pledges because as an independent,

860
00:25:50,466 --> 00:25:54,500
you can't issue a tax receipt
until you're in the writ period.

861
00:25:54,500 --> 00:25:58,104
So we're kind of saying, hey, if
you want to support the campaign

862
00:25:58,104 --> 00:26:00,921
and the cause, we'd love your
support, but please just

863
00:26:01,021 --> 00:26:04,003
post-dated check till September
23rd so that we- To benefit them.

864
00:26:04,003 --> 00:26:05,911
Just to benefit them.

865
00:26:05,911 --> 00:26:06,571
Yeah.

866
00:26:06,571 --> 00:26:08,920
But but i mean that them.

867
00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:09,140
Yeah.

868
00:26:09,140 --> 00:26:12,386
But but i mean that means you and
your team are basically working on

869
00:26:12,386 --> 00:26:15,371
this out-of-pocket pro bono which
i guess you kind of always do yeah

870
00:26:15,371 --> 00:26:18,906
you you always do as the candidate
and your core volunteers you're

871
00:26:18,906 --> 00:26:22,780
just there grinding it out but
yeah but we're doing pretty well

872
00:26:22,940 --> 00:26:25,150
with raising funds already so it's
been actually extremely

873
00:26:25,150 --> 00:26:27,486
encouraging so how do people go to
donate to you then?

874
00:26:27,586 --> 00:26:30,062
So we're setting up like an online
donation through Stripe on the

875
00:26:30,062 --> 00:26:33,693
website, which should be live by
maybe this afternoon or tomorrow.

876
00:26:33,693 --> 00:26:37,580
Again, knowing that if you donate
before the writ, we can't issue a

877
00:26:37,580 --> 00:26:38,010
tax receipt.

878
00:26:38,010 --> 00:26:38,680
So there's just that caveat.

879
00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:42,268
But, you know, we've had a lot of
people who have said, you know

880
00:26:42,268 --> 00:26:46,350
what, I donated, I already have my
max tax receipt, but I'm just

881
00:26:46,250 --> 00:26:46,808
doing it again.

882
00:26:46,808 --> 00:26:49,043
So yeah, it's been really cool to

883
00:26:49,143 --> 00:26:51,604
see people step up in a big way.

884
00:26:51,604 --> 00:26:52,798
So already the material that we've

885
00:26:52,798 --> 00:26:55,694
had to produce to get back out on
the doors, it's already been fully

886
00:26:55,694 --> 00:26:55,939
paid for.

887
00:26:55,939 --> 00:26:56,227
So.

888
00:26:56,227 --> 00:26:56,458
Okay.

889
00:26:56,458 --> 00:26:56,976
Yeah.

890
00:26:56,976 --> 00:26:57,767
Really cool.

891
00:26:57,667 --> 00:26:58,574
What is the writ?

892
00:26:58,474 --> 00:26:58,646
Okay.

893
00:26:58,646 --> 00:27:00,540
So the writ is like when the

894
00:27:00,540 --> 00:27:02,871
election is essentially called,
they call it dropping the writ,

895
00:27:02,871 --> 00:27:05,257
which is exactly 28 days, four
weeks prior to the election.

896
00:27:05,257 --> 00:27:06,429
So Saturday, September 21st.

897
00:27:06,429 --> 00:26:56,227
Is that when all the signs come

898
00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:06,077
out on the lawns and stuff like
that?

899
00:27:06,077 --> 00:27:09,890
the signs come out on the lawns
and stuff like that?

900
00:27:09,890 --> 00:27:10,145
Yeah.

901
00:27:10,145 --> 00:27:13,792
So that's when we muddy up the

902
00:27:13,792 --> 00:27:16,503
landscape with all of these ugly
faces and colorful signs.

903
00:27:16,403 --> 00:27:17,558
And then so during that Yeah.

904
00:27:17,558 --> 00:27:17,558
So that's when we muddy up the

905
00:27:17,558 --> 00:27:19,693
landscape with all of these ugly
and colorful signs.

906
00:27:19,693 --> 00:27:23,047
And then so during that period,
obviously it's going to be pretty

907
00:27:23,047 --> 00:27:27,204
chaotic, but what are we going to
see in terms of the polls?

908
00:27:27,104 --> 00:27:29,042
What do the polls mean?
Where do we get the data from?

909
00:27:29,042 --> 00:27:31,222
Like, does it carry any real
weight?

910
00:27:31,222 --> 00:27:33,486
It depends who you talk It depends
who you talk to.

911
00:27:33,486 --> 00:27:35,220
Like, I'll give you an example.

912
00:27:35,220 --> 00:27:37,540
There was a poll that came out

913
00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:41,380
just before Kevin, you know, we
got falconed or however you want

914
00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:42,012
to say it.

915
00:27:42,012 --> 00:27:44,181
Like how else do you put it?

916
00:27:44,081 --> 00:27:45,310
do you put it?
I don't know.

