A day before the writ drops on the provincial election, the former B.C. United candidate for Kelowna-Centre has declared he will run as an unaffiliated, independent.
Dr. Michael Humer has been left out in the cold, along with dozens of other candidates and MLAs, since Aug. 28, after leader Kevin Falcon, alongside B.
C. Conservative Leader John Rustad announced he was suspending the party’s campaign. Humer made his announcement at a news conference on Sept.
20, with former B.C. United hopefuls Stephen Johnston and Ashley Ramsay.
Johnston was the former candidate for West Kelowna-Peachland and Ramsay was the former candidate for Kelowna-Mission. Both have declared that they are also running as independents. In referencing Falcon’s actions, Humer recalled former Quebec premier René Lévesque’s (1976-1985) “night of the long knives” comment following Canada's attempt to bring home its constitution in the early 1980s.
“I called it the afternoon of the big fork,” Humer said. "We got forked by Kevin.” Falcon and Rustad had promised a riding-by-riding vetting of United and Conservative candidates to determine the best individual to run in the election.
“Understanding that it would be an opportunity to rebuild the coalition, bring the centre and right together in an authentic way to form a government to defeat the NDP,” Humer added. As the days ticked by there was no communication from either party. Despite repeated calls, emails and text messages neither Humer, .