Dr. Caroline Elliott may not yet be widely known to British Columbian voters, but the emerging frontrunner in the BC Conservative leadership race is no stranger to the BC political arena.
Her work as a political staffer in Gordon Campbell’s government evolved into operating her own independent consultancy in BC’s major projects resource sector, which in turn spurred her academic pursuits, and ultimately led to her decision to vie for leader.
All these experiences opened her eyes to the intersection of public policy development and the tensions of governance within and between Indigenous bodies in a Liberal democracy—the subject of her PhD in political science.
Armed with this uniquely informed expertise and frontline view of the threats, vulnerabilities and promise facing the province, she launched many eviscerating critiques of the BC NDP’s education policies, the Anti-Racism Act, dysfunctionin the Heritage Conservation Act, restrictions on non-indigenous citizens’ access to Crown land, and more.
“The very principle that BC’s beautiful parks belong to all British Columbians is actually under threat, because this government is endorsing an idea that actually, ‘No, [parks] belong to some [citizens] more than others,’ [is] just fundamentally not right, and British Columbians know that.”
A pain in the (NDP) body politic
Elliott has been an incessant and very sharp thorn digging into the open wound that the NDP’s “radical reconciliation” agenda has become.
Her political commentary— here, here, and here— has drawn attention to public policy she views as dangerous to democracy, including uncertainty over private property rights and land use deals that award statutory decision-making or de facto veto to First Nations over public resources.
“When you have those small Indigenous governments with no democratic relationship with the people that they’re making decisions over, you really enter into a lot of conflicts from a democratic perspective.”
But the OpEd that really seemed to rattle some BC NDP teeth was this deadly piece of research published in the National Post that delved into the “Land Back” ideology behind the DRIPA legislation and the David Eby government’s action on the reconciliation file: “The extreme ideology behind B.C.’s radical reconciliation agenda.
Podcast preview - ‘This province is at a crucial time’
Listen to a preview of the podcast with Caroline Elliott.
On other policy fronts…
Spending must be reduced—”you can’t shovel money off the back of a truck”— and a review conducted of where money is going, Elliott said.
“It’s about holding every dollar accountable, because we owe that to the British Columbians who are taking, in some cases, half of their pay cheques and giving it to this government.”
The education system: “Our literacy outcomes are falling, our math outcomes are falling, our science outcomes are falling, and their solution isn’t to fix those things. Their solution is to stop measuring. They get rid of letter grades. ”
And public disorder has to be reined in.
“Violent offenders don’t belong in neighbourhoods. They belong in jail,” Elliott said.
Elliott recommends researching other jurisdictions for efficiencies and improvements in health care delivery.
“If more money was the answer, we would be have the most wonderfully functioning health care system.”
And to solve some of the toughest issues plaguing local communities, municipalities need to be consulted.
“Sometimes we think we’re going to have all the answers from here in Victoria or from downtown Vancouver, when people have thought about those things very, very deeply in those communities and have some ideas that we really should be looking at.”
Nearly a political candidate
Elliott almost ran as a candidate in the 2024 provincial election alongside her brother-in-law, then BC United leader Kevin Falcon (Elliott introduced Falcon to her sister and the two are now married).
But Elliott’s name never made it onto the ballot. Shortly before the election, she helped Falcon broker a deal with the BC Conservatives that led to the voluntary collapse of BC United, so as not to split the vote in the contest against their common opponent, the BC NDP.
The move garnered Falcon (and Elliott) criticism for abandoning the BC United membership and agenda, and praise for sacrificing ego and party towards the higher purpose of beating the BC NDP. Certainly, without the political manoeuvre, the BC Conservatives would never have won so many seats, landing just shy of forming government, and the NDP would’ve have then formed another majority government.
Since then, Elliott became senior fellow with the Aristotle Institute, director with the Public Land Use Society and co-founder of Without Diminishment, among other things. She has since stepped away from those roles to focus on the leadership race.
Being leader can be thankless
As Falcon and former BC Conservative leader John Rustad painfully learned before her, being leader of BC’s right-leaning coalition party is no cakewalk.
Rustad left the party during Falcon’s tenure. And within a few months of winning Official Opposition in the 2024 election, the Conservative caucus bled five MLAs under Rustad. As well, the senior party executive demanded his resignation, which he eventually remitted.
While leadership is always a factor, it wasn’t the only issue at play. Successfully leading a coalition party is a tricky business.
On this front, Elliott seems to have a plan.
Listen to our conversation and let us know what you think.
As always, thanks for reading and listening.
—Fran
Podcast producers: Rob Shaw & Zach Proulx
Feedback: Fran@NorthernBeat.ca
More BC politics: NorthernBeat.ca