917
00:27:45,310 --> 00:27:47,402
This poll comes out.

918
00:27:47,402 --> 00:27:48,953
I actually can't even remember

919
00:27:49,053 --> 00:27:52,299
what the breakdown was, but it
shows, okay, the green's getting

920
00:27:52,299 --> 00:27:54,486
this much, BC United getting this
much, Conservatives and NDP

921
00:27:54,386 --> 00:27:56,721
getting this much, right?
And then when you break down the

922
00:27:56,621 --> 00:27:59,433
data set, and again, as a
councillor, it drives me crazy

923
00:27:59,433 --> 00:28:03,655
when I will get a staff report and
says, you know, we've surveyed the

924
00:28:03,555 --> 00:28:03,899
public and it's statistically
valid, this survey, but it's like

925
00:28:03,899 --> 00:28:04,871
there's 27 people that have
responded.

926
00:28:04,871 --> 00:28:07,329
So a poll is kind of like that.

927
00:28:07,329 --> 00:28:09,816
I think that poll had 964 people

928
00:28:09,816 --> 00:28:11,258
that responded to it, like
province wide.

929
00:28:11,079 --> 00:28:12,991
So it's a pretty small sampling of
the electorate.

930
00:28:12,991 --> 00:28:13,230
Right.

931
00:28:13,230 --> 00:28:15,321
And usually people that are, you

932
00:28:15,321 --> 00:28:18,305
know, agreeing to weigh into these
polls are like super political

933
00:28:18,305 --> 00:28:21,853
types or they're like extremely
motivated on a specific issue.

934
00:28:21,853 --> 00:28:23,559
So I don't know how accurate they
really are.

935
00:28:23,559 --> 00:28:26,801
I know that, for example, in the
2022 municipal election in

936
00:28:26,801 --> 00:28:30,074
Vancouver, the current Mayor Ken
Sim was polled to be in fourth

937
00:28:30,074 --> 00:28:31,958
place, but he won.

938
00:28:31,858 --> 00:28:34,401
So I would say that there's a good

939
00:28:34,301 --> 00:28:36,065
recent example of how accurate
they are sometimes.

940
00:28:36,065 --> 00:28:38,439
And there's people that would
disagree with me on that.

941
00:28:38,439 --> 00:28:38,764
You're welcome to.

942
00:28:38,764 --> 00:28:40,121
That's just, that's a fact though.

943
00:28:40,220 --> 00:28:40,492
Yeah.

944
00:28:40,392 --> 00:28:42,071
So then voting time comes in

945
00:28:42,071 --> 00:28:43,343
essentially five weeks from now.

946
00:28:43,343 --> 00:28:44,970
What day is the vote on?

947
00:28:44,870 --> 00:28:45,379
October 19th.

948
00:28:45,379 --> 00:28:45,761
19th.

949
00:28:45,761 --> 00:28:46,143
October 19th.

950
00:28:46,143 --> 00:28:47,224
Worth it in your calendars.

951
00:28:47,224 --> 00:28:47,288
Yeah.

952
00:28:47,288 --> 00:28:48,497
And there'll be advanced voting

953
00:28:48,497 --> 00:28:49,260
opportunities too.

954
00:28:49,260 --> 00:28:50,864
So like one of the things we're

955
00:28:50,864 --> 00:28:53,208
trying to do is we've got a
landing page built.

956
00:28:53,308 --> 00:28:55,064
It's on a QR code.

957
00:28:55,164 --> 00:28:56,791
So my web guy has specifically

958
00:28:56,691 --> 00:29:00,035
said, I don't want you to mention
the website because I want

959
00:28:59,935 --> 00:29:01,190
everyone going to the landing
page.

960
00:29:01,290 --> 00:29:03,281
So let me just say it this way.

961
00:29:03,281 --> 00:29:06,598
There's a QR code on all of our

962
00:29:06,498 --> 00:29:07,545
content, my business cards and rat
cards.

963
00:29:07,545 --> 00:29:07,994
And when you scan there, it'll go
right to a page where if you're a

964
00:29:07,994 --> 00:29:08,991
supporter, you're interested in
some information.

965
00:29:08,991 --> 00:29:13,020
If you just put in like really low
barrier info, it'll allow us to

966
00:29:13,020 --> 00:29:14,380
reach out to you.

967
00:29:14,380 --> 00:29:16,601
And then on voting days, we'll

968
00:29:16,601 --> 00:29:12,300
tell you where those voting
opportunities are just so that you

969
00:29:12,300 --> 00:29:15,720
have that knowledge so you can get
out to vote.

970
00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:18,363
And then that'll push you onto the
website.

971
00:29:18,363 --> 00:29:21,424
Just like out of like out of
curiosity, are you also speaking

972
00:29:21,424 --> 00:29:24,219
to all of the other independents?
Like, do you guys kind of have

973
00:29:24,219 --> 00:29:25,810
your own group chat support chat?
Yeah, just.

