I’m still home sick today, along with half the valley from the number of comments on a post in Comox Valley community yesterday! Take your pick – rhinovirus, covid and the flu are all circulating widely. No idea what has hit me. Largely asymptomatic except a fever, headache and exhaustive fatigue – sleeping 10-11 hours nightly.

That’s left me a ridiculous amount of time to catch up on my emails and follow this crazy election while resting on the couch.

If you are new here, I’m a registered end of life guide, eldercare consultant and former service leader( fancy term for operations manager) for a home care agency before they closed their local office last year. I educate and guide people with advance care planning, I help people who are dying and their families, through the process of dying and all it entails: legacy work, logistics,vigil support and grief support. And while in charge of the home care agency, I managed the in-home care for many elders, ICBC & workplace accident victims in the valley for years. But I’m also a former political columnist,writer and media commentator who once worked to hold successive governments to account for over 16 years.

I think I’m very much like the majority of British Columbians who don’t fit neatly into a partisan box, but who also don’t lack political convictions – sometimes, those convictions even cross political boundaries.
A person might vote BC NDP because of health care, but support a Conservative position on taxation, or agree with the Greens on the environment, and disagree with all three on something else.

Regardless of what party you belong to or support, when political loyalty to any party becomes more important than intellectual honesty, we all lose. And it’s the often wilfully blind partisanship some parties seem to build into their culture, that keeps many at bay..including myself.

I also think this culture has a lot to do with the low voter turnout we have seen for years too. People feel disconnected and turned off by all the sniping and division, and that was a part of why I quit my Dual column years ago – I realized I was directly contributing to that division. The world that most politicians and politicos live in, is not the same world that the rest of us live in, which is full of nuance.

All these things are why I’ve never been a member of any political party, even despite being asked to run for all three major parties at different times, many years ago. This context of my perspective is important, I think, when I share opinions, because I’ve seen the world from many different angles, and positions. I have friends of all different political leanings and generally I don’t operate in a Left/Right world – I operate in the do no harm & make things better for all one.

While it’s not for me to tell anyone who to vote for, I do think it’s important to know the consequence of your vote and to be fully informed.

While so many of the really big issues in this election are currently lagging or doing poorly under the NDP’s responsibility, most of them started under former BC Liberal government policies that led to so many cuts & deregulation. ( Don’t take my word for it, you can research that yourself)

The BC Liberals were a coalition party of federal Liberals and federal Conservatives, some of whom have been or remain in the current iteration of the BC Conservatives. It’s likely that only those who have followed politics for more than a decade would know this. And it’s why I cringe when I hear about massive tax cuts – unless you have a solid and realistic plan to replace the lost revenue, cuts are the only way to balance the budget.

I’m not at all happy with the BC NDP government and Eby’s very ill timed snap election, but I also have grave concerns over a potential Conservative government that has had 4 vastly different leaders in two years…each of which publicly displayed a vast contrast in opinions, stances and direction. And yet still expects the electorate to vote them into a majority government on a promise that they will amend the party constitution to make sure interim leader Doerkson will remain the leader and premier.

On September 23rd, the party issued a statement saying they would amend the constitution to allow him to remain leader, AFTER the election..problem is, that amendment requires a two-thirds vote of members.

Excerpts from the article below:

” An interim leader cannot run for the position permanently under the party’s constitution. But the party said its board would “pursue the appropriate means” to keep Doerkson in power after the snap election called by NDP Leader David Eby on Tuesday.

“A premier chosen by British Columbians deserves the certainty of leading his party,” the directors said.

The constitution would be amended to keep Doerkson in charge, the party said.

But changing the constitution requires a two-thirds vote of members present at an annual general meeting or special general meeting.”

~ snip ~

” Lawyer Tim Thielmann, a former Conservative candidate and former research director for the party’s caucus, said if Doerkson won, it was “extremely unlikely” that enough discontented members would block amendments to keep him in charge.

“So, I think the wisest course for people who are angry about the process that led to Doerkson being appointed leader is to vote out the NDP now and … spend the next four years building the party that you want,” he said.” ---------------------------

Personally, I don’t pay much attention to campaign promises made by anyone seeking power – I only pay attention to their history, their record and most importantly, their actions. What the BC Conservative party has shown the public in the last two years, is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in all my years observing and analyzing BC politics.

They have had 4 leaders since 2024:

• John Rustad: Led the party into the October 2024 general election winning 44 seats, and resigned on December 4, 2025.
• Trevor Halford: Appointed interim leader on December 4, 2025, serving until May 2026.
• Kerry-Lynne Findlay: Elected as leader on May 30, 2026, and resigned on September 20, 2026, after serving 112 days.
• Lorne Doerkson: Appointed interim leader following Findlay’s resignation in September 2026.

To me, this isn’t indicative of stability nor is this even indicative of a consistent Conservative world view – it’s a firm demonstration of how vast the differences are within that party. And it’s a lot to ask of undecided voters to suddenly believe that the people behind these power struggles have suddenly decided to all get along and agree, and vote to allow a change in the amendment required to keep Doerkson in power.

Perhaps everything will go as planned. Perhaps all the Conservative members will suddenly agree and an amendment will be passed…but one cannot ignore that the opportunity is there to see a vastly different kind of Conservative leader become premier than the one travelling the province right now. As we all know well, promises are just words that sound nice when political power is at stake.

Locally, we have a Conservative MLA who has been a strong voice for the valley and who stepped down to object to Kerry-Lynne Findleys leadership, citing a loss of confidence in her judgment, conduct, and ethical standards & stating the party was taking a direction he could not support. This was applauded by residents who don’t traditionally vote Conservative which speaks to his performance and character.
He rejoined the party before the snap election was called and in my view, it will be a very close vote between himself and NDP Will Cole-Hamilton if history repeats in this riding.

Personally, I’ve become a fan of minority governments over the years, because a minority government situation forces the ruling party to seek compromise with opposition parties. This helps curb the premiers circle overreach and increases legislative accountability. The Greens held that position once before and I wouldn’t mind seeing them in this position again because it limits any government from pushing through a partisan agenda… and forces collaboration between opposing viewpoints. And isn’t this how the real world actually works ? We hear candidates talk a lot about being collaborative, this is the only way to ensure they actually are.

Please, use your vote, and use it wisely!

Thoughtful, respectful, and free of profanity comments are always welcome and I posted a screenshot of the Conservative statement on the leadership situation in the comments.