view
T H E C O N S E R VAT I V E
DATES TO KNOW
17 April 2011
The BC New Democrat Party
votes for its new leader.
2 May 2011
Federal election with the
Conservatives hoping for a
majority win
28 May 2011
The BC Conservative Party
votes for its new leader
24 June 2011
Referendum on the HST, via
mail in vote.
Lessons Learned
Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
During the 1979 provincial general election
campaign, BC Conservative Party Leader, Vic
Stephens, made a profound statement that
is worthy of serious consideration to this day.
Effectively, he stated “that the best way to ensure
a future NDP government is to ensure that there is
no alternative to the current government”. At that
time, the province was governed by a relatively
competent Social Credit Party and Mr. Stephens’
warning was essentially ignored. However, as
history has revealed, the Socreds eventually met
with voter discontent and, with no alternative Party
to support, British Columbians became victims of
two (2) terms of NDP government.
Today, we are in a similar situation as we were in
1991 (the election that brought the NDP to office).
The Liberal coalition appears to be crumbling and
we are facing the prospect of yet another NDP
government. The only way to prevent that from
happening is to provide the voters an opportunity
to support a strong BC Conservative Party.
Recent federal elections demonstrate very
clearly that British Columbians will support a
conservative Party more than any other Party.
VOLUME 2 MARCH 2 0 11
Unfortunately, up until now, there has not been a
credible provincial conservative Party. Therefore,
frustrated conservatives had the choice either to
abstain from voting or to support the “lesser of
two evils”. Many of the latter have stated they
will not do that again and have joined the BC
Conservatives.
So, what does a BC Conservative Party have
to do to become a credible alternative to form
government? To gain wide-spread support, three
(3) factors must exist:
• The Party must have a strong, experienced
and reputable Leader.
• The policies must be attractive to centre-right
voters.
• There must be solid infrastructure.
On May 28, the BC Conservatives will be electing
a Leader. The interest revealed to date is a good
indication that the new Leader will possess all the
attributes necessary to lead a government.
The current policies have already attracted a
large number of supporters. However, they
(continued on page 3)
 THINGS YOU
SHOULD KNOW
A quick breakdown of some
important numbers to
remember in the next election
85
The number of ridings
in British Columbia. The BC
Conservatives currently have
Constituency Associations in over
half of those ridings
250,000
The portion of the 750,000
British Columbians that voted
Conservative in the last federal
election, but did not vote at all in
the last provincial lection
300,000
The number of Liberals
in British Columbia that voted
Liberal federally and provincially.
An additional 100,000 ‘non-
Liberal’ voters cast for BC Liberals
in the last provincial election in
2009
Page 2
How will BC Conservatives govern? ... that’s
a good question.
by Alan Forseth, Regional Director, Kamloops-Cariboo-Thompson-Fraser-Nicola
For those who do not know me (most of
you), my name is Alan Forseth, and I live in
the Kamloops area. Back last Fall I had the
opportunity to meet with Wayne McGrath
and Rita Johnston, who I’m delighted to
say, let me know there was an alternative
to voting for either the Liberals or NDP
(actually given that I believed those were my
only choice I had planned not to vote in the
next election).
I’m now a BC Conservative member,
and helping to play a small role in the
development of the party here in the
Kamloops / Thompson / Nicola / Fraser
area.
Recently several people (members included)
have asked me how / why things will be
different, when we have a BC Conservative
government, following the next general
election in May 2013. That of course is a
very good question, but to best answer it,
there are a couple of important things that
need to happen over the next few months.
First the party is going to be electing a
party leader, and second members will be
approving policy that is currently in the
process of being reviewed and updated.
Although not officially announced yet,
rumours are out there that the first person,
who will be declaring their intentions they
wish to lead the party, will be John Cummins.
Mr. Cummins has been an MP in Ottawa
for over 15 years now, and a week ago
announced to the Prime Minister that he will
not be seeking re-election.
For some time now he has also been the
lone federal Conservative championing the
BC Conservative Party – and has also been
a member of the Tactical Advisory Group
(led by former Reform / Canadian Alliance /
Conservative MP Randy White). Apparently
there are rumours of a few other people who
are considering an announcement of their
intentions to run as well, however names are
being kept under wraps so time will tell.
As well, the BC Conservative Party is in
the process of updating policy – which has
included input from hundreds and hundreds
of members from all across the province.
From what I have heard, we have given
the policy committee a lot to consider and
develop into policy – and a platform to take
to the people of the province. As members
we will soon have the opportunity to review
these policy ideas, and to vote to approve
them.
So regardless of all that, the question still
remains, how will the BC Conservatives
govern when elected by the people of BC?
Over the years many hard working members
of the party have worked to develop the
principles, beliefs, and values that our
members stand for. Members of the Policy
Committee have now developed these into
a set of Guiding Principles, which all of us
should be sure to read.
I personally am also very pleased to see the
“Draft Contract with British Columbians”.
(continued on page 3)
 SOCIAL MEDIA?
Lessons Learned WHAT THE HECK
IS THAT?
(continued from page 1)