974
00:29:25,710 --> 00:29:27,822
Yeah, we do have like a former BC
United kind of group chat going

975
00:29:27,822 --> 00:29:30,643
and we do have like a former BC
United kind of group chat going

976
00:29:30,643 --> 00:29:34,190
and like, we're not running in
league or as like a party, but we

977
00:29:34,190 --> 00:29:36,394
do try to support one another
because, you know, we've all been

978
00:29:36,394 --> 00:29:38,100
colleagues together for many
months, if not close to a year,

979
00:29:38,082 --> 00:29:39,308
right?
So there's some really good people

980
00:29:39,308 --> 00:29:39,508
there.

981
00:29:39,489 --> 00:29:40,897
And even as we're like navigating

982
00:29:40,897 --> 00:29:43,138
the waters with elections BC,
because we are this classification

983
00:29:43,138 --> 00:29:45,131
of candidate that doesn't usually
exist.

984
00:29:45,131 --> 00:29:47,522
So a typical independent, for
example, will show up on the

985
00:29:47,522 --> 00:29:49,466
ballot with independent beside
their name, but we're unaffiliated

986
00:29:49,466 --> 00:29:49,532
independent.

987
00:29:49,632 --> 00:29:51,512
So it'll just be Steven Johnston

988
00:29:51,512 --> 00:29:53,030
or, you know, Ashley Ramsey and
Clone Emission.

989
00:29:53,030 --> 00:29:55,627
So like a couple of little unique
differences like that.

990
00:29:55,627 --> 00:29:56,297
Yeah.

991
00:29:56,397 --> 00:29:57,534
Are you guys more campaigning,

992
00:29:57,534 --> 00:30:00,965
trying to educate people on what
has happened and why your name

993
00:30:00,965 --> 00:30:04,420
would show up that way instead of
just campaigning to be like, vote

994
00:30:04,420 --> 00:30:07,261
for me because this is what I
stand for.

995
00:30:07,261 --> 00:30:12,022
But like, hey, this is why you're
seeing it presented like this on

996
00:30:12,122 --> 00:30:12,559
the ballot.

997
00:30:12,659 --> 00:30:15,170
So like, for me, I still talk

998
00:30:15,170 --> 00:30:19,700
policy with people at the doors
and in coffee shops and stuff.

999
00:30:19,700 --> 00:30:22,925
But as far as like the
differential between us and, you

1000
00:30:22,925 --> 00:30:25,997
know, our competitors, it's really
less about that now, because like

1001
00:30:25,997 --> 00:30:29,375
the fundamental conservative
platform and the fundamental BC

1002
00:30:29,375 --> 00:30:30,680
United platform was very similar,
right?

1003
00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:33,004
So like, you'll hear things like
housing, healthcare, public

1004
00:30:33,004 --> 00:30:35,086
safety, you know, as far as like
wildfire management practices go,

1005
00:30:35,086 --> 00:30:38,469
economy, like you're going to hear
a lot of those things, putting our

1006
00:30:38,469 --> 00:30:40,083
natural resources to work,
creating jobs that support

1007
00:30:40,183 --> 00:30:40,443
families.

1008
00:30:40,343 --> 00:30:41,600
Like these are all really

1009
00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:43,926
important things to both parties.

1010
00:30:43,926 --> 00:30:46,920
And that's why for me, it's like,

1011
00:30:46,897 --> 00:30:50,100
I'm not running against the
conservatives, but as an ally for

1012
00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:50,400
them.

1013
00:30:50,365 --> 00:30:51,858
And I think that's the unique

1014
00:30:51,858 --> 00:30:54,473
thing in West Kelowna is now you
get that true choice.

1015
00:30:54,473 --> 00:30:57,540
Okay, well, which candidate do I
think is going to, you know, has

1016
00:30:57,540 --> 00:30:59,540
maybe the experience, the track
record, the opportunity to kind

1017
00:30:59,540 --> 00:31:02,729
of, you know, serve us in a way
that's going to make a meaningful

1018
00:31:02,729 --> 00:31:02,780
impact.

1019
00:31:02,780 --> 00:31:02,980
Yeah.

1020
00:31:02,931 --> 00:31:05,114
Being an independent and be able
to kind of sway the vote in

1021
00:31:05,114 --> 00:31:07,601
Victoria, are there any policies
or any stances that the NDP take

1022
00:31:07,501 --> 00:31:09,257
that you are actually like, oh,
you know what?

1023
00:31:09,257 --> 00:31:10,537
I'm kind of happy I'm an
independent.

1024
00:31:10,537 --> 00:31:11,625
Maybe I can show some support that
way.

1025
00:31:11,725 --> 00:31:14,574
So it's actually a really good
question.

1026
00:31:14,474 --> 00:31:15,381
It is a good question.

1027
00:31:15,381 --> 00:31:16,029
a question.

1028
00:31:16,029 --> 00:31:17,500
It is a good question.

1029
00:31:17,500 --> 00:31:18,200
It is a good question.

