Why hasn't the right-wing populist wave taken off in BC?

[240glt]

Are there more people in interior BC that come from, or have family roots of Albertans moving west, or from west coasters moving inland?

Several types of former Albertans in the interior. First there are those who bought property and retired there, and then there are seasonal property owners, many of whom plan to retire there when the time comes. Then there are the people like myself who grew up in the interior and left for Alberta 20 years ago because there were no opportunities for young people at home, but now that we’ve done well and can support ourselves in a smaller town are moving back. That’s happening with a lot of my friends from high school who have become professionals, started families and like the idea of being closer to family and being in what a lot of people consider a better environment to raise a family

In my experience, the Albertans with no roots other than they own property or live there are far more conservative than those with roots in the area

[240glt]

I think the last real populist wave in BC was when the Social Credit was in power and even then more in the early days. I find Alberta far more monocultured than BC, and I think you’ve got too much diversity throughout the province, even in the conservative regions, for any sort of populist wave to take hold.

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by 240glt

Several types of former Albertans in the interior. First there are those who bought property and retired there, and then there are seasonal property owners, many of whom plan to retire there when the time comes. Then there are the people like myself who grew up in the interior and left for Alberta 20 years ago because there were no opportunities for young people at home, but now that we’ve done well and can support ourselves in a smaller town are moving back. That’s happening with a lot of my friends from high school who have become professionals, started families and like the idea of being closer to family and being in what a lot of people consider a better environment to raise a family

In my experience, the Albertans with no roots other than they own property or live there are far more conservative than those with roots in the area

Pretty much nailed it.

[Docere]

One difference between BC and Ontario is that BC doesn't really seem to have Toronto Sun-type tabloids. Yeah, there's the Province but it's more just Vancouver Sun lite (which is a pretty conventional center-right paper).

[Docere]

I suspect the Interior has a lot of Alberta retirees and so on, but the working class there seems to have moved rightward. There's definitely a coast vs. interior split in BC.

[Denscity]

Except the west kootenays we are pure ndp. Just like van island.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by Docere

One question is why do these right-wing "Albertans" in the interior keep deferring to a Van elite leadership? There is nothing "populist" about Wilkinson whatsoever.

Is there any answer to this besides "because they're not the NDP."

[240glt]

^^ Yes it's easy to just say that Vancouver is liberal and the rest of the province is conservative but that's not really true. As you noted the Kootenays went NDP, so did the all the coastal ridings. Looking at the ridings in the central interior, most of the conservative MP's won their seats with less than 40% of the vote, the only one to break 50% being Peace River.

[240glt]

Originally Posted by Docere

Is there any answer to this besides "because they're not the NDP."

I don't really understand the question... most Albertans who move to the interior (the ones without any ties other than they moved there) tend more to defer to Albertan conservative values rather than Vancouver liberal values

[Docere]

I don't think the conservatism of the interior can simply be attributed to "Albertans."

And even so, how are they deferring to "conservative Albertan values" by supporting a party always led by Vancouverites?

Of course Wilkinson hasn't been tested yet, so it's hard to know how Thurston Howell III plays with the electorate.

Christy Clark had the most "populist" appeal of the three most leaders of the BC Liberals (though she seemed more driven by narcissism than any ideology) - even having to run in the Okanagan to get a seat when was Premier.

[240glt]

Originally Posted by Docere

I don't think the conservatism of the interior can simply be attributed to "Albertans."

No, not totally of course. But there is definitely a conservative influence in the interior and a large part of that comes from the number of Albertans living there, and there are quite a lot of them

And even so, how are they deferring to "conservative Albertan values" by supporting a party always led by Vancouverites?

I assume you're talking about provincial politics.. in BC the Liberal party is essentially a PC party in many ways. the only conservative party in BC is way out on the fringes.

Of course Wilkinson hasn't been tested yet, so it's hard to know how Thurston Howell III plays with the electorate.

Christy Clark had the most "populist" appeal of the three most leaders of the BC Liberals (though she seemed more driven by narcissism than any ideology) - even having to run in the Okanagan to get a seat when was Premier.

We'll see, I think eventually.. maybe sooner rather than later the Liberals will regain power, but so far the coalition has beat many of the skeptic's predictions. I don't really see Clark as being populist. She's the main reason the liberals lost the last election

[Docere]

BC Liberals are very much like the old federal PCs. The PCs don't exist in Alberta anymore (and they weren't the party of the right in the last two provincial elections there).

[Docere]

Populist doesn't mean "most popular." By that definition the decisively unpopulist Gordon Campbell (basically a Mulroney-style suit) was the most populist leader of all, given that he got 57% of the vote and 77 of 79 seats in 2001.

[240glt]

Originally Posted by Docere

BC Liberals are very much like the old federal PCs. The PCs don't exist in Alberta anymore (and they weren't the party of the right in the last two provincial elections there).

They’re trying to make a comeback. The Alberta Party is essentially the Alberta PC’s 2.0. Same old cronies, same old politics

[240glt]

Originally Posted by Docere

Populist doesn't mean "most popular." By that definition the decisively unpopulist Gordon Campbell (basically a Mulroney-style suit) was the most populist leader of all, given that he got 57% of the vote and 77 of 79 seats in 2001.

I know. Clark wasn’t populist because she wasn’t trying to represent the wishes of the mainstream BC’er. Or at least she failed at it while trying

[Docere]

She did lose the "urban elite" districts of Point Grey and Fairview for the Liberals while gaining seats in the interior when she won in 2013 by presenting herself as the "hard hat" candidate. In 2017 she failed with the same strategy - but I don't know if her reduced voting coalition was that different in its composition. The main difference was suburban Lower Mainland marginals flipping to the NDP.

[s211]

Busting a gut here at all the pundits that think the only people on the right side of the spectrum in BC are migrants displaced from Alberta. Funny, that.

[Capsicum]

Originally Posted by Docere

I suspect the Interior has a lot of Alberta retirees and so on, but the working class there seems to have moved rightward. There's definitely a coast vs. interior split in BC.

What about the BC Bible Belt alongside that of Alberta being conservative on the basis of it being religiously conservative (whether or not it's conservative on economic grounds) and disliking the secular, nonreligious cities on the coast with culture that it would disagree with (eg. LGBT, abortion etc.), regardless of economics.

[Docere]

Funny how a Bible-thumper like Stockwell Day did so well in BC.

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by Docere

Funny how a Bible-thumper like Stockwell Day did so well in BC.

He was very subtle with that subject. I didn't even know he was into that stuff.