must be updated and, unlike the other Parties, each individual Conservative Party member will have TWITTER
The 140-character
meaningful input into the development of Party policy. This process is currently well underway and will
phenomenon that has swept the
be presented to the membership for adoption at a general meeting of the Party later this year and well world. During the recent Japanese
in advance of the next general election. Tsunami, there were 12,000
“tweets” per minute out of the
country. Our handle is:
In previous general elections, the Conservatives have not been able to run a significant number of www.twitter.com/BCCforBC
candidates. This was the result of very low membership levels and a lack of organization at the riding
level. However, that is all changing with new members pouring in at a rate never experienced in our
history. Constituency Associations are being formed and registered with Elections BC. Later this year, FACEBOOK
It started out as a way that
we will have Constituency Associations set up in all 85 provincial ridings. This will allow Party members
friends could keep in touch.
within a riding to nominate strong candidates and we will be able to run Conservative candidates in all Then businesses got online. 500
provincial ridings. Million users later, Facebook is
the most popular form of Social
Media out there, allowing friends,
To be sure, there is a lot of work yet to be done and there is always the prospect of a snap election collegues and bussiness to stay
being called by the new Premier. Nonetheless, the future looks very bright indeed and I would urge in touch. Search www.facebook.
com for the British Columbia
all Party members and supporters to commit to building the Party in preparation for the next general Conservative Party
election.
YOUTUBE
Wayne McGrath, President, BC Conservative Party Every kind of video
that you can think of, from
funny to shocking, family to
business is found here. Search

How will the BCC govern? www.youtube.com for the

BCConservativeParty (one word)
(continued from page 2) Channel.

Many British Columbians have become discouraged in the political process in recent years DID YOU KNOW?
– and a lack of government accountability. That is why if we do not want to end up governing
as the NDP and the Liberal have over the past 2 decades we need to know what we stand Premier Christy Clark attended

for, and then focus on the issues important to not only the resident of our province right now Simon Fraser University, the

– but those as well of upcoming generations. Sorbonne (France) and the

University of Edinburgh, but

Thanks for the hard work everyone! never actually graduated from
any of them?