1030
00:31:18,300 --> 00:31:18,500
Yeah.

1031
00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:18,750
Damn, Taylor.

1032
00:31:18,750 --> 00:31:21,774
So like one of the things that I
have always thought, you know,

1033
00:31:21,768 --> 00:31:24,141
since I became a voter is like,
why is it that there's always like

1034
00:31:24,041 --> 00:31:26,030
these guys are good or these guys
are bad?

1035
00:31:25,930 --> 00:31:28,397
And it's just then we flip over to
now these guys are good and these

1036
00:31:28,397 --> 00:31:28,937
guys are bad.

1037
00:31:28,937 --> 00:31:30,933
Well, I got to be honest with you.

1038
00:31:30,933 --> 00:31:32,889
I'm no supporter of the NDP.

1039
00:31:32,989 --> 00:31:34,770
I think, you know, someone could

1040
00:31:34,770 --> 00:31:38,199
make an argument that they were a
little bit more balanced under

1041
00:31:34,116 --> 00:31:36,651
Horgan, but really under EB, we've
seen some pretty destructive

1042
00:31:36,651 --> 00:31:36,815
policy.

1043
00:31:36,815 --> 00:31:38,997
And like, in my opinion, there's

1044
00:31:38,997 --> 00:31:41,867
very little worth supporting right
now, but that doesn't mean that

1045
00:31:41,867 --> 00:31:43,940
people from different perspectives
don't have good ideas.

1046
00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:47,386
And so why can a government not
say, actually, that's a good idea?

1047
00:31:47,386 --> 00:31:50,845
So childcare is one thing that the
NDP kind of brought this $10 a day

1048
00:31:50,845 --> 00:31:51,200
childcare in.

1049
00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:52,498
Now, unfortunately, it's only

1050
00:31:52,498 --> 00:31:56,223
being offered to about 18% of the
population that needs it.

1051
00:31:56,223 --> 00:31:58,826
So is that something we should
expand?

1052
00:31:58,826 --> 00:32:01,037
Like, I think that's a
conversation worth having, right?

1053
00:32:01,037 --> 00:32:03,280
So $10 a day childcare, it's a
good idea.

1054
00:32:03,380 --> 00:32:06,980
And historically, even our
healthcare, the system that we

1055
00:32:06,980 --> 00:32:10,995
have is kind of in shambles right
now, but some of the key

1056
00:32:10,975 --> 00:32:12,820
components came out of that NDP
government as well.

1057
00:32:13,180 --> 00:32:16,990
So again, I think there's an
opportunity to recognize a good

1058
00:32:16,990 --> 00:32:20,210
idea for a good idea and then work
with those ideas rather than just

1059
00:32:20,210 --> 00:32:23,072
saying anything that comes out of
your mouth is bad, don't want to

1060
00:32:23,072 --> 00:32:25,674
hear it, shut it down, push them
off to the Shut it Push corner.

1061
00:32:25,674 --> 00:32:26,258
them down.

1062
00:32:26,258 --> 00:32:26,948
off to the corner.

1063
00:32:26,948 --> 00:32:28,429
Like that's not really governance
either.

1064
00:32:28,329 --> 00:32:28,382
Right.

1065
00:32:28,382 --> 00:32:29,971
And some people will say to you,

1066
00:32:29,971 --> 00:32:31,243
well, do independents really have
a voice?

1067
00:32:31,343 --> 00:32:33,068
Well, have you ever been to a
council meeting?

1068
00:32:33,068 --> 00:32:35,660
It's just a table full of
independents that are working to

1069
00:32:35,660 --> 00:32:37,036
make good decisions for the
community.

1070
00:32:37,036 --> 00:32:41,619
And so, you know, I have the
privilege of working sort of in a

1071
00:32:41,519 --> 00:32:42,977
team like that all the time.

1072
00:32:42,977 --> 00:32:43,178
Right.

1073
00:32:43,178 --> 00:32:47,970
Like, and we get good things done
for our community and we wrestle

1074
00:32:47,970 --> 00:32:50,800
with it and we engage in civil
discourse, which is a pretty

1075
00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:53,280
important thing in society that
we've kind of grown soft towards.

1076
00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:57,768
Like we're not doing that enough
and it's okay to have things be a

1077
00:32:57,668 --> 00:33:00,471
little messy and ugly sometimes if
it's like leading towards good

1078
00:33:00,471 --> 00:33:02,741
conversations that are getting a
good result.

1079
00:33:02,741 --> 00:33:03,034
Yeah.

1080
00:33:03,034 --> 00:33:05,025
The NDP actually has actually has

1081
00:33:05,025 --> 00:33:06,655
come out with some really good
ideas.

1082
00:33:06,655 --> 00:33:08,997
They've just implemented them in
like a radical way that has not

1083
00:33:08,997 --> 00:33:11,538
been beneficial or thought out or
like volatile in terms of

1084
00:33:11,538 --> 00:33:11,710
changing.

