Westside-Kelowna MLA Ben Stewart says he was sitting in a finance meeting yesterday when news dropped on social media that his party B.C. United would be suspending its election campaign and throwing its support behind the B.C. Conservatives. 

That meeting was switched to an emergency caucus call at 12:30 p.m.

91裸聊视频淚 found out the same as anyone else found out,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淚 have talked to a few people about this and they are shocked and probably still are.91裸聊视频�

Stewart said he understands that B.C. United will withdraw its candidates to give Conservatives a chance to draw from incumbent MLAs and other B.C. United candidates, but for the more than 60 B.C. United candidates he knows they are wondering what is going on and what this will mean for them. 

91裸聊视频淚 know they said they will pick the best candidates, meaning that there are going to be candidates who will step aside and that is unfortunate because a lot of them have been doing a lot of hard work for this election,91裸聊视频� said Stewart. 

And, while candidates might be in disarray, Stewart said it91裸聊视频檚 important to note that this move by B.C. United Leader Kevin Falcon, "is probably the toughest thing he has to do in his life.91裸聊视频�

Stewart has worked alongside Falcon in the opposition since 2022, but the Westside-Kelowna MLA has been an elected official for a lot longer. Stewart was elected MLA for Westside-Kelowna in 2009 and 2013. He was then elected MLA for Kelowna-West in 2018 and 2020. However, he recently announced he would not be running in the upcoming provincial election and would be retiring. 

Despite stepping away from politics, Stewart says he was advocating for the B.C. United and B.C. Conservative parties to come together and make some solutions. 

Since his retirement announcement, Stewart has been supporting West Kelowna-Peachland B.C. United candidate Stephen Johnston.

91裸聊视频淎s it happens, Stephen Johnston and I were down in Victoria together in early May, late April. And, Stephen had been thinking about what could we do to avoid this. So, he came up with a proposal and we met with Kevin on it. I think Kevin thought it was quite reasonable.91裸聊视频�

However, Stewart wouldn91裸聊视频檛 explain what that proposal was but did say it was very different than suspending the campaign and supporting the Conservatives. 

91裸聊视频淭his will change the campaign dramatically. We knew the challenges with splitting the vote and we didn91裸聊视频檛 want to split the vote, but it is a reality,91裸聊视频� said Stewart. 

He went on to say he strongly believes the only reason the B.C. Conservatives have any 91裸聊视频渙xygen91裸聊视频� at all is because of the interest in what is happening federally with the Conservative Party of Canada, which he believes that has spilled over to the provincial Conservatives. 

91裸聊视频淭hey are not associated and B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad has been clear on that but I don91裸聊视频檛 think the public is,91裸聊视频� remarked Stewart. 

When asked what he thinks is in store for the future of the B.C. United, Steward believes that has a lot to do with what will happen in the provincial election and if the B.C. Conservatives will get a majority government. 

91裸聊视频淚t will be about how they perform and it91裸聊视频檚 about good policy," he said.

Since the news of the campaign suspension was made public rumours began circulating not 24 hours later that those not picked in the Okanagan by the B.C. Conservatives would be announcing their own new party, the Okanagan Alliance Party.

Stewart didn91裸聊视频檛 know anything about the possibility new party forming and instead advises candidates to sit tight and wait, because "It is still too early to know what is going to happen."

He says he heard that there are a few candidates from the Okanagan who have been identified as key players for the B.C. Conservatives when it comes to picking who will represent the party. 

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 important to remember that if you do get elected to government you need to have some expertise because having everybody new is a bit of a problem,91裸聊视频� he explained. 

Stewart notes that the majority of B.C. Conservative candidates have no experience in policy-making, budget decisions or politics in general. 

91裸聊视频淚 think the people who support us will find a way to vote for the candidate that they like and think is the right person. But we won91裸聊视频檛 know that for sure until Oct. 19,91裸聊视频� he said.