Yuri Fulmer said the Conservative Party of B.C. needs to be a "grand coalition" that refrains from "undisciplined" behaviour if it wants to govern, as he becomes the first high-profile candidate to run for the party's leadership.
Fulmer, the chancellor of Capilano University who made his fortune with fast food franchises, said that means that the Conservatives have to "welcome a lot of people" into the party who don't feel comfortable there now — including former B.C. Liberals.
"Let me be very clear," he said in an interview. "I'm running to be the leader of the B.C. Conservatives. I am a Conservative. What I will do, though, is welcome into the Conservative tent people who are conservatively minded, and they may have called themselves B.C. Liberals in the past, but their alternative to the NDP right now is the B.C. Conservative Party."
He also said he would not be "dragged down" into a debate about Indigenous land acknowledgments, as he officially launched his campaign on Tuesday, a day after his website went live.
He joins Rossland contractor Warren Hamm as contenders to fill the position once held by John Rustad, who resigned after a caucus revolt last month. The party hasn't yet released the official rules for the contest.
Fulmer's campaign launch includes a video, in which he accuses the NDP of having run B.C. "right into the ground" through "radical, out-of-touch policies."
The video features images of street disorder and crime, but also lays some blame on the provincial Conservatives.
"It's time for a hard truth my friends," he said. "We have, in a way, enabled them. Every outburst, every undisciplined tweet, we have not been a credible alternative."
Fulmer said that lack of discipline has given Premier David Eby what Fulmer calls a "perfect distraction" from the NDP's record.
"We do not need to change our values," Fulmer said in the video. "We need to change our leadership."
The philanthropist and entrepreneur who holds almost three dozen A&W restaurant franchises rejects the suggestion that this profile makes him more of a former B.C. Liberal than a Conservative.
"I have lived my life under conservative values," he said. "I'm a fiscal conservative, and I agreed to run with the Conservative Party, when we were polling 12 per cent. So in that sense, I'm tried, tested and true B.C. Conservative."
Fulmer narrowly lost to the B.C. Green Party's Jeremy Valeriote in the riding of West Vancouver-Sea to Sky in the 2024 provincial election.
He enters the leadership race amid questions about the party's ideological cohesiveness. The Conservatives have lost five members since the election.
"In terms of leading the party, we need to be the big, blue tent," Fulmer said. "We need to remind British Columbians about conservative values, and we need to learn from conservative values, and we need to make sure that a diverse group of opinions are welcome in the B.C. Conservative Party."
The tent is already built, they just need to issue more invitations to welcome a lot more people, he said.
"If we want to form government, we need people, who voted NDP in the last election to vote for us."
His job is to expand the potential pool of voters, Fulmer said.
The party needs to focus on things that matter to British Columbians, such as affordability, health care, public safety, the economy and the future of private property rights, he said.
"I think labelling different kinds of conservatives is a tactic used to divide us," he said.
Others have deliberately stood apart, including one of Fulmer's potential competitors, Harman Bhangu.
The Conservative member of the legislature joined former Conservative MLAs Tara Armstrong, Dallas Brodie and Jordan Kealy in voting for a failed bill to ban First Nations land acknowledgments by public employees.
Fulmer said he is sure that he has done a lot of acknowledgments in his role with Capilano University, including its fall convocation.
"If some folks want to do land acknowledgments, I think they should be comfortable doing land acknowledgments. If people don't want to do land acknowledgments, because that is not comfortable for them, I think they shouldn't."
The party needed to stay focused on the issues that British Columbians consider important.
"I'm not going to be dragged down into a discussion, where and when and how we should land acknowledgments."
Fulmer said he announced his candidacy now because he is ready to go, has a team and has raised funding.
Former grocery executive Darrell Jones and MLA Peter Milobar have said they are seriously considering a run, and Bhangu has said he will most likely run — if he likes the rules.
Fulmer said he does not know why people are waiting on the sidelines.
This job is too big and too important," he said. "You are either in or you are out, and I would tell you unequivocally today, I'm in."
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tijana Martin