1085
00:33:11,810 --> 00:33:14,119
So I think that's where like there

1086
00:33:14,119 --> 00:33:15,989
could be some good support from,
you know, a collaboration, but

1087
00:33:15,989 --> 00:33:18,651
yeah, you are a guy that has the
proper voice.

1088
00:33:18,651 --> 00:33:21,565
It's funny to hear you talk about
that, like to have kind of some

1089
00:33:21,565 --> 00:33:24,609
conflict because you're not that
guy at all.

1090
00:33:24,609 --> 00:33:27,384
But at least you can have a
conversation and just like take

1091
00:33:27,384 --> 00:33:29,636
away and just talk about it in
truth, which is awesome.

1092
00:33:29,636 --> 00:33:31,180
So what happened to the existing
MLAs?

1093
00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:33,271
happened to the existing MLAs?
Are they still BC United?

1094
00:33:33,271 --> 00:33:33,196
Are they all independent,
unaffiliated right now?

1095
00:33:33,196 --> 00:33:33,271
Yeah.

1096
00:33:33,271 --> 00:33:33,509
So the current MLAs are still like

1097
00:33:33,460 --> 00:33:35,912
BC United elected MLAs that
represent the party.

1098
00:33:35,912 --> 00:33:38,750
And now once the writ drops too,
they actually cease to be MLAs

1099
00:33:38,750 --> 00:33:40,519
because many of them would be
running again as incumbents.

1100
00:33:40,519 --> 00:33:43,678
So a lot of the local offices kind
of go into what they call

1101
00:33:43,678 --> 00:33:44,099
caretaker mode.

1102
00:33:44,099 --> 00:33:45,362
So they're run just by the staff

1103
00:33:45,362 --> 00:33:47,257
and bureaucrats at that point for
that 28 day writ period.

1104
00:33:47,257 --> 00:33:48,636
And actually until the new MLAs
are sworn in.

1105
00:33:48,636 --> 00:33:50,254
So yes, they are still BC United
MLAs.

1106
00:33:50,354 --> 00:33:53,132
We have heard, there was an
article last week that the party

1107
00:33:53,132 --> 00:33:55,150
still wants to run a couple of
candidates.

1108
00:33:55,150 --> 00:33:58,291
You have to run two candidates in
a provincial election to maintain

1109
00:33:58,291 --> 00:33:59,302
your party status.

1110
00:33:59,302 --> 00:34:01,086
You don't have to win.

1111
00:34:01,186 --> 00:34:02,585
You just have to run two
candidates.

1112
00:34:02,585 --> 00:34:06,019
Well, yeah, so I was going to ask,
so what happens November onwards?

1113
00:34:06,019 --> 00:34:09,060
BC United is still a party because
they will run two candidates.

1114
00:34:09,060 --> 00:34:10,016
They'll run at least two
candidates.

1115
00:34:10,016 --> 00:34:12,039
So they will still be a party and
the membership.

1116
00:34:12,139 --> 00:34:14,636
That's where I said there's that
parking lot.

1117
00:34:14,636 --> 00:34:17,398
Like there's going to be a big
conversation with the membership

1118
00:34:17,398 --> 00:34:19,904
on, you know, dollars, on
integrity, on sort of what

1119
00:34:19,904 --> 00:34:20,237
happened.

1120
00:34:20,237 --> 00:34:21,726
I said That's crazy.

1121
00:34:21,627 --> 00:34:24,108
So they're just basically running
the minimum amount so they can

1122
00:34:24,007 --> 00:34:26,652
keep the party alive for next
year.

1123
00:34:26,652 --> 00:34:29,054
And in some some ways, I think
they have that responsibility.

1124
00:34:29,155 --> 00:34:29,400
Yeah.

1125
00:34:29,301 --> 00:34:30,880
Because like the party needs to

1126
00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:32,690
exist so people can understand
what happened, right?

1127
00:34:32,790 --> 00:34:35,340
I mean, I don't know who they're
going to find.

1128
00:34:35,340 --> 00:34:37,121
It sure ain't going to be me.

1129
00:34:37,121 --> 00:34:37,876
That's for sure.

1130
00:34:37,876 --> 00:34:38,150
Yeah.

1131
00:34:38,150 --> 00:34:39,795
I wonder if they know.

1132
00:34:39,795 --> 00:34:41,262
Two people must know.

1133
00:34:41,262 --> 00:34:42,500
Well, like they'll probably run

1134
00:34:42,500 --> 00:34:43,868
what they call a paper can.

1135
00:34:43,967 --> 00:34:45,100
they'll probably run what they

1136
00:34:44,938 --> 00:34:45,032
call a paper can.

1137
00:34:45,029 --> 00:34:45,100
You're almost at a sacrificial at

1138
00:34:45,310 --> 00:34:47,623
a sacrificial point, right?
Like, you know, if you're running

1139
00:34:47,723 --> 00:34:49,326
as BC United MLA, like, I don't
know.

