B.C. United candidate for Coquitlam-Maillardville resigns, urges others to follow 

A Tri-Cities candidate is resigning from B.C. United, days after two MLAs defected for the Conservative Party of B.C.

Brandon Fonseca, previously a B.C. United candidate for Coquitlam-Maillardville, announced his resignation on social media on Tuesday morning.

“British Columbians have made it evident over the last couple of months that they want a common sense conservative government lead [sic] by John Rustad,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. 

The decision came after a period of reflection and a longing to return to the B.C. Conservatives, a party he originally joined in 2020, Fonseca said in an interview with the Tri-Cities Dispatch. 

He served as vice-president of the party from 2021 to 2022, before leaving for B.C. United last year. 

“I’ve been going through some soul searching for the last while, even before I was announced as a candidate,” Fonseca said. “I had always felt a little bit like I had left my home when I left with CPBC.” 

He cited a failed merger attempt led by B.C. United leader Kevin Falcon as one reason for his resignation. 

Falcon, who is also the MLA for Vancouver-Quilchena, said in a statement last month that the two parties discussed a “non-competition” deal that was denied by the Conservatives. 

The parties would not have merged under the framework, according to a story published by My Prince George Now. But if their combined seat total outnumbered the B.C. NDP, the two would have agreed to form a coalition government. 

A recent Angus Reid poll has the B.C. NDP receiving 41 percent support among people who were polled, as opposed to the 30 percent who favoured the B.C. Conservatives and 16 percent who pledged to back B.C. United.

Fonseca is not planning to run in the upcoming election, slated for October. 

He hopes to volunteer for the B.C. Conservative party and support Hamed Najafi, who is running in Coquitlam-Maillardville.

“I know a lot of people are going to look at what I did as being political opportunism because they’re up in the polls,” he said. “But to be honest, I’m not really gaining anything. I vacated my position as a candidate and I’m moving over to a purely volunteer position.” 

The B.C. Conservatives confirmed in an email to the Dispatch that Fonseca reached out the party on Tuesday, and that Najafi will remain their candidate in the Coquitlam-Maillardville riding. 

“Brandon seems like a great volunteer and will hopefully make the jump over to our team,” wrote Angelo Isidorou, executive director of the B.C. Conservatives, in an email.

Fonseca previously served as a candidate for the B.C. Conservatives in Port Moody-Coquitlam in 2020. 

He left the Conservatives last year and called them: “a party lacking in seriousness, who flirt with far-right conspiracy theories,” according to a Tri-City News article published last month.

B.C. United announced him as candidate of Coquitlam-Maillardville last month. 

The post, which appeared on B.C. United’s website, has since been taken down. Although Fonseca approved the first draft of the statement, he later said that he wasn’t comfortable with its wording.

“That initial statement is never something that I said or wanted to go out,” he said. 

Fonseca’s resignation comes after two B.C. United MLAs declared their intention to join the Conservatives within a span of three days. 

B.C. United caucus chair Lorne Doerkson, who represents Cariboo-Chilcotin, announced his decision on Friday, saying the Conservatives were the only party that could defeat the B.C. NDP. 

Two days later, South Surrey MLA Elenore Sturko crossed the floor to join the B.C. Conservatives — a move that signalled to Fonseca that the party has “matured into a big tent movement” that is trying to replicate some of the economic and social policies outlined by the former B.C. Liberal party.

“I’m not doing this because I dislike Kevin Falcon or I dislike people inside B.C. United,” Fonseca said. “I think it comes down to the free market enterprise wants to defeat the NDP. . . . People have shown they want a common sense Conservative government under John Rustad.” 

Fonseca, who urged more B.C. United candidates to join the Conservative party, says that he expects to work for the B.C. Conservatives and Najafi’s campaign for Coquitlam-Maillardville. 

But he wouldn’t rule out a chance to run if the party asks him to step up.

“I’m more than happy to put my name forward, but for the time, it’s most likely going to be behind the scenes work,” he said. “I’m putting my full support behind Hamed.”