He wasn't subtle at all. His born-again views were central to the campaign and helped sink the Alliance from breaking through in Ontario.

He wasn't like that in BC he must have known most of us aren't into that. I think of him of that water skiing or sea too guy lol.

I still remember, back when he was running, Stockwell Day's creationism was heavily mocked by those on the left with jokes about the Flintstones and toy dinosaurs.

I remember at the time that Stockwell Day was being mocked for Creationism, that it struck me as a big contrast with the US in terms of how even among the mainstream, religious or not, Creationism was much more "fringe" in Canada.

This is true. By the time ol’ Stock was jetskiing into the beach at Westbank he was actively trying to change people’s perceptions of him. Not saying he wasn’t still a strong religious zealot but he was definitely making an effort to brand himself differently

Westbank is also a pretty affluent riding in the interior. His support may have had as much to do with that (or more) as his religious beliefs

But he didn't win just his own seat for the Alliance - they got 49% of the vote across BC!

Well that was 18 years ago in a vastly different political climate. Chretien managed to alienate the west completely by that time, and the Liberals were basically the Ontario party.

That, and Harper got rid of a lot of the "populist" elements of Reform (triple E Senate, more referenda and the like).

BC is a very divided province I find, I find our left here is more left than elsewhere while our right tends to be more economically right then elsewhere while being socially moderate to Liberal.

I grew up in Kelowna, a city many here would call conservative as hell, and you know what? it DOES vote right in every election.

But thats with low turnout and almost no one I knew there liked the BC Liberals/Federal Conservatives. In fact the latter so much there was a strong movement to elect Stephen fuhr in 2015 which was successful.

Kelowna is often thrown into the bible belt and compared with conservatives parts of the US but that wasn't my experience there at all, most people hated Harper when I lived there viewing him as destroying Canada's reputation, many were conservatives who bought the Canadian progressive narrative and reputation, they merely only wanted lower taxes.

BC is the most secular province in Canada with the lowest level of christian residents and highest level of non religious people, as a non religious individual in Kelowna most people under 40 I knew were also non religious, heck everyone even my grandmother didn't care about religion, and most people were certainly socially liberal.

The BC interior is conservative yes but many here are acting as if it's deep south style social conservative when it really isn't.

As for why the Canadian alliance was successful? A LOT of protest votes against the Liberals and provincial NDP at the time, really all it amounts to.

Kelowna also voted for the federal Liberals in 2015.

Yes, Stephen Fuhr who Bcasey25raptor mentioned was the elected Federal Liberal.

The carbon tax was implemented in BC too by Gordon Campbell and there doesn't seem to be much opposition to it, in contrast to right-wingers elsewhere.

To be fair it was implemented in 2008 by a right wing government while the left was opposed at the time, the complete opposite of things today.

BC has a strong environmentalist presence so supporting a carbon tax was an easier thing to swallow here than elsewhere.

Didn't stop the NDP from campaigning against it in 2009, was a very successful strategy since they won several interior ridings where resource workers who were unionized were located.

Unfortunately for the NDP today is quite different and against any environmentalist ideas would warrant them losing their urban coastal base, couple this with strong competition from the greens and the NDP now is forced to realize the fact they are an urban Liberal party and no longer a labour union party.

Kelowna is kind of the odd man of the group who doesn’t like the left but also not the right (at leas not the far right). Abbotsford has the same problem too.

West Vancouver and Langley are staunch supporters for right-wing parties (BC Liberals and the Tories). My mom has a hatred for left-wing gov’ts, like the Federal Liberals and especially the NDP. She loathes for tax increases, social spending, and is religious. She often fits along with people in Langley because of this when it comes to politics.

Surrey is kind of a mix bag. It’s mostly left-wing, but the further south or east you go the more right-wing they get. I often keep politics out in these areas, ESPECIALLY when it comes to religion and gun laws. There was a student in my high school chemistry class—which is in Northern Surrey—who (I assumed) lived in Cloverdale who talked about having US-styled gun laws to my teacher. It escalated really quickly.

You will have to keep you mouth shut in Langley about religion, taxes, and particularly housing. (Yes, there are some people I know in Langley who think David Eby is lying about the housing crisis.) Even students in Langley schools are right-wing—not all, but the majority. During the 2017 Provincial Election, 36% of students in Langley East (my voting district) voted for Rich Coleman, while barely 30% of students voted to Inder Johal, who represents BC NDP, and Bill Masse of the BC Greens is a close third. Mary Polak is also first by students in the Langley district. Students tend to be more left-wing, but this is not the case for Langley students.

West Vancouver isn't consistently Conservative in federal elections; the federal Liberals won the last election there. However it is right of center and votes overwhelmingly for the BC Liberals.

The greens also perform extremely well there.

The Greens in BC are kinda like the Liberal Democrats in the UK, an anti-small "c" conservative option for those who find themselves to be too posh to vote for the "workers' party." Hence Green strength in Oak Bay and West Van.

You don’t see Green presence at all in Langley, Langley East, and Surrey-Cloverdale. Two of these ridings voted for the Tories in the 2015 Federal election (Cloverdale-Langley voted for the Federal Liberals) and the BC Liberals in the 2017 Provincial election.

This is utter bs and you know it, they campaigned well to the left of the NDP. This idea the BC greens are centrist or small c conservative is absolutely nonsensical and need the concept must die.

I didn't say the BC Greens were right-wing. I said they're a more palatable option for wealthy voters who are anti-conservative.