1140
00:34:49,326 --> 00:34:50,371
They'll run into writing, they'll
lose.

1141
00:34:50,371 --> 00:34:51,493
It's part of the program now.

1142
00:34:51,460 --> 00:34:53,007
You just have to do this to kind

1143
00:34:53,007 --> 00:34:54,791
of keep your status so that they
can.

1144
00:34:54,791 --> 00:34:58,386
And again, like I say, I think
they need to because I think the

1145
00:34:58,286 --> 00:35:00,347
membership deserves the right to
unpack what happened and

1146
00:35:00,347 --> 00:35:00,798
understand it better.

1147
00:35:00,798 --> 00:35:01,056
Wow.

1148
00:35:01,056 --> 00:35:01,700
Man, politics, eh.

1149
00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:02,178
Yeah.

1150
00:35:02,178 --> 00:35:05,023
So has Ben Stewart had any opinion
on this at all?

1151
00:35:05,023 --> 00:35:07,767
MLAs MLAs are, you know, when they
operate their office, like

1152
00:35:07,767 --> 00:35:09,648
they're, you know, supposed to be
nonpartisan.

1153
00:35:09,648 --> 00:35:13,731
And like, I think you're going to
start to see a lot more public

1154
00:35:13,731 --> 00:35:15,936
engagement by some of these MLAs
once the writ drops.

1155
00:35:15,936 --> 00:35:16,314
Yeah.

1156
00:35:16,314 --> 00:35:16,440
Okay.

1157
00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:19,010
Because now they're kind of ceased
to be in that role.

1158
00:35:19,010 --> 00:35:22,807
But Ben's been a very strong
supporter all the way along.

1159
00:35:22,707 --> 00:35:24,955
Like I've benefited greatly from
having his mentorship and guidance

1160
00:35:24,955 --> 00:35:26,079
throughout the campaign.

1161
00:35:26,179 --> 00:35:28,809
And, you know, he certainly has

1162
00:35:28,809 --> 00:35:32,830
been doing this a long time and
he's well connected on the West

1163
00:35:32,830 --> 00:35:32,978
side.

1164
00:35:32,978 --> 00:35:35,352
And really him and his family have

1165
00:35:35,352 --> 00:35:37,280
left quite a legacy over there.

1166
00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:37,681
So, yeah.

1167
00:35:37,681 --> 00:35:39,387
And if people don't So, yeah.

1168
00:35:39,287 --> 00:35:41,007
And if people don't know, Ben was

1169
00:35:41,007 --> 00:35:41,580
on this podcast.

1170
00:35:41,580 --> 00:35:42,536
We're here too.

1171
00:35:42,436 --> 00:35:42,664
Yeah.

1172
00:35:42,664 --> 00:35:42,949
Yeah.

1173
00:35:42,949 --> 00:35:43,463
That was awesome.

1174
00:35:43,463 --> 00:35:45,060
I mean, we mostly spoke about like

1175
00:35:45,060 --> 00:35:46,600
vineyards and stuff, We're here
too.

1176
00:35:46,600 --> 00:35:46,773
Yeah.

1177
00:35:46,773 --> 00:35:47,959
but yeah, we got into the

1178
00:35:47,959 --> 00:35:48,297
politics.

1179
00:35:48,297 --> 00:35:48,500
Also.

1180
00:35:48,500 --> 00:35:48,703
Yeah.

1181
00:35:48,703 --> 00:35:49,855
We got politics.

1182
00:35:49,855 --> 00:35:52,225
We talked about the fight with
Alberta, the wine war.

1183
00:35:52,225 --> 00:35:52,360
Yeah.

1184
00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:53,174
No, he's great.

1185
00:35:53,174 --> 00:35:55,707
He's done a lot for the community
over there.

1186
00:35:55,707 --> 00:35:58,178
I guess to kind of wrap this up,
what does Steve stand for, you

1187
00:35:58,162 --> 00:36:01,595
know, moving forward?
What do you kind of have in the

1188
00:36:01,595 --> 00:36:03,909
conversations for, what do you
feel passionate about?

1189
00:36:03,909 --> 00:36:07,553
Like if you are elected, hopefully
you are, what's going to be your

1190
00:36:07,553 --> 00:36:09,623
voice?
So, you know, like I've been in

1191
00:36:09,623 --> 00:36:10,917
the community my whole life.

1192
00:36:10,917 --> 00:36:12,821
So I grew up in West Kelowna.

1193
00:36:12,821 --> 00:36:16,433
I'm a local through and through,
you know, the tagline we've went

1194
00:36:16,533 --> 00:36:18,861
with on the sign is trusted
leadership and proven integrity.

1195
00:36:18,861 --> 00:36:20,902
That resonates like even more now.

1196
00:36:20,902 --> 00:36:21,254
Thanks, Matt.

1197
00:36:21,254 --> 00:36:25,760
That's sort of just who I am and
people that know me know they can

1198
00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:28,802
count on me, right?
Like I am who I say I am.

