A Conservative candidate from Surrey is now running as an independent as the fallout continues from BC United's abrupt end to its election campaign.
Dupinder Kaur Saran was the Surrey-Panorama candidate for the Conservative Party of B.C. but announced Monday night (Sept. 2) that she is no longer in the party.
"As a candidate in Surrey-Panorama, I witnessed a Conservative candidate in Whiterock being bullied into leaving their riding & to choose either the Fleetwood or Panorama riding," Saran wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
"I could no longer watch this drama unfold & did the right thing by moving to a side, to make room for the Whiterock candidate."
Moving forward, Saran will continue running in the Panorama riding but as an independent, saying that the BC Conservative party is "now a Liberal Party running under the Conservative banner."
Jinny Sims, the NDP MLA and candidate for Surrey-Panorama, said on X that Bryan Tepper, named as the BC Conservative candidate for Surrey-White Rock, will now be running in the Surrey-Panorama riding.
Surrey-White Rock is the riding currently represented by BC United MLA Trevor Halford, who was set to run again for that party. Halford has now been announced as the BC Conservative candidate there instead.
Halford said he ultimately decided to run for the B.C. Conservatives "to take on the NDP."
"I've always been a community-first guy. For me, it's never been about left or right. I know what my values are, and I'm always going to fight for what's best for my community," he said.
In an interview with Black Press Media Tuesday afternoon, Conservative Party leader John Rustad reacted to the news of Saran leaving the party and claiming it was becoming a Liberal party with a Conservative title.
"I mean that's just pure B.S. We are the Conservative Party and have been right from the beginning, and nothing has changed. When you look at it, compared to say 2001, everybody that's with us probably voted BC Liberal at one point in their background, so that's just how things go," Rustad said.
"We have never seen this kind of a situation before where a political party has ceased to exist just before an election, so of course we're going to end up with lots of people coming over and wanting to be a part of getting rid of the NDP."
Elenore Sturko, MLA for Surrey South and Conservative Party of B.C. candidate for Surrey-Cloverdale, told Black Press Media on Wednesday (Sept. 4) that this decision was not malicious.
“I know that there is no malicious intent in any of these sort of human resources transactions, if you want to call it that,” Sturko said. “The intention isn't to be malicious or to bully.”
“These are difficult decisions that the party has to make, and I think we heard both Kevin Falcon and John Rustad talk about the desire to try to put the most strength in a team that we can possibly could in order for us to beat the NDP,” Sturko said.
Sturko sympathized with those candidates. “It must be incredibly disappointing for anyone who's being asked either to step aside or being told that they will be no longer supported as a candidate for the party in order to accommodate somebody else as a candidate."
Peace Arch News has reached out to Saran for comment.
- with files from Wolfgang Depner and Tricia Weel
