B.C. Liberal Party set to become BC United

VICTORIA — British Columbia Liberal Party members have voted to change the party's name to BC United.

Leader Kevin Falcon said 80 per cent of the voters who cast a ballot were in favour of the name change, and he was thrilled with the result. 

🚨 HUGE NEWS 🚨

80% of over 8,000 members voted in favour of changing the party name to BC United!

Thank you to everyone who participated in this member-driven process.

Learn more about the results here: https://t.co/C7K6T0WTIW pic.twitter.com/SXUXjDkeZq

— BC Liberals (@bcliberals) November 16, 2022

The change first needs to be approved by members at convention, which Falcon said would likely be early next year. 

It's also up to them to decide when the change will be made, something Falcon said they want to be smart about. 

He said if the NDP government and incoming premier, David Eby, called an election, he wouldn't change the name immediately. 

“I know that we did bring in fixed election dates, but I also know that this government has broken those fixed election dates in the past," Falcon said. 

John Horgan's New Democrat government won a majority after calling a snap election in October 2020.  

Falcon said they want to be careful about their timing on any change. 

About 8,100 of the party's 45,000 members voted, which Falcon called a success. 

“We’ve gone through a really robust process here that I’m really very proud of, it’s really engaged the membership.” 

He dismissed concerns a name change might be confusing. "It's not like we're Coca-Cola," he said.

The name change next needs to be approved by members at convention, which is expected to happen early next year. Falcon will then have to decide when to officially make the

He said he doesn't trust incoming NDP premier David Eby not to call an early election.

"I'm not going to be stupid and change the name in February and be facing a May or June election. That wouldn't make any sense," he said.

John Horgan's New Democrat government won a majority after calling a snap election in October 2020.

B.C. has a fixed election date for October 2024.

Niki Sharma, an NDP member of the legislature, said B.C. voters remember what it was like to have a B.C. Liberal government in power even if the party changes its name.

“Kevin Falcon can change the name of his party, but he can’t change his record,” she said.

Kevin Falcon can change his party’s name but not his record.

He gave tax breaks to people who didn’t need them while aggressively cutting services and hiking fees on everyone else.

No matter the name, we can’t afford Falcon. #bcpoli https://t.co/CYotN6bjLB

— Niki Sharma (she/her) (@NikiSharma2) November 16, 2022

Falcon’s 12-year record in government is defined by huge tax giveaways to the richest one per cent, while raising costs for people and making aggressive cuts to services, said a statement from the NDP caucus.

While in government, Falcon hiked medical service plan premiums, BC Hydro rates and brought in bridge tolls, the statement said.