1199
00:36:28,802 --> 00:36:31,071
I do what I say I'm going to do.

1200
00:36:31,071 --> 00:36:32,500
And I really honestly and

1201
00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:33,257
earnestly care about people.

1202
00:36:33,257 --> 00:36:35,257
So I care that the people feel

1203
00:36:35,257 --> 00:36:36,900
seen, respected, heard, and
valued.

1204
00:36:37,060 --> 00:36:38,563
And I don't believe governments
operating that way at this current

1205
00:36:38,563 --> 00:36:38,691
moment.

1206
00:36:38,691 --> 00:36:40,295
I think the bureaucracy is serving

1207
00:36:40,295 --> 00:36:45,121
itself far more than it's serving
you and I. And so, you know, I'm

1208
00:36:45,121 --> 00:36:45,931
fiscally responsible.

1209
00:36:45,931 --> 00:36:48,235
I don't beat around the bush about

1210
00:36:48,235 --> 00:36:48,303
it.

1211
00:36:48,303 --> 00:36:49,359
I am a center-right conservative,

1212
00:36:49,357 --> 00:36:50,347
but I care deeply about people.

1213
00:36:50,347 --> 00:36:52,734
And so, you know, I want to be a

1214
00:36:52,734 --> 00:36:54,701
force for good in BC politics.

1215
00:36:54,701 --> 00:36:57,215
And I think there's a need for

1216
00:36:57,115 --> 00:36:58,287
that right now.

1217
00:36:58,187 --> 00:36:59,797
You know, I've been through the

1218
00:36:59,797 --> 00:37:00,870
meat grinder of politics.

1219
00:37:00,870 --> 00:37:04,574
I see how the molds are made and I

1220
00:37:04,574 --> 00:37:06,405
can promise you I don't fit in the
mold.

1221
00:37:06,405 --> 00:37:08,044
So if you want a traditional
politician, I'm not your guy.

1222
00:37:08,043 --> 00:37:09,983
Let's just be right upfront about
that.

1223
00:37:09,983 --> 00:37:13,031
So, you know, I consider myself a
leader in the area of politics.

1224
00:37:13,031 --> 00:37:15,757
So in the industry of politics, if
you want to call it that, but I

1225
00:37:15,757 --> 00:37:18,605
think I bring that and a lot more,
and I'm really trying to focus on

1226
00:37:18,605 --> 00:37:20,085
who I am as a person and the value
that that brings to this role.

1227
00:37:20,085 --> 00:37:20,559
Yeah.

1228
00:37:20,559 --> 00:37:21,448
Actually, it probably presents

1229
00:37:21,448 --> 00:37:23,884
opportunities, not only for the
voter, but for you to show the

1230
00:37:23,984 --> 00:37:25,718
differences and stuff like that.

1231
00:37:25,618 --> 00:37:25,757
Yeah.

1232
00:37:25,757 --> 00:37:27,730
Who you are as a person.

1233
00:37:27,730 --> 00:37:28,077
Yeah.

1234
00:37:27,977 --> 00:37:30,379
Actually, it probably presents
opportunities not only for the

1235
00:37:30,379 --> 00:37:32,693
voter, but for you to show the
differences and stuff like that.

1236
00:37:32,693 --> 00:37:32,818
Yeah.

1237
00:37:32,818 --> 00:37:34,569
You are as a for the voter, but

1238
00:37:34,569 --> 00:37:36,637
for you to show the differences
and stuff like that.

1239
00:37:36,637 --> 00:37:36,984
Yeah.

1240
00:37:36,984 --> 00:37:38,232
You are as a person.

1241
00:37:38,232 --> 00:37:41,975
So yeah, I'm way more optimistic
about this situation now because

1242
00:37:41,975 --> 00:37:46,800
when you first got falconed, BC
United Party executed what it did.

1243
00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:49,160
I was like, no, this is what
happens in politics.

1244
00:37:49,160 --> 00:37:52,060
Like there's good people that are
trying to do good things.

1245
00:37:52,120 --> 00:37:54,580
And then any event like this
happens and it totally takes those

1246
00:37:54,576 --> 00:37:56,356
people out of politics and it
ruins what's currently been going

1247
00:37:56,356 --> 00:37:56,730
on.

1248
00:37:56,730 --> 00:37:58,414
So I'm super happy you're still

1249
00:37:58,414 --> 00:38:00,197
running and you're fighting the
battle, man.

1250
00:38:00,097 --> 00:38:01,484
So yeah, I appreciate it.

1251
00:38:01,484 --> 00:38:02,189
Really appreciate you guys.

1252
00:38:02,189 --> 00:38:03,423
Thank you for saying that.

1253
00:38:03,423 --> 00:38:03,482
Okay.

1254
00:38:03,482 --> 00:38:03,717
Yeah.

1255
00:38:03,717 --> 00:38:05,860
So Steve, thank you so much again

1256
00:38:05,837 --> 00:38:06,922
for coming on, man.