ECONOMY E D U C AT I O N H E A LT H

The Future of BC is in Your Hands

WWW.BCCONSERVATIVE.CA
Page 3
HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT
THE PARTY? WANT TO
BECOME A MEMBER?
KNOW SOMEONE WHO
MIGHT BE INTERESTED?
THE BC CONSERVATIVE
PARTY
1001 WINDSOR PL
VERNON BC VIT 9E7
1.866.800.9025
www.bcconservative.ca
FOLLOW THE BC
CONSERVATIVE PARTY VIA
SOCIAL MEDIA.
Search for Facebook Page:
British Columbia Conservative
Party
On Twitter:
@BCCforBC (party)
On YouTube:
BCConservativeParty
Channel
Our Social Media
by Sean Smith, Editor, The Conservative View
This month has seen the BC Conservative
Party burst onto the Social Media scene with
new and coordinated accounts, designed to
drive discussion and visitors to our Website.
Up to now, the Party’s Social Media
presence was out there, thanks to the efforts
of many different volunteers within their own
ridings. There wasn’t a defining presence
for the party however, making it difficult for
some to get the information they wanted
from the source they wanted, in the time they
needed it. But that was then; this is now.
On the day of the BC Liberal leadership
convention, the new BC Conservative Party
Twitter account was launched and began
Tweeting live about the convention and
the results. Within less than 2 weeks, over
100 people began to follow the account,
including members, media and other political
news junkies from around the province and
the country. Efforts have been made to
engage each new follower and the results
have been impressive.
Until recently, the Party did have a Facebook
“group” online, which over 200 people had
joined and were following. This group was
set up by Ryan Warawa, an active party
member and member of the executive,
Design and BC Conservatives logo are property of the BC Conservative Party. All rights reserved.
OUR STRATA BROCHURE IS READY!
DESIGNED AND PRODUCED BY THE
BC CONSERVATIVES TEAM
ORDER YOURS FOR YOUR CA, TODAY!
The Brochures are ready and being shipped. Be sure to share them with your
friends. Feedback for future brochures is always appreciated
sean.smith@bcconservative.ca
at a time when many BC political types
were not even considering social media.
Unfortunately it lacked the ability to add
certain features and functions, so, in the first
week of March, the new Party Facebook
Page was launched and quickly gained
attention. In order to make it more useful and
up-to-date, it was integrated with the party’s
Twitter account, allowing posts and links
from there, to show up on the Facebook
wall. On the day of the Premier’s swearing
in, live Tweets about who was in cabinet
were posted to both Twitter and Facebook at
the same time. Coupled with the direct RSS
feed from the Party Website and you have all
the current info you need in one spot.
By the time you read this article, the Party’s
new YouTube Channel will be live and
posting a variety of videos, from the party
and from various news agencies around the
province. The goal of this environment, as
with all the social media the party is using, is
not to shake an accusing finger at the other
parties, but to keep our members and BC
voters about the past and current states of
the governments in this province.
No matter what, the BC Conservative Party
is engaging the BC voter in a way that no
other is, putting the “Social” in Social Media.
Page 4
Photographs by Paul Judson Stobbe and iStockphoto.com
THE BC CONSERVATIVE
NEWSLETTER
President:
Wayne McGrath
nwmcgrath@shaw.ca
TAG Chair:
Randy White
Communications Director:
Jeff Bridge
jeff.bridge@bcconservative.ca
Party Spokesman:
Keith Roy
keith.roy@bcconservative.ca
Newsletter Editor:
Sean Smith
sean.smith@bcconservative.ca
Please submit questions
or articles to Jeff Bridge,
Communications Director, BC
Conservative Party. Deadline
for monthly submissions is the
second Friday of every month.
THE BC CONSERVATIVE
PARTY
1001 WINDSOR PL
VERNON BC VIT 9E7
1.866.800.9025
www.bcconservative.ca
Help Us Build the Party
Membership sign-ups are up. Donations are up,
too, but if the party is to grow and to become a
serious contender in the BC political arena, we
need more. More members and more money.
We need your help, to ensure the future of
British Columbia is one that we can all look
forward to.
Club 500
Membership in Club 500 will be available to
any person or corporation who donates a
minimum of $500 in any given year P a y m e n t
can be made to either the provincial Party or a
registered CA or a combination of both.
There will be a new Club 500 established each
calendar year.
Unless a donor is opposed, the name of the
donor will be on our website and they will
receive a Letter of Appreciation from the Party
President.
Regular Membership
You can become a member for as little as $10
(1 year). Other options include $20 (2 years),
$30 (3 years) and $35 (5 years). You can sign
up online (www.bcconservative.ca), contact the
party via mail or phone, or ask an existing
member in your area.
The Future of BC Starts Here
Donate to the Party
You can make donations to the party, online,
ranging from as little as $25 to as much as
$1000 (or more).
The Conservative Party of British Columbia is a
Registered Political Party and your contribution
in any one year may entitle you to generous
political tax credits on your next tax return.
The refund (or reduction in tax payable)
depends only on the amount donated and not
on taxable income. One only needs to file a
tax return in order to receive it. The tax credit
formula is:
* for contributions between 0 and $100, you
will get back 75%;
* for contributions between $100 and $550,
you will get back $75 plus 50% of the amount
over $100;
* for contributions over $550, you will get
back $300 plus 33 1/3% of the amount over
$550 up to a maximum of $500 annually.
Please Note: The maximum tax credit available
of $500 can be obtained by making a total
political contribution of $1150 per annum.
Page 5