1257
00:38:06,899 --> 00:38:08,802
We'll just kind of give you the

1258
00:38:08,802 --> 00:38:11,900
platform to wrap up and say
goodbye to our listener, but yeah,

1259
00:38:11,900 --> 00:38:14,400
we really appreciate your time and
what you're doing for the

1260
00:38:14,500 --> 00:38:14,627
community.

1261
00:38:14,627 --> 00:38:15,007
Thanks, guys.

1262
00:38:15,007 --> 00:38:16,112
One thing I'd really appreciate I
Thanks, guys.

1263
00:38:16,104 --> 00:38:18,117
One thing I'd really appreciate is
just your support.

1264
00:38:18,117 --> 00:38:18,995
So if you're keen to support me
coming forward in this election,

1265
00:38:18,995 --> 00:38:22,732
if you want to go follow me on
Instagram and Facebook, that's

1266
00:38:22,832 --> 00:38:20,169
kind of where a lot of the content
is going to live.

1267
00:38:20,105 --> 00:38:30,566
And I do a great job of keeping
people And I do a great job of

1268
00:38:30,566 --> 00:38:31,036
keeping people updated.

1269
00:38:31,036 --> 00:38:31,404
Oh, thanks.

1270
00:38:31,438 --> 00:38:32,141
I appreciate Oh, thanks.

1271
00:38:32,075 --> 00:38:32,444
I appreciate that.

1272
00:38:32,478 --> 00:38:33,620
You know, I'm going to probably be
at the door.

1273
00:38:33,720 --> 00:38:35,925
So I'll be looking for you guys at
the door.

1274
00:38:35,825 --> 00:38:39,992
If I miss you, I'll be putting a
rack card sort of under the mat or

1275
00:38:39,992 --> 00:38:40,894
in the mailbox.

1276
00:38:40,994 --> 00:38:42,749
On that, there's going to be a QR

1277
00:38:42,749 --> 00:38:42,850
code.

1278
00:38:42,850 --> 00:38:45,324
If you are keen to support me, as

1279
00:38:45,324 --> 00:38:47,709
I say, I would really appreciate
if you scan that QR code.

1280
00:38:47,709 --> 00:38:50,675
There's kind of low barrier info
that we're asking for just so that

1281
00:38:50,575 --> 00:38:53,855
we can get in contact with you
because the get out the vote

1282
00:38:53,855 --> 00:38:54,661
strategy is really important.

1283
00:38:54,661 --> 00:38:57,306
So I want to know that anyone

1284
00:38:57,306 --> 00:39:00,706
who's wanting to support me, we
can give you all the access to

1285
00:39:00,706 --> 00:39:02,933
information you need to make sure
you're in the right place at the

1286
00:39:02,933 --> 00:39:04,143
right time to cast your vote.

1287
00:39:04,143 --> 00:39:05,101
And always happy to hear from you.

1288
00:39:05,101 --> 00:39:07,530
So reach out, send me a message,
you know, message through the

1289
00:39:07,530 --> 00:39:08,106
website.

1290
00:39:08,106 --> 00:39:09,652
Those links will be in the

1291
00:39:09,652 --> 00:39:11,064
description for the podcast.

1292
00:39:11,164 --> 00:39:13,057
Sure enough, they will.

1293
00:39:13,157 --> 00:39:16,934
What about registering to vote?
I appreciate registering to vote?

1294
00:39:16,934 --> 00:39:18,317
That's a great question, Matt.

1295
00:39:18,317 --> 00:39:20,556
So like you should have already

1296
00:39:20,556 --> 00:39:22,277
received your voter ID from
Elections BC.

1297
00:39:22,277 --> 00:39:25,782
If you haven't, I would get in
touch with Elections BC, make sure

1298
00:39:25,776 --> 00:39:28,347
you're registered in the right
community so that you can vote for

1299
00:39:28,347 --> 00:39:29,778
the candidate that's closest to
home.

1300
00:39:29,678 --> 00:39:30,709
I love I it.

1301
00:39:30,609 --> 00:39:31,207
love it it too.

1302
00:39:31,207 --> 00:39:31,274
Okay.

1303
00:39:31,274 --> 00:39:33,136
Well, get out there, knock on some

1304
00:39:33,136 --> 00:39:33,202
doors.

1305
00:39:33,202 --> 00:39:34,257
We're supporting you, buddy.

1306
00:39:34,257 --> 00:39:35,178
So appreciate appreciate it.

1307
00:39:35,078 --> 00:39:35,693
I'm on it.

1308
00:39:35,693 --> 00:39:36,258
Thanks, Steve.

1309
00:39:36,258 --> 00:39:36,412
Steve.

1310
00:39:36,412 --> 00:39:36,617
Okay.

1311
00:39:36,617 --> 00:39:37,592
Have a good day.

1312
00:39:37,592 --> 00:39:38,058
